Chad needs a pair of slippers!

OK, so the kids and I made our 2nd Ikea run today to buy some more stuff for the house. I'm dying to decorate it and make it feel more homey. I also decided to rearrange the furniture, which meant taking off all of our glass toppers on our tables. Glass and kids just don't mix! Well, I had everything off to the side until Chad got home to move it into our storage room. We were both moving the kitchen table glass and almost made it there and Chad (and yes he will admit it!) dropped his side down and hit the tile floor just right and SHATTERED into a million pieces!!! Not really what we had planned for our evening :) Too make it worse, our cleaning supplies are lacking a bit yet, so he had to make do with what we had (which was no broom!) It's cleaned up as best and we can do, but I'm sure we'll still be finding pieces for the next 2 years.. UGGGH. The kids and I have slippers already, but pretty sure we'll be shopping for a pair for Chad now :)

The remains of our glass table topper!

Ahhh Walmart :)

Chicken anyone?

Or how about some pork? LOL


Walmart in Shanghai

Bowling night
Rilynn with her doughnut man :)

OK, so I'm definitely a Target lover, but since that's not here Walmart it is!! However, it is definitely different in Shanghai :)

It's divided in 2 floors- groceries and home/clothing. We made the mistake of going there on a Saturday afternoon. Not the smartest move, way too crowded! We did find some items that we needed and Chad was able to find a somewhat tolerable milk to drink. I haven't tried it yet, but the kids don't seem to mind it with chocolate or in their cereal so that's good. Chad wasn't a big fan of the first one we bought. I see trial and error happening a lot with the food here!

One of the biggest changes for me to get used to is the smells, especially in the stores. Besides seeing people picking out raw meat with their hands or seeing a pig hanging in the aisle, the smells is what gets me. The kids don't seem to notice so that's good :)

We were warned about strangers coming up to the kids and wanting to touch them and take their pictures. Well they were right. We were thinking it would be Brady's white hair that would do it, but it seems to be more Rilynn. It is mostly the older generation (men and women) and they will just come up and start talking in Chinese and touch their hair or cheek. We even had a huge group of people stop and take their picture with the kids!! LOL.. The kids are not quite sure what's going on so they are still a tad shy when they come up. However, they are getting pretty good saying "Ni Hao" (Hi) to everyone, which is pretty cute.

We are loving having a driver. Mr. Hou has been great. We tell him what time to meet us downstairs and there he is. He opens the door for us and helps the kids up in our minivan. We never worry about having to find a parking spot, he just drops us off the main entrance to where we are going and picks us up there too. We were bagging our groceries the other day and turn around to see him already taking our cart out to the car to load up! Very nice ;)

Today was Chad's first day at work. He is an early riser so he left at 6am. He said the

re was no traffic and only took 15 minutes to get there. However, he's not home yet so we'll have to see how it is at 4:30. The kids and I tested out the swimming pool at our clubhouse. It was nice, I'm sure we'll be spending more time there :) We also tried out the bowling alley the other night which was lots of fun!!

The great perk of being here is that you can almost get anything delivered!! There is a service called Sherpa's where you can order online in English from a bunch of restaurants and then they go pick it up on their motorcycle and deliver it to you. We had some pizza for lunch yesterday that was pretty good, thankfully!! We also rec'd our first grocery delivery today. It's free delivery if you spend like $20, so that's not a problem to spend. Today we ordered from Field's, an organic grocer. We've heard it's the best and cheap too boot!

OK, so I could go on and on, but I need to go for the repairman coming. We haven't quite figured out all the appliances yet. We have somewhat figured out the washer/dryer and stove, but not the dishwasher/microwave/oven. I am sick of handwashing all the dishes so hopefully he can help me to figure the thing out!!

More to come.. I'll try and post some pics of the apt soon!! BTW, glad we left when we did and avoided the snow :) Hope you all have fun shoveling.. Ha

We Made It!

Well, after a tearful good-bye, lugging our 10 suitcases, 2 carseats, double stroller, and 8 carry-ons we finally arrived in Shanghai around 10pm Tuesday night. We had a 12 hour flight to Japan with a 2 hour lay over and then a 3 hour flight to Shanghai. The kids actually did surprisingly well. Brady even told us and actually went to the bathroom on the plane! There was a couple empty seats next to Chad so they were able to sprawl out and nap which was nice.

Brady with all 10 suitcases on the way to the airport :)

Our helpful family at the airport!

Kids on the plane

Mr. Hou (our driver) met us at the airport and was able to get all of our luggage in the minivan and we headed back for a cramped drive to the hotel. Next morning we went to check out our apartment. Without not seeing it before we lucked out. The furniture was actually decent :) The biggest thing we have to get used to being here is the different types of smells all over, including our apt! We then ventured out to Ikea to go shopping. However, we were all soooo drained and exhausted it wasn't the greatest trip. My patience with the kiddos was definitely tested! Brady didn't last the whole trip though, he crashed half way through..

