Back to the blogging again....

Been back now for several days....took way too long to get over the jet lag. I can barely remember the first two days of being home! Kinda scary, but since no one seems worse for the wear...everyone was fed, clothed, bathed and presumably paid some attention to...I guess we did alright ;)

China was amazing...as I knew it would be. Doesn't matter that we were in Beijing in 2004...you'd never know it was the same city. Everything changes...and quickly!! Lots of construction (getting ready for Olympics), lots of temporary housing right at building sites...can't imagine what the life of a construction worker in Beijing is like right now. Last trip to China was in winter...nice to go in summer this time. The heat was not a big deal....summer is hot, so deal with it! Drink lots of water, wear comfy cotton clothing, shower more....not difficult. Went to some different tourist spots this time...Summer Palace, different spot of Great Wall....skipped Forbidden City/Tiannanmen this time, since we wanted to see different sites than last trip.
Shopping seemed more 'focused' this time around....call it experience, call it necessary to 'zone in' when travelling with two pre-schoolers and a 1 year old (who incidently is doing wonderfully!!!), call it having all your ducks in order this time....doesn't matter what you call it, it was FUN!! Funny to see how the men all catch the shopping bug after just a taste of bargaining....one afternoon, all the men managed to venture out to the Silk market while most of the Mom's and babies stayed at the hotel...this was not planned, but the men in my entourage reported seeing all of the other men shopping by themselves!!! Gotta recommend travelling with the 'entourage' by the way.....we brought along a close family member to help out with the kids and the logistics of luggage, organization etc... Turned out to be a great decision. Not only was he the perfect 'low maintanence' travel mate, he was able to amuse the big kids while we ducked out for official duties with the new babe, he made a great beer-drinking companion for DH and he kept us laughing lots!!! Turns out he's a pretty amazing bargain hunter too....gotta give him props for the I-pod find!! 110 Yuan is an amazing deal!!!

Now for the best part ...our new little man!!! He is such a sweet natured, active, funny, charming, cuddly, loveable little boy!!! He did have some strong emotions and some grief and sadness, don't get me wrong. He can scream and cry with the best of 'em, but when he finally let his guard down and started to let us in, we met such a sweetie! He continues to grow and discover his world each day, as we learn more about him. He loves his big bro and sis....as they also adore him. For anyone out there wondering whether bringing your big kids to China or not is a good idea, I must say it was one of the best decisions we could have made. Having all three kids there made the transition so much easier...and we knew that everyone felt included from the start. At times, LittleMouse 3 would only respond to one of the bigger Mice, rather than the adults. Thanks to LM 1 and 2, LM3 loves to have a bath in the big tub and splashes around like he owns the place...so cute to see them all pile into the tub at once.

Gotta go put my 3 Mice to bed....did I mention that we've all been going to bed early and getting up early....so NOT our usual schedule...but since we have two Mice starting school in just over a month, probably not a good idea to mess with things now ;)

Hoping to find more time again soon to blog....I've been in blog withdrawl...trying so hard to catch up with my usual reads.....being a Mom to three Mice is busy, busy, busy....but I'm loving it!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.