So what's on my mind...

Not a whole lot going on in China this past week since my wonderful Surprise Baby Shower!  Baby #2 is so loved by friends and family all over the world we feel so lucky!  On a baby note, I am almost 34 weeks along and have a check up Saturday!  I feel like baby has gained a bunch of weight this week and i have a bowling ball in my belly but all is well!  The wedding ring has come off, my fingers are swollen and I am tried, but my legs and feet are still holding up! When we asked Blake last weekend if the baby was a boy or girl, he responded with girl three times, then i asked in Chinese if its little brother "Didi or little sister "Meme" and his response was "Meme" so we will see, maybe he knows something mommy doesn't!  We are all three very excited, and anticipating the arrival of baby #2!

Last weekend we went out for dinner as a family which has been pretty rare for us here in China due to timing Brian gets home, transportation, etc.  We tried a place called "T.G.I. Summers" trying to imitate T.G.I.Fridays.  We took some photos of the food which was decent but still not from home.  Brian ordered a hamburger which came with a fried egg on top even though it wasn't in the description on the menu.  He swears every burger in China other than McDonalds and BK has a fried egg on top!  LOL  I orderd the BBQ ribs which were ok,  Blake really enjoyed them.  It was an interesting atmosphere, we were the only laowai (foreigners) in the place and it was packed at 5pm on a Saturday.  I saw lots of people enjoying more Chinese type dishes, but lots of alcoholic beverages were flowing as well.  They had Mickey Mouse on the wall and a chalkboard displayed their new hot dog on the menu!  Here are a few photos of our experience.

So the great debate of two foods came up again, I am sure many of you have had this conversation with me but here it goes....Peanut butter.....which is not common in China and apparently Nutella is the PB or Europe :)  Do you like creamy or crunchy?  It seems in my life experience and asking others, men ennoy crunchy and women enjoy creamy.  I have found this to be true growing up with two guys in my house, dad and Jayme and now Brian prefers extra crunchy so we always have two kinds in the pantry.  Blake mind you still enjoys creamy on his apples and turned down the crunchy when he tried it.  As visitors come from the US to Brian's company they have asked me for some easy foods from home to keep and work, I buy them peanut butter and jelly, but not without asking first if they like creamy or crunchy and all men, have replied crunchy.  I don't really understand what is causing this weird phenomenon but its very strange to me.  On a side note:  I haven't found what i believe to be the most common jelly; Grape in China, strawberry, blueberry and orange seem to be the popular ones.

The second item up for discussion is chicken wings.  When i say chicken wings, i am referring to the mix of both legs and wings you receive upon placing an order with your pizza or at BWW.  Men seem to enjoy the chicken wings while women prefer the chicken legs.  Honestly the leg is less work for me and therefore hand over the drumsticks!  Put some wing sauce on them and a little ranch dressing and I am a happy camper....so which do you prefer?

Ok so what else have we been up to ....let me think about it, pregnancy brain is a true condition and it has gotten the best of me lately.  I have to take photos or write down what i want to blog about so I don't forget!  If you know me, I am a planner and very organized so this isn't a good condition for me.  I am working on organizing Blake's second birthday party, I can't believe it's been two years, and celebrating Blake and also welcoming another little one into our family!   Blake is having a Disney Car's themed party at the place he goes for gymnastics, while i don't think he knows much about having or anticipating a birthday party he has found the party favors and wants to play with them :)  Will share pictures in a few weeks when we have the party!  Blake is doing great at school, loves the kids and the teachers and is having Dinosaur week!  Tomorrow he will go on his first field trip with his class to the Dinosaur Park, as Blake would say, "Roar!".

Apparently in China this time of year sweet potatoes are very popular.  While a friend informed me of this and I haven't actually been able to find a sweet potato vendor to purchase one of these tasty treats from, I was driving in the car and saw a man peddling his sweet potatoes.   I just wanted to share a photo with you of what i hope to be my next food experience in China when i hunt one of them down.  :)













We are approaching National Day here in China which provides Brian with a week off of work and time to spend with Blake and I.  Our family will go to Shanghai (Shunghai for those at home) for a few days to relax and get out of Changzhou but still near the hospital just in case!  The strange thing about China is that they give time off but then use weekends to make up some days.  For instance, Brian has to work this Sunday the 28th but then has Oct 1-7 off and then works Saturday October 11th to make up for the holiday as well.  I would say in the US this is unheard of, a holiday day off is a day off no make-up day required, but again this is China!


So somewhat uneventful, tomorrow I am going for my second haircut and color experience, at a different salon that last time.  I should still have a story to tell so stay tuned!