Spring is here

I know in my last post I said I'd make a post about Augie's birth story and about the visitors we've had and trips we've taken between October and now. It's been so long since any of that happened, though, that I don't really know how interesting it is anymore. I think anyone interested has heard about the birth story. It did start out funny - having my water break as I was walking out of the Labor & Delivery ward. But if you are really interested just comment and I'll make my next post about that. Honestly no one reads this yet, I'm planning to make it public once we get to Guangzhou, which is when I intend to make these posts both more often and more interesting.

In a nutshell, Augie was born September 14, 2009.

Aaron's parents and little sister visited for 5 days in October, and then our good friends Bibi, Eddie, and Jennifer came to visit later in October for Augie's Baptism (Bibi & Eddie are his godparents).

In November we took two trips. Aaron and I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip out to Dallas to see our friends from college - Derek, Heather, Josh, and Sergio. My parents were more than willing to take Augie for the weekend. We had a blast in Dallas, as we normally do. They really know how to have a great time out there.

At the end of November, we headed out to see Aaron's family for Thanksgiving in Spokane, and Augie got to meet his Aunt Zoe, Uncle Jim, and Uncle Anthony, and cousin Samantha. This was also Augie's first trip on a plane. He did really well on the way there, but was a little more fussy on the way home. He was fussy and hardly slept the whole time we were in Spokane too. I blame it on the timezone change, and possibly on the bitter cold temperatures (Aaron's dad doesn't like to put the heat on too high in the winter, so the house was at or below 68 degrees except for when Aaron sneakily turned it up). Luckily he went back to sleeping through the night as soon as we got back to Virginia.

Christmas was spent with my family in Maryland.

In January, Augie stayed with my parents again while Aaron and I met Derek, Heather, and Josh in Las Vegas. Once again, we had a blast with our Dallas pals. I couldn't have had a better time in Vegas, and I can't wait til we can go back someday.

After we got back from Vegas, my parents left to drive out to their retirement home in Phoenix, AZ. In mid-February, we took a trip out to visit them.

It was so nice out there, their house was gorgeous and the weather was fantastic. Since the DC area had been hit by 3 major snowstorms over this past winter, I was ready for nice warm weather, so I was definitely happy to get to Arizona. We went hiking and took nice walks, it was a great time. This was Augie's second experience flying. On the way out there, Aaron was with me, and Augie was a giant pain in the ass. He wouldn't sleep, and he was exhausted, so he just cried and cried the whole time on the 4-hour flight. I was planning to stay in Phoenix longer than Aaron was able to, so I was terrified of how Augie was going to be with just me on the way back. Well I really lucked out - when I was going to check Augie's carseat, I found out that it was $50 to check it with checked baggage, or free if I checked it at the gate. Naturally, I decided to go with the free option, so I carried it with me (while carrying the rest of my crap and Augie in his Baby Bjorn carrier) through security. When we were getting onto the plane, the gate attendant told me that since the plane was only half-full, I could carry the carseat on and give Augie his own seat. Augie getting his own seat was the best thing that has ever happened to me while flying. He was perfectly happy in his carseat, and he even was able to sleep when he got cranky! IT WAS WONDEFUL. This makes me feel a little better about the 20-hour flight we'll be taking in a few months, since he'll get his own seat for that flight too.

Speaking of which, I am feeling much better about the move to China. I'm actually looking forward to getting there now, I just want to get it over with and get there. The flight and the packing and all that is going to suck, but I think it'll be a good time once we get there. I've even started planning out a couple of trips once we get there. For instance, it's only a 3-4 hour flight to Singapore from Guangzhou, and Aaron is off for a few days around my birthday for China National Day or some holiday, so I was thinking we'd go to Singapore to celebrate my birthday! And then he gets off for 5-7 days for the Lunar New Year, so I was thinking we could go to Thailand for that. We'll also try to make it to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand while we're in China, as well as the other Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and some other places. And of course we'll make frequent trips to Hong Kong and Macau since they are only about 1-2 hours away.

We still have a few things planned for our time left here in Virginia, though, before we move to China. For starters, we're taking a trip up to New York City to visit our good friend Chris who is in med school at a hospital up there. We'll be going there April 22-25. Then, June 4-6 we are going to Virginia Beach to see Bibi, Eddie, and Jennifer (and maybe Jon, Jennifer's fiance). And then the next week, June 12, Heather and Derek are getting married, so we will head out to Dallas (without Augie) to see our Dallas pals one final time before moving to China. After that we'll be packing up and figuring out logistics as Aaron finishes his training. Then, July 8, we should be leaving to visit Aaron's family in Seattle (his parents, Annette, Jim, Zoe, Anthony, Samantha, and HOPEFULLY new baby-girl Singleterry if she decides to come a little early). We will spend about 3 or 4 days in Seattle, and then head to either L.A. or San Francisco for DHS consultations. Then, on ...July 14? I can't remember which date exactly, but I think it's the 14th... we will head to Guangzhou. That flight isn't finalized yet, but I just know it won't be non-stop so we'll either stop in Tokyo, Beijing, or somewhere else on the way. So that is that!

Okay this is long.