To be continued...

Well, I finally installed a VPN program (yeah, until now, I didn't know what that was either) on our laptops here which will allow us access to blocked websites here in China, including this blog. It feels great to be able to blog again, as well as catch up with the blogs I like to follow. During my absence, I was able to post a few videos directly via One True Media, but now I'm back up and running.

Since we're starting a new chapter in our lives, I've decided to start a new blog to cover our 3 years in Shanghai.

The new blog will be Getting by in Shanghai, http://www.songtanjalee2.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there!

Moving Day Saga

It's been a crazy week around here. A few days after our things destined for Shanghai were moved out of the house, we had a major change of plans. We decided to go ahead and have the rest of our stuff moved into storage. This, of course, created a ton more work for ourselves as we suddenly had to plan a second round of moving and get rid of our cars, but we hope to be able to rent out the house while we are away. Getting ready for the movers this time was a little tough. Since our air and sea shipments were already gone, we knew that whatever does not fit into our luggage will have to sit in storage for 3 long years.

Yesterday, the movers spent the whole day packing, and today they'll finish with packing while some other guys come over and crate the large fragile items, like standing mirrors and glass-tops. Then in the afternoon, they'll start emptying out the house. Of course, doesn't it figure we always seem to move house in the middle of a snow storm. I don't know how that happens.

Leah did great again during moving day #1. We had actually investigated the idea of putting her in daycare for these two days, but ended up not having enough time to make the arrangements since the movers came a day early, to our surprise! Like last time, we parked her in her booster seat in front of the TV, (thank goodness for the Sprout channel. She gets so engrossed in it!) and that kept her busy and occupied for the first half of the day. After lunch, John took her out for a drive so she could get a change of scenery and take a little nap.

Here she is hanging out in her booster seat. She calls it "seat" and loves sitting in it.

And here she is helping to clean...

So anyway, starting tonight, we'll stay in a hotel while we tie up loose ends around here. We still have so much last-minute stuff to do before we leave. On Saturday, we will begin our very long journey to our new home. I'll keep you posted.

Smooth Move

Well, to our surprise, moving day went pretty smoothly. The movers were here bright and early on Thursday morning to pack up the stuff we're bringing to China. They showed up with two trucks and two containers, one for our air freight and one for our surface goods. We had to be pretty organized and prepared before they got here so we could tell them what stuff was going where. It was a pretty busy morning with the whole house in disarray, as you can imagine. Since we're moving into a furnished place, we're not bringing any furniture, except for a chair and a side table. But still, it was a lot of stuff! Leah's toys and clothes alone were quite a load. We managed to get most of her stuff in with the air shipment, except for the big stuff.

While we were planning for the day, we were not really sure what we would do do with Leah while the movers were here. We imagined that with the stair gates removed, the basement door open, boxes and packing material all over the place, and the whole place torn up, she'd be really in the way and would become a hazard to herself. Our plan was that if necessary, John would take her out somewhere for the whole day and leave me to make all the last minute decisions.

Would you believe that she sat happily in her high chair watching kids' shows for the entire 3.5 hours? All that couch potato training really came in handy! She never got scared of the guys or worried about all the noise and commotion. There was an occasional "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" when she saw her toys being packed up, but other than that, she did great! In fact, we almost even forgot the high chair and it was the very last thing we threw in the truck. Once again, Leah amazed us!

Mission: Almost Impossible

Well, I spent 3.5 days in Shanghai on a quest for a suitable furnished apartment that we can live with for three years. It was not an easy task. As you may remember, John and I made separate scouting trips back in November, and based on what we had been shown then, thought we had found the right compound for us.

So for this trip, our realtor basically picked out several apartments in that compound for me to choose from. Problem was, none of them even resembled the cool, hip, stylish ones we had seen there before, which it turns out, were owned, managed, designed, and decorated by a major property investor. The apartments I was shown this time around were landlord-owned and much cheaper, and not nearly as nice.

But I asked about another compound that I had heard about, and even though the agents kept saying it wasn't as child-friendly, decided to take a look, out of curiosity and desperation. Turns out these places were much bigger, brighter, newer, and nicer overall. And I didn't think the compound was child-unfriendly at all. It has an indoor and outdoor pool, a wave pool and a sandy beach, an indoor playroom and an outdoor playground, and lots of green areas to stroll around.

So the very last apartment I saw, right before I had to leave Shanghai, was the one I liked the best. The big question is what the furniture actually looks like, since the current tenant had taken the place unfurnished and was a major collector of Chinese antiques and had the place packed to the rafters with furniture. If we get it, we'll have to agree on the place without actually seeing the condition of the furniture, but they did show us pictures of the furniture and it looks fine. I liked the space itself. It was bright and had great river views, and it had beautiful bathrooms and floors, and a nice kitchen. So we're putting in a bid on that one and really hope we get it. Fingers crossed. If not, we're going to have to start from square one when we arrive in Shanghai next month.

