Happy Halloween!!!

While Halloween is not celebrated here in Melaka, we didn't want Evan to miss out on the opportunity of at least getting to dress up. Actually, I think it was more fun for me and Andrew to dress him up and then have a good laugh.....especially when he couldn't figure out where his hands had disappeared to!!! It is a shame they don't celebrate the event here because I'm sure Evan would have had tons of fun at least seeing the other kids dress up and handing out candy....since he is still too little to have gone trick or treating anyhow. I thought everyone might like to have a look at our little green dinosaur!!

We do have a Christmas bazaar to attend in KL next weekend, so at least he'll get an early glimpse of jolly ol' St. Nick. Yes, it's probably a bit early to start getting into the Christmas mood, but we'll take it!! They don't do much here in Melaka for Christmas either, so we have to get it when/where we can. I think we'll probably also travel to Singapore sometime next month to get some more Christmas feel....they say they do a great display of lights on Orchard Street and have a snow blowing machine at one of the malls where we grocery shop . It's a little hard to think about winter when it's 90 degress everyday. We are definitely looking forward to some chilly air when we travel to Oklahoma for Christmas. We'll be going to Laredo first, but I'm almost positive the weather there will feel much like it does here. I remember one Christmas sitting outside in nearly 80 degree heat on Christmas day!! I'd really like to be able to wear a coat....and have a nice, cup of hot chocolate!!!! Ahhhh...the things I miss the most right now!! We are actually in monsoon season right now, so we get a little bit of rain everyday and it stays pretty cloudy....and we've even had a few cool breezes now and again (cool is relative here!!). Although, it definitely has been a nice relief from the constant heat!! Evan and I even took an evening walk yesterday and it actually felt like we were back in Houston in the fall.

Anyhow, I'll be sure and get some pics on the blog of our bug when he meets Santa Claus for the first time next weekend..... wonder how he is going to react?!?!?!

Oh and by the way, I've changed the blog template to include a place at the bottom of each post for you to add comments or send us an email....we'd love to hear from you!! We miss everyone terribly and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!!!

I'm addicted......

to our new Slingbox that is!!! We've had it for just about a month now and it's fantastic. It was suppose to be a Christmas surprise for Andrew so that he would be able to catch the OU games, but as always he had to spoil the surprise. He happened to read an email that my sister-in-law sent that told me his brother had gone out and purchased it for us. As it turns out, I have benefitted from it much more than he has...given that only a couple of the games have been televised at a time that isn't at 2 o'clock in the morning our time. For those of you who aren't familar with the Slingbox (we weren't before we moved here and found we had NOTHING to watch in the way of television......all the nightime series showing in the US right now are about 1 season behind here!!), it is a device that hooks up to John's cable box in Oklahoma (by the way, thanks again John for all the trouble with the initial set-up), which then allows us to get live television through our computer here in Malaysia. It's so cool.....the software gives you a remote control just like the one you use for your television at home and you control the channels exactly the same way. I've managed to keep up with Grey's Anatomy, House, Brothers and Sisters and some of my other favorite shows with it. The daylight savings time change the US has coming up is going to be a big plus for me....it now gives me an extra hour in the morning to get Evan down for a morning nap before the good 8:00 shows begin!!! Isn't technology just amazing....what else could they possibly come up with?!?!?!

As for an update on our little stinker.....he just continues to learn something new everyday. Not only is he climbing up every stair in the house (and we have plenty of them!), he has also learned to come down them too. Luckily, he has finally taken to sliding down on his bottom (I think I finally made it look fun to slide down, that he thought he'd try it out.....and now like to show off for us!!).....but on occassion he still tries to walk down holding the stair rails. It terrifies me, but I figure the faster he learns to do it on his own under my supervision, the sooner I can stop worrying that he is going to fall as soon as I turn my back.....wait a minute - will that ever happen?!?!?!?

He also still loves pushing buttons and totally digs the leggos he got for his birthday. He loves having Andrew and I build something and have him come and knock them over. He occasionally contributes to the building, but loves the destruction phase much better!! He is such a little boy!! Sometimes I wonder what he processes in that head of his. While he still isn't saying too much in the way of "real" words....he definitely knows what he wants...... and then gets totally frustrated when Andrew and I can't figure out what it is that he is pointing at and asking for!! He's also finally able to get to his feet in the middle of room without having to scoot over to something to help himself up, so I now have to sweep the floors twice as much since he isn't keeping them clean with his bum any longer :-) Oh and I totally have to share his poop stance....which probably wouldn't be funny if we weren't living in Malaysia where they have the holes in the ground for "doing your business".....but every morning after I get him down from his highchair after breakfast (he is definitely on a schedule), he'll play for a bit, find a place where he thinks I don't see him, hunch down to squat, and then grunt for a bit while he goes about his business. It's absolutely hilarious....he looks like a true Malaysian....I'll have to try to get a picture of it to post!! I'm sure one day he will appreciate me sharing that one with everyone!!!

Anyhow, here are a few of our latest pics:

Playing peek-a-boo with Boss...the day BeBe and Boss left back for Texas :-(

E loves those buttons.....one of our playdays at Jusco's playland
Our latest trip to the zoo....not so sure what to think about the loud birds!

