Oh, Singapore...

Meet our mailman. He rides a moped with a lockbox on the back. He drops off the mail. He doesn't pick up the mail. You have to go to a special drop-box for that, nowhere near your mailbox, and someone entirely different picks it up. (When I say nowhere near your mailbox, I mean NOWHERE near your mailbox... like, at a store in the mall or the post office for example.)

Setting aside any and all safety or convenience considerations, this might be a good way for the US Postal System to save some cash. Then again, it might also be a good way for the US Postal System to ensure it's never used again. It could go either way.

The Amazing Big Silver Ball

We weighed Jonathan last week. Nothing fancy or official, mind you, just me standing on the scales not holding him, then getting on them holding him. (We won't talk about weighing me...) he's a rockin' 17 pounds. Is he three months, yet? Nope. Not for another week and a half. We love that he's so healthy and big, especially all of his kissable rollie-pollies.

But Jonathan's size presents a problem: he cries when you sit down--or stop moving for that matter. Not always, of course, but often enough that somehow between three adults taking care of him we manage to all feel like our arms are going to fall off. Walk, walk, shift weight, shift weight, dance, dance... he's not picky as long as he (and by default, you) is moving. How does someone so little have such strong opinions?

Enter our good friends, John and Jenna. John (whom I WILL nominate for the Nobel Prize) saw me haggardly bouncing Jonathan after church and suggested his solution for when his kids wouldn't let him sit: a yoga ball. Genius! They move, you sit. Everyone wins. The next day Fabio was on a mission to find a yoga ball somewhere in Singapore. He came home with the amazing big silver ball which of course cost three times what it would in the U.S.

It was worth every penny, and not a minute too soon with all sorts of extra benefits we didn't anticipate. He falls asleep faster and deeper with it, it rolls into to any room in the house, it lets us rest our legs and arms, and it wipes clean with water!

He moves, We sit. Everyone wins.

Has it Really Been Three Years?

Several years ago I stumbled on a TV sitcom in which a woman, upon getting her new driver's license in the mail and comparing it to the now-expired one, exclaimed, "What happened? I used to be so shiny!" I think of that scene almost every time I look at our wedding pictures.

At any rate, Monday was our third anniversary. I wanted to do something extra special for Fabio, to show him how much I've appreciated his support through everything we've gone through this year. No one could have been more thoughtful while I was pregnant, more generous as we moved, more tender during my labor, more sweet as a father, or more strong through my illness. He really is a prince.

So, I surprised him with a getaway to the Marina Bay Sands here in Singapore.

The view from our room

The swimming pool! We live here.

It's still so surreal, especially at times like these.

Between the view from our room, the pool on the roof (57th floor), and pizza from the "famous" Mario Batali, it was quite the romantic day if I do say so myself.

Of course, how could it not be with 

this fellow by your side?

Ah, the joy of marrying my best friend: we have a great time whether we're on a romantic night out, or eating potato chips while we laugh at our baby's spit bubbles.

Life is good with you, my dear. Thanks for marrying me, Fabio!

January 9, 2009

Look how shiny we used to be!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Between living in the tropics and getting home from the hospital five days before Christmas Eve, this year's Holidays were not exactly what one would call "traditional." But they were definitely what I would call "wonderful."

Our decorations were homemade by our friends and their children who put everything up while we were away (including the fantastic felt tree, complete with hand-cut star and ornaments).  

For Christmas Eve dinner, we had Pizza Hut. On Christmas morning, we went to church, sang carols, and remembered the birth of the Savior. Then we came home and spent the afternoon on the computer "skype-ing" family and friends in the US and eating treats.

We were so overwhelmed by the crisis that was December that besides a stuffed soccer ball I brought from the States for Jonathan, we hadn't bought any presents for each other. So we tied a bow around Jonathan, and considered the fact that we still had each other the best gift we could ask for.

And while you wouldn't know it from that picture, Jonathan actually spent most of his first Christmas morning jolly as could be.

That smile melts my heart.

It's interesting that without the traditional pines, or hams, or stockings, or wreaths, or colorfully wrapped presents, or even snow, Christmas was still perfectly beautiful. In fact, I have to admit this unconventional Christmas was the sweetest one I've had. Probably because all that was left was what really makes Christmas (and life, for that matter) special: family, friends, and the birth of Jesus Christ who made it possible for us to have our family and friends forever if we follow Him.

And so as I feel asleep at 11:07 on New Year's Eve like the party animal I am, I committed to my one and only resolution for 2012: to remember the beauty of simplicity, and live accordingly.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and the Happiest of New Years!