my birthday

shot by Noah

My birthday was filled with a bunch of wonderfuls. Laughing my face sore at Max Brenner's with friends, a Naive dinner poolside with my family, sweet presents, phone calls, notes and packages, a red ribbon trail from the boys

 

and holy hannah, Dave made chocolate creme brulee.

Loved it. 

Thank you!

Gage is 5!

Gage's favorite color is blue. 

His favorite ice cream is strawberry.

His favorite food is chinese dumplings. 

He asked if Din Tai Fung could deliver pork dumplings on his birthday. 

He makes a new friend in 2 seconds flat. 

He is a sweetie, through and through. Always handing out hugs and kisses. 

This boy was made to have a little sister. 

He still holds my hand. 

And snuggles. 

He does the best puppy dog eyes with his big blues. 

He swims super fast in his flippers and goggles. And is the funniest thing running around in them. 

He has recently become an awesome reader. We are amazed at the big words coming out of his mouth. 

And he would love it if he could take his scooter everywhere - the mall, the grocery store, school. 

So for his 5th birthday, a scooter party was perfect for Gage. His little friends ran over to our place,

decorated their scooters with blue balloons and ribbon, 

and lined up for the Birthday Parade with Gage leading the way. 

Dave led them on a scavenger hunt around the swimming pool, with a coco surprise at the end. 

And there was, of course, a pinata. Gage requested a big number five in his favorite color: blue, 2nd favorite color: red and 3rd favorite color: green. Anything for that boy. 

Thank you to Kristie for taking all the pictures. And to Malia for holding little Sybil. Love you guys! 

Happy Birthday to Gage! 

after a bath

Sybil loves her bath. 

We love Sybil. 

The End.  

two months

At 2 months Sybil is finding her voice. She'll look you straight in the eye and try out her "ohhh." 

Her smiles are magic. Even when its 3 in the morning they make me happy. 

She quiets down when she hears Feliz Navidad on Dave's phone.

She's a good sleeper and a good eater and only cries for a reason. 

That's why we call her our 'angel baby.' 

She is still startled by a sneeze. 

She is sweet sweet sweet. 

The boys bring her all her blankets and toys. And line them up in neat little rows surrounding her. 

They read her stories and pause to show her the pictures. 

"Hi Sybil!" "the baby's awake!" "Where's Sibby?" "Can I hold Sibs?" 

MY NEIGHBORHOOD

The Singapore mailman on his scooter doesn't collect the mail from your house. You've got to walk down to the post office or find a postbox to send it from. Good thing the boys love putting the mail in the slots!

visitors

How fun is this? Jeff and Anna Jordan in Singapore. It all went by so fast and I think I laughed myself through the entire week. 

While Jeff worked, I showed Anna around to all the sites. We ate with our henna hands in Little India, talked to the carpet man on Arab Street, and picked out jewelry and fisherman pants in Chinatown. She was patient with me and my new baby, especially that day we had a big mess and nowhere to go. We also had dinner on the river, missed a light show but saw a sweaty kung fu panda propose, and went  swimming on top of MBS when Dave and Jeff were available.

Another weekend, Dave's buddy Greg was in town for work and spent a Saturday with us at East Coast Park laughing about bowling on the 3rd floor of their freshman dorm.

Last week Chris and Maartje were in town. My favorite night was Naiive take out by the pool, but we also took them on the Singapore Flyer with great views of the city.

the 4th

4th of July in Singapore. We gathered a handful of American friends (plus a few Kiwis) and celebrated over burgers. 

Pretty good burgers. And awesome lemonade. 

Since we aren't going to the US this summer, we are missing our friends and family and feeling far away from the red white and blue. Thank goodness for good friends. Eases the aches. 

We got out the sparklers and lit them up right outside the restaurant. No one batted an eye. 

Happy Independence Day, America!