9 month anniversary and xmas in Hanoi

We celebrated our 9 month anniversary, by going out for sushi of course!




On the way we met Santa, who came to bring gifts for all the good boys and girls in our building.




Lots of places in Hanoi are decorated for Christmas, and the kids like to dress up too!





























Have you ever seen so many Santas?







Yes, my hair is getting really long now! I'll have to get it trimmed soon, but it's nice and warm for the winter!




The big church in the center of town on Christmas eve, with lots of people outside taking pictures. Some people wait outside for hours to hear the bells at midnight.











So many people were out on the streets... One foreigner stopped and asked me if people were waiting for something to happen... Nope, they're just hanging out!




Thao was lucky to get this Christmas gift this year! ;)) Both of us were only thinking of everything we need to buy for Katie, I think the shopping is almost done now...

PS from Thao: Yeah, my hubby bought me those gloves, actually he wanted to buy me something bigger and lots of things. But for me that is enough, and i think big gifts do not mean he shows how much he loves me. So i just want a small gift like that to remember this Xmas. For me now I just like to pay money for shopping for Katie, that really makes me happy. But i think shopping for Katie is almost done now, and i hear from friends and people say that the new born baby grows up very fast so should not buy too much new born size. Better save money to buy her diapers and more nice dresses when she grows up later...

I have the best mother in law ever. She sent me and Kyle money for this Xmas season. Kyle says i should buy something for myself. Maybe i should buy a sunglasses later coz i heard that after the baby is born, the mom should wear sunglasses when she goes out under the sun to protect her eyes. So now i just bought those things for Katie and will tell Katie that this is Xmas gift from her from Grandmom from Canada. Thank you very much Linda Grandmom. XOXOXO.



The set of blanket, pillow and sleeping blanket.




This is the heater. About $15. We wanted to buy something different what can make room warm like the aircon, but our bedroom is too small for it. And i also think that my bedroom is small so it's warmer than big room, wind is not easy to come in. This heater, when we turn it on, the light will turn on and make around hot very fast. It is very good to use for Katie when she is showering, coz when Katie is born in Feb its still cold here.



This is the most Mr handsome in my family now hehe... (He has no one to compare with until next baby is a boy, haha... ).. Humm... I hope he will take care of Katie with me good and not stress if he has to wake up 10 times a night to change diaper for Katie ;))...
Hum.... 9 months anniversary but he writes nothing about it and nothing good of me here :((... Sometime i should call him Mr Boring... Still hard to show emotions or really no feeling, no emotion for the wife? :(((((((((((. Feel so sad :(( huhu...

Oh, we went to BIG C suppermaket yesterday. Kyle wanted to cook westen meal for me for Xmas day, but at the end we canceled. Coz first of all is Chicken there is not good to buy whole one to cook, more is the oven is too small to put whole chicken in it. So we just bought something to make mashed potatoes and cream corn. And from now i promise never to go there anymore. Its a big supermaket so we were walking too much there so i started to get tired and tired and feel like wanna vomit. Katie moved too much inside like baby is coming out.. It was terrible shopping yesterday... Yeah, Katie is almost 8 months already, so i should learn, walking too much and active too much is not good for me and her...

Baby Class

Today we went to a baby class at the Fortuna Hotel. There were soooo many pregnant women there, maybe 500 or more! Most of the girls looked terrible... tired, bad skin, old clothes. But the receptionist said to Thao "Or, you're pregnant but still look good!" :)

The first class we went to was how to give a bath for the baby. It was strange for me, because so many things that they showed seemed to be the opposite of my instincts from Western culture. Like they put the baby in water up to their neck (don't tell Western moms to do that, drowning risk), do a full body massage and stretch the legs and rub the head (easy for new moms to do more harm than good I think), clean ears with a q-tip (easy to damage ears), etc.

Also in Vietnam, there are a lot of customs after the baby is born. For example, the new mother can't touch water for a whole month... no showers, not even wash dishes. And usually the grandmother or someone else in the family comes to stay with the new parents to take care of the baby. What? Somebody else will take care of my kid? I don't think so! :P

Anyways, the next class was how to breathe during labor. I wasn't allowed to go inside, only the girls. Which was bad, because Thao said she already forgets everything! But we are going to another class next week.

Shopping for Katie

Last time when we went back to my hometown we got many clothes from Bong (she is 1 year old now). Here I just show some. All this is new that Bong never used once, just coz her mom bought her too much and she got gifts from people too. Here in vn when someone has a new baby people will bring clothes or money to visit, that's why...











Some of the dresses you see now we gave to Bong when she was newborn, but just because of too much clothes so her mom forgot it at bottom of the dresser so didn't remember this gift is from auntie Thao, SO now it is Katie's turn! :D







Here is some old things that Bong used before. We got about 30 pants and 30 shirts like this. But i don't know if Katie can wear all. Here is Thao washing and hanging out all the clothes to prepare for Katie... Since Kyle came 1 month early, we have to be prepared ;))



So cute pig hat ;))





And now this is some of stuff we bought shopping int the last 2 days. We already got lots of nice clothes from Bong but we still need to buy some new clothes more and still need a lot of other stuff too...











