give thanks

last year, we ignored thanksgiving and set off for the philippines. 

this year, we celebrated thanksgiving twice.
turkey costs a pretty penny here, so it was such a treat to indulge in delicious things that remind us of home. we have a lot to be thankful for, including all those great friends we celebrated with.
i made my "no fail" fudge recipe and wah wahhh...it was an utter failure. i mixed in some peanut butter and it became reese's topping for the kids' ice cream.

nate was stoked about the yams, i was in turkey heaven, and sage was all about double fisting those delicious homemade rolls.

deepavali round three

tomorrow is deepavali--the indian equivalent of christmas and thanksgiving combined.
it's our third time celebrating it in singapore, and i love that it's a big deal.

 the weeks leading up to it are filled with concerts, festivals, decorations, lights, all kinds of food you'd have to pay me to eat, and crowded, hot, filled-to-the-brim markets. 

you just pick a line and push your way through the people and stalls full of knick knacks.

so much gold, so much color.

beautiful handmade strands of flowers...

and jingly strands of elephants and bells crowd the ceiling.

i was soaking it all in until a grumpy uncle pointed to a sign and shouted, "no prams! no prams!" about ten times.

so we walked down the street for some henna. the sweet woman even painted a flower on sage's hand and stuck bindi (the little jewel) on her forehead. you've got to look the part, right?
i pulled out sage's shalwar kameez we got in india earlier this year for some photos.
i couldn't get my girl to smile normally. she was much more interested in cracking up at my made-up songs...

or twirling...

 

or tending to her baby. don't forget baby!

 

and by the end, she just wanted to get in the pool so badly that she stuck her feet in the water. 

happy deepavali!

the closet

sometimes i wish i had the problem of not knowing how to decorate my baby's nursery. hah!

we chose to live downtown close to nate's office here in singapore. like, next door actually. with that choice comes a smaller living space. and with a smaller living space comes the bomb shelter (a concrete closet) being sage's room.

did i mention it's also our only storage space? her sweet head rests right next to our 15 pack of toothpaste.

her pack 'n play just fits inside the doorway, but can't slide out. we dismantle that thing daily so she can nap in our bedroom. we are pretty talented in the art of pack 'n plays.

i worry there isn't enough airflow in the bomb shelter to close the door, so we leave it open with a curtain draped across the doorway. translation: our apartment is dark and quiet by 7:30 every night. we tip toe around and hang out in our bedroom.

while this sounds like a drag, it's worked out surprisingly well. we only expected to be in asia for a year, but plans changed and here we are. i'm just crossing my fingers sage will fit in her bed until she's 2!

while it may not be the ideal nursery, at least she's got the important things, like a place for all her bows. 

oh, and a bed too. 

if she ever complains about sharing a room with a sibling, we'll remind her of the bomb shelter years.