Brady a tad tired in Ikea :)

Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to the apt to unpack. We then headed out to Carrefour to go shopping. I can already tell I will be spending a lot of time here :) It has a floor like a department store and another floor is a supermarket. Grocery shopping was interesting. I'll have to remember my phone next time to take pics of some of the items. We were looking for just plain potato chips, but had a hard time. They had Blueberry, Spicy Fish, and a bunch others I can't remember. We did pretty good though finding a variety of foods that we like. The only thing we couldn't find was a good pizza. Once again very different types, definitely no pepperoni and sausage :(

Today we gave Mr. Hou the day off to go and explore around our apt. We made it to both of the clubhouses and walked around the compound. It's great weather here right now, around 21 degrees Celcius (still getting used to this) today, which is around 68 degrees.. Kids had fun running around and playing at the playground and checking everything out. It is pretty cool that neither kid has even made a comment about the language, people, or surroundings being different. They are just going with the flow and I think that's pretty neat.

Pics from around our apt compound

Tomorrow we are venturing out to Walmart for another shopping day. I can definitely see how one would need a nanny, cook, and maid. You cannot just run out to the store real quick. It's pretty much a one stop shop per day. Hopefully it will get easier, but for now it's been very overwhelming shopping. It's just so many different things that I need to get used to.

I have so much more to talk about being here for the first couple of days, but I really need to go to bed :) I can't wait to get over this jet lag!!

More to come..

Packing and more packing!

Wow, what a crazy week this has been!! The house was so nice and quiet having the kids in Mankato last week, but that sure changed in a hurry! We had a wedding in Mankato on Saturday (Congrats to Jim and Barb), then came home Sunday to watch the game, and then finally went trick or treating with the whole family. We had to also find some time in between things to try and get our air shipment ready.

Kids all ready for the wedding

Kids in their costumes

So, right on time at 8am Monday morning about 7 movers came with our one and lonely box for the air shipment. It was 58"x42"x45".. Not too big when you are trying to ship 2 years of stuff in it! We were limited as to not pack any books, dvds, cd's, or any liquids. We also had to keep in mind that this box will not arrive for about a month, so it made for a HARD pack!!

Our one and only air shipment in route to China. Can't wait to see you again in a month!!

So now here I am sitting in our lovely lawn chair in our empty living room. We sold our furniture on Friday so it's been fun. LOL.. Tomorrow brings the movers back to pack the rest of house into storage until we come back. After Thursday we will be left with 2 carseats, stroller, and 9 suitcases.. That will be what we live on for the next month.. Fun times, fun times!!

We are planning on staying in our empty house on Thursday for a camp out, then head out to a hotel for a couple nights, then back home for another camp out Sunday to get our laundry done, and then off to the airport Monday for our flight at 1:10pm. Whew!! I honestly just cannot wait until we are actually there.. The prep work is exhausting!

Here is our China address:

Lane 2 Wei Fang Xi Road, Shimao Riveria

Unit 2102, Block 15

Shanghai, China 200122

We also are able to bring our home phone number with us using Vonage, so you can call us in China just like you would be calling us in MN. Same with us, it's just like dialing locally back home. However, make sure you remember that we are 13 hours ahead of you. We don't need any 3am phone calls :)

In case we didn't get a chance for us to personally say goodbye before we left please know that we love you all and you will be greatly missed by our whole family!!

Next post will be coming to you from China!! Well, that is if we survive the 18 hour flight with the kiddos!!

It's feeling a little too real!!

First, I must say that I am SOOOOOO happy to have Chad home! 4 weeks is WAY too long to be apart.. Thankfully though he made it home safe and sound (and even a little earlier) on Saturday. I've never seen the kids run so fast down the driveway to give him the biggest bear hug ever.

We also had to be apart on our 6th anniversary, which was a first for us :( However, I did get some beautiful flowers delivered to me from my great hubby! Ordered all the way from Japan..

Rilynn enjoying my flowers :)

Chad is on vacation this week and next to help get our stuff in order.. This week we''ve met with the movers, a lawyer (finally getting a will), and have cultural classes Thursday and Friday in St. Paul.

Our garage sale was a HUGE success, so thankfully I now have less to store.. We only get one box to be shipped via air to Shanghai and it is only 58" x42" big. Deciding what to put in there will be tricky.We could take 2 boxes but then we would have to wait 3 months for them to arrive via ship! The air shipment will take a couple weeks so we chose that option. We will have to survive for those weeks with what we pack in our luggage, so again will need to pack smart!