Lots of small stuff like cream, soap...





I dont know if in canada they use this. But this is good mosquito net for new baby ;))




here is some kind of diaper and pant liner to wear inside the short underwear




This is to put the nappy liners inside...

Cousin's wedding in hometown - 11/25

We went back to Thao's hometown again, for her cousin's wedding. This time we took the 60km trip by bus. Actually in the beginning Thao didn't want to go back again because she was afraid of the long trip and that is not good for Katie. But I love to see weddings in hometown because it is lots of fun and so many people there, many kinds of food and people always are busy cooking and eating. And the most important is that every time when Thao comes back to her hometown she can eat a lot, not like in Hanoi where she doesn't eat much because as long as she is cooking the smell already makes her full. So this time taking the bus wasn't too bad because it was during the week so not too many people.

When we finally arrived, we both were very hungry and Thao asked me to go to her cousin's house to eat first. But it seems that there was nothing to eat there because it's late now and people are busy cooking for dinner. The wedding is for 2 days, but now it is the first day like engagement day, and already people have been here for a few days to come to help and eat. So we both have to wait for people to cook.




At the back of the house in the garden, people are busy making roasted pork. I tried this before in other cousin's wedding, and it tastes really good when it is still hot. I think I helped more at this wedding than for my own wedding! ;))




It's good to wait near the workers, because you can grab the meat as soon as its ready! Good that the hungry pregnant girl also remembers to feed her husband...




Yummy... tastes really good. And I love to see Thao eat alottttttttt.... I know she loves this kind of cooking very much...




This is the fire where they get the hot coals ready.




Then they cook the pork like this.






Of course it wouldn't be a Vietnamese wedding without the wine! Yes, the workers get thirsty too! About 10 guys making meat like this, they must eat at least 5 kg of meat already.




Little boys in the wedding. The boy in the middle is the bride's youngest brother.




This is the beef getting ready. It was amazing to see how much food they were cooking!




And here is the ham, we tried some before it really like it.



Roasted pork. Good job guys. Thats why they look so happy;))







Looks nice.




The old women are making their chewing tobacco leaves... In the wedding the old men and women like to eat this. Also in engagement day the groom's family has to bring those to the bride's house. It is a symbol of happiness.




They carve the fruit by hand with a small knife.




Another different kind of food made from beef....




Here is where all the women are helping... This wedding is a bit different from our wedding because Thao parents rented people from a restaurant to come and cook, but here all people from the village and people from family come to cook... It's fun when a lot of people do things together.











Many different kind of pots for, rice, sticky rice, soup, boiled chicken...






With all that food, you can imagine how many people will come to eat in this wedding!




hahahah.... here is my dad's drinking buddy from our wedding! Nooooo, I won't be kissing him goodbye!! :))




Ladies in ao dai, preparing to greet the guests.




My mother in law




There is a pregnant girl, she is not in ao dai but still looks the best ;)




Pose with niece




I love Vietnam because I always feel so tall! :)




This girl looks so beautiful in pink.




Another niece. She was my friend and played with me when Thao was busy talking to everybody.










Thao's sister (#4) with her son Tom.




Uh oh, after so many guests, it's time to do the dishes!




This girl is very good and ate her food by herself. Thao said it was because her parents are divorced and she only lives with her mom, so she has to learn to take care of herself. Oh, poor her...




Many kinds of food for dinner but we were already full since we ate too much meat in the afternoon!








Oh cute girl. She is Bong, Thao's sister's daughter (#2). She is growing up very fast. And her hair is really growing fast and looks thick like her sister Chip.




I look tired today. Since I woke up very early in the morning to take the bus and also drank too much today...



The next day of the wedding. More people, more food, more drinking!








Toasting with the bride's father (sitting down in the middle). Many people c0me to cheer with me because I'm the new son/cousin/brother in law...




Chip and Bong. Bong likes to try to talk a lot, like "YAK YAK YAK YAK!!!"




Now it's time for the bride come out to pour tea for the guests.




They have live music too




The people from the groom's family are here already. So it's time to prepare to leave to go to the groom's house.




Thao's mom and aunt.




The bride and her mom and father... Oh wait! No, that guy is the groom!




They are the happy bride and groom.







We wanted to go to the next party at the groom's house, but already we were so tired after a long day...




The guests are leaving but the family stays to eat more and then help to clean up. I heard that there was 180 tables x 6 guests per table... Wow that's a lot of people!






So cute Bong, with Tom's dad.




Done with wedding, so we went back to Thao's parent's house. Here is some fruit in the garden.




Red hot chili peppers




Vegetables in the garden.

We stayed a few more days and when we went to Hanoi we took soooooo many different kinds of food that Thao's mom prepared for us. Chicken, beef, vegetable, fruit...
This time we got a really slooooow bus on the way back, and very full. One girl was vomiting the whole way ughhh! But we had a very nice time visiting hometown and going to the wedding, so it was worth it.

And there are still 2 more weddings coming up in the next two months! But we don't know if we will come back or not. I like to go back there of course, but it depends on how Thao and Katie are feeling...