Back at home, John and his mom, who we flew back in for the week so John could continue planning our relocation, kept Leah busy. According to their reports, even though they all had a great time, Leah really missed me. And I certainly missed her. When they picked me up at the airport, it was so cute seeing Leah running towards me as soon as she saw me. And ever since I've been back home, Leah has turned into a velcro-baby, who won't let me put her down and do anything.

I got back in time to go to Leah's last class at the Little Gym. I didn't want to miss that. She's so good at everything these days, that people are calling her a little gymnast. We're definitely planning on finding gymnastic and dance classes for her in Shanghai.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh, and Leah now has a passport! The day before I left, we made a trip to the passport office and applied for it in person. We had it expedited, and received it just a few days later. Her social security number is also on its way soon, and we'll also apply for her Certificate of Citizenship this week. So things are starting to come together.

Birth Certificates

We were very happy to receive Leah's birth certificates in the mail yesterday, so we can finally apply for her passport. It only took a month and a half, instead of the 3-4 months that we were originally told.

We're hoping her passport doesn't take too long, since the timing of our move is dependent on when she will be able to travel out of the country.

Role Swap, part 2

A week from today, I'll be back in Shanghai on a mission to find our home for the next three years, while John stays home with Leah and plays Mr. Mom. Hopefully, he'll remember how to change diapers since he hasn't had any practice since November, when we did our first role swap.

We have pretty much decided on getting an apartment instead of a house, and there is one compound we both saw that we think might work for us. It seemed to be very family-friendly and had a very active and busy outdoor playground, with a pre-school on-site. Plus, there was lots of open space to roam.

In addition to househunting, I'm going to take a closer look at what's available there in terms of English language books, clothes, toys, groceries, toiletries, etc., so we can decide what we need to bring and what we can leave behind.

I'm not really looking forward to the long travel days and the jet lag, but I have a feeling I'll become a pro at it after three years of going back and forth.

A new year, a new journey

After a wonderful visit, Beppe left today in the middle of a major snowstorm. I bet she'll be glad to get back to balmy Louisiana. Wish she could take us with her!

Anyway, now that Leah's adoption is finalized and the holidays are officially over, our eyes turn toward our next big adventure. I might as well re-title this blog to "Our Journey to Shanghai with Jin-Ri". Yes, we have indeed decided to make the big move to Shanghai for 3 years as expats! While I have mixed feelings about making yet another international move, I am at peace with our decision and will try to make the best of it. It will be exciting to be part of all the progress and change that's happening in China.

We will spend this month working out the details of our move. An international relocation is a major undertaking, as we know from our previous moves abroad, and there is a ton of planning and preparation involved, so this will be a really busy month.

For the moment, the timing is a little bit up in the air since we still have a few loose ends to tie up regarding Leah's paperwork. We are still waiting for Leah's new birth certificate, and once we have that, we can apply for her passport, social security number and certificate of citizenship (COC).

So, I'll keep you posted on our progress, and in the meantime, will continue to bring you Leah's updates as usual.

Back home

Well, John's first time playing Mr. Mom went pretty well, even though he said he was in survival mode all week. I'd say he exceeded expectations. He actually managed to keep Leah diapered, dressed, fed, and entertained all week. He even took her out every day on little trips to the park, the shopping mall, the bookstore, out for lunch and to her gym and music classes! But two things he couldn't quite figure out were: putting barrettes in her hair to keep it out of her face, and taking pictures. He only took two lousy, dark pictures of her the whole week! But otherwise, he did a great job.

I had an interesting but exhausting time in Shanghai and couldn't wait to come home. John and Leah missed me a lot, too. I got a huge, beaming smile from Leah when she first saw me on Saturday morning, and when we went out to eat that day, she couldn't stop hugging me and giving me kisses in the restaurant. It was so precious! It's good to be home.

Role Swap

This week should be interesting as both of us will be thrown out of our comfort zones. John is taking a week off to play "stay-at-home-dad" while I jet-set off to Shanghai by myself for a "business trip". We're currently investigating a possible expat assignment in Shanghai and need to do a look-see trip to find out what we think of potentially living there for a few years. Of course, we'd prefer to go as a family, but since Leah is not technically an American citizen until her adoption is finalized and, additionally, can't travel out of the country until she has a U.S. passport, we have to go separately. We also don't feel we can leave her with someone for a whole week, as she hasn't even been cared for by a babysitter yet.

So wish us both luck! We're going to need it.