Who gets to celebrate Christmas before Halloween? WE DO!!! This weekend we are headed over to both of our parent's to have our celebration a couple months early. I can't wait for our parents to see their presents from the kiddos. I'm sure some tears will be shed :)

Next week is the kids' last day of school. We wanted to keep them in there as long as we could because they like it so much! Brady even has a friend that we are going to talk with via Skype :) Nothing like a pair of toddlers holding a conversation over the computer.. LOL..

After school is done the kids are off to Grandma and Grandpa Reed's for the week , ending with a wedding on the 30th and followed by Halloween. November 1st the movers come to pack up our shipment to China and then November 3-4 the movers come to pack up the rest of our house. We will then most likely stay in a hotel until our flight on the 8th. And then watch out Shanghai, the Reed's are coming!

And just because he's too cute!!

It's coming up quick!!

Since it's been about a month since my last post, I figured I was due for an update :) We've had a busy month. Rilynn and Brady both had surgeries back to back. Rilynn had a tonsillectomy and Brady had his second set of tubes. I wanted to get them both out of the way and I was off for a week so thought we'd go for it. Rilynn was such a trooper!! She really did great and is finally back to her old self. Brady had a little setback, although not related to his ears. The evening after surgery he woke up from nap with temp of 102 and his fingers were swollen and had pockets of pus on them! He and I spent 3 hours in urgent care and he was diagnosed with strep throat and an infection on his hands :( So, unfortunately for him that night was 10x worse than his surgery earlier. However, he was back to normal in no time and now I have 2 healthy children.

Pics of kids before surgery

Update on housing situation- Unfortunately 3 days after we arrived home from our trip we found out that we didn't get the apt we had liked :( We then had to decide on a new place based on pictures that the realtor was sending us, which was not easy to do. Since they are fully furnished, the furniture makes a huge difference and the pictures were very limited. However, we did find an open apartment in the same building (21st floor) in Pudong overlooking the river. Negotiations are done, so now we're just waiting to sign the papers!



With working part time I have finally decided that I need to start going through this house! I'm proud to say that I've already made it through 5 rooms in the house, and that includes every last toy. I can honestly say I will never be a hoarder!!! I am getting rid of A LOT! If all goes well I plan on having a HUGE garage sale Oct 7 & 8. (hint hint, LOL)



The kids and I have made it through week 1 of 4 of Chad traveling. This will be the hardest month for all of us, Chad included! Currently he is in Indonesia, with already been to Singapore and Australia. His next stop is Japan and then on to India where he will fly home from. He then has 2 weeks of vacation to help me with the house and then it's crunch time!! Our flights are booked for all of us, November 8 we will be flying out. We found a non stop flight from here to Shanghai, which will be sooooo nice for us all! However, it's about an 18 hour flight. EEEEKK

Here are some of the pictures he sent from Australia

Hard to see, but there are a bunch of kangaroos in the back!

Opera House in Sydney on a boat tour

Well, that's all I've got for now. Plenty more to come!! Only 49 days until we leave!!

Pre Visit Day 3-4 House Hunting

Well, after 3 schools and about 20 properties we found a school and an apartment we like!! The school is called Yew Chung International School. Rilynn would be starting after we get settled in December. Each room has an English and Chinese speaking teacher. They also have an hour a day Mandarin lessons as well as violin lessons! They said that within 6 months children usually are at a conversation level and by 2 years they are fluent in Mandarin, including reading and writing!! That was absolutely crazy to us.

Today is negotiation day so hopefully our apartment we like stays available. They tend to go really fast around here. Our apartment is on the 16th floor in the compound Shi Mao Riviera Gardens in Pudong Shanghai. The views are incredible!! It has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, living room, kitchen, maid quarters, and a private elevator and entrance. It has a huge open area right out the door which is hard to come by in Shanghai. Also, it has 2 clubhouses. One of which is right outside our apartment.

Super Brand Mall- within walking distance to our apartment. Has a Toys R Us and Best Buy in it :)

Here are some pictures of the apartment

View of the outdoor wave pool and beach

One of 2 indoor pools at the clubhouse in our compound

The 1st clubhouse is huge! Has plenty of things to do :)

Another shot of the outdoor pool

Indoor gym. Also has a climbing wall on the side

Bowling alley. (Nilla better watch out Trevor, Rilynn may become a pro bowler!) LOL

AWESOME view from the 16th floor apartment. This is on the Pudong side on the river in Shanghai. The other side on the river is Puxi which is the older part of China. Pudong is only 15 years old and is much cleaner, has more grass with lots of greenery, and wider roads.

View from our apartment of the great grass area for the kids to play in.

Bathroom

One of the kids' rooms

Living Room- We can't wait to see the view at night!!