Christmas in February, Meet the Ayi

When Santa arrives in February, for the second Christmas of the year, he looks less Nordic, is much thinner and he brings with him several elves all dressed in red! Tuesday the 27th was a momentous day here in Belle Wood Villas as our ocean shipment finally arrived! I shouldn't say finally as some families have been waiting more than six weeks for theirs to come and one even had to endure three months without their belongings.
Two Sante Fe moving trucks just slightly larger than a small UHaul and about 7 men delivered all of our comforts and necessities from back home.We worried about not having sent enough items to make it feel "homey", but I think we may run out of space for some of this stuff!
The movers were amazing. They brought all the boxes in, opened them, helped unpack items and put them where I asked, and set up the cribs right away. I reached for the high chairs as soon I spotted their shape under the brown paper wrapping as Ava and Caden were about to get started on their morning toast with strawberry jam.
"Christmas" cannot even convey the feeling in words what it means to have our stuff! I think that Ava and Caden feel the same way as they look in wonderment at all of the toys that they haven't seen in two months. The first few naps and the first night didn't go so well in their cribs as I think they were used to their large mattress on the floor. I think Ava was quite thrilled to be able to crawl over her brother each morning and get out of bed when she wanted to. Mommy and Daddy are much happier to have them contained!




I also want Brandon to know that I was so happy to unwrap my Montana mug that he got me on one of his father son skiing trips to Big Sky. I washed it up right away and had it ready for my cup of joe this morning! Maxwell House never tasted so good.






Another new development in our Shanghai adventure is the hiring of our Ayi (Auntie). We would like you all to meet Ms. Zhang (pronounced like Dzhung if that helps you out any). Ms. Zhang is with the kids and me Monday through Friday 8:30-4:30, however, she is trying to make a good impression by staying longer so we practically have to push her out of the door in the evening. She is wonderful with the kids and is keeping our house clean despite the messes we manage to make each minute of the day. Although Ayi (what women in this profession prefer to be called) doesn't speak any more English than a few words, we have been communicating quite well through the Surviving the Ayi Handbook which was published by two expat women to help nonChinese speaking tai tai (term for lady of the house) like me. She is patiently working with me though to teach me pronounciations and to help me learn some Chinese.