In Malaysia and off to Thailand

Sorry, I started this post a couple of weeks ago (well, now it's going on a month ago) and never got around to finishing.....so here it is:

My parents arrived safely on Sunday evening and Jennifer, Evan and I went and picked them up in Singapore on Monday morning....yes, all by ourselves.....and managed just fine. Our driver's mother passed away on Sunday, so he obviously couldn't take us and Andrew had an important meeting to attend....so we went alone and it was a piece of cake. It was a pretty good feeling to know I could navigate so comfortably in such a new and crazy place. I was pretty impressed with myself...as were my parents as I had us running all our errands around town as well. Anyhow, they had a day to recuperate from their jetlag and then we hauled them off to Phuket on Wednesday morning. We stayed at a place called Laguna Beach Resort...it was beautiful....nice rooms, with a great view of the Andaman Sea.....a gorgeous pool and other nice amenities. It was raining on the day we arrived and alot of debris had washed up on the beach, so we were a little disappointed about how dirty the water and beach looked, but the next eday verything cleared up and it was blue skies and nice, clean sandy beaches for the remainder of our stay. We didn't do much other than hang out at the pool everyday....Jen went on a snorkeling excursion one day and said while it was nice to see some of the other islands ....there were way too many people there and the reefs were ruined by how commericalized it had become. She said when you pulled up to Phi Phi Island, there were 30 other speedboats there taking other people on the same excursion....and this is during their offseason. Evan really enjoyed watching the elephants they would bring daily to play the harmonica, give the kids rides and play in the sea. Well, Evan probably had more fun watching the other kids watching the elephants. He spent alot of time bonding with his Boss during the trip. Boss was the designated babysitter to stay in the room with Evan while he napped. He even changed a couple of poopy diapers....way to go, Boss!!! He even stayed with Evan one night while the rest of us caught a cab into Patong Beach...to check things out. This is the infamous place in Phuket where they have all the outdoor market shopping.....as well as tons of outside strip clubs....with women hanging out ready to spend a night or weekend with whoever might pay them. It was actual quite disgusting as you saw all these older (much older!) men (mainly European), with these young (very young) Thai girls! It was actually a very sad sight.

We had a great time with some nice, relaxing pool and beach time, some really good Thai food, and some good shopping.....did I mention how dirt cheap everything was!! And we couldn't have had better weather. It was wonderful the entire time we were there until the day we were leaving. Actually, while we were in the airport.....it began pouring down rain. So yes, we were delayed.....for 2 hours!!! Of course, given the latest accident at the airport, we were all quite okay staying put on the ground until it passed. Evan thought it was a joy to spend his entire birthday in a airport!!! Thankfully, we made it home safely and prepared for Evan's birthday party the following day.

I thought everyone might like to see a few pics from our trip: Evan and BeBe in the Hotel reception....Evan with a big bite of something in his mouth!! Evan and Boss checking out the pool areaThe baby elephant goes for a dip...and yep, gotta love those in speedos!!!Evan and Dad hanging out at yet another pool bar.....teaching him early!!A view of our pool.....that's Andrew and I in the back going to take another ride on the fun water slide

BeBe gets her hair braided....Me and Jen pose for a quick picture after one of our many, great Thai dinners!The baby elephant gives Evan a kiss...Dad and Evan pose for a picture on the lawn outside our hotel room....this is Evan's silly face he makes when he meets new people or just feels like being silly!!Evan posing in front of the water with his new monogrammed shirt he got for his birthday....he is going to love me when he gets older!! By the way....he still loathes the sand...he hates to get it all over his hands!!BeBe and Evan posing after BeBe has her hair braided.....One last one of the the gorgeous sunset we took in every night we were there!!

Evan's 1st Birthday

Since we didn't arrive from Phuket until late on Sunday evening, we ended up having Evan's birthday party on Monday evening after Andrew got home from work (.... his Nana even joined in via webcam at 5:30am.....thanks Nana for waking up so early to be a part of the birthday party!!). We had tons of fun!! Evan wasn't too found of his birthday cake....but we later found out why....the icing was tasteless and the cake wasn't so good either ...so who could blame him?!?!? He loved opening his gifts (especially tearing the paper), but really wasn't interested in anything but getting to open a new one. After all were opened, he busted into his new leggos and his pool of balls and had a great time!! He was entertained for a complete hour afterwards. He was so beat from his party that he slept until 10am the next morning - we could hardly believe it. I had to check in on him several times just to make sure he was still breathing!! Anyhow, we sure did miss those that weren't able to help celebrate, but we thank everyone who sents cards and gifts!!! We know they were sent with tons of love since they travelled such a long distance!

Aside from the party....Evan is totally enjoying having his BeBe and Boss in for a visit!! Boss really seems to wear him out...because come naptime, he is beat and is out for at least 2 solid hours each time (yes....we are officially back to 2 great naps a day!!). I have been able to sleep in every morning since the grandparents have breakfast duty....so I, too, love having them here!! Boss still hasn't managed to get Evan to actually say "Boss", but he swears he heard him say it at least once!! Sure..... They also claim he can say "two, three" when counting!! I think they hear what they want to hear sometimes :-) But he sure does seem like he is wanting to say more these days....it just won't quite come out!! Dad has managed to teach him a few things, like having Evan shake his head "no" whenever he asks him - "what does Boss say?" , as well as trying to teach him to crawl instead of scoot. So the last couple of days, Evan has started this new thing where he sort of crawls on one knee and drags the other leg...it's a riot!! Why the child needs to crawl now that he can walk (and oh yeah, he is practically running these days!!!), I have no idea!!

Well, we are off to KL tomorrow to do some shopping. It is time for Evan to graduate to his big boy car seat soon so we are going to buy one tomorrow. I can't believe my little one is a year old now!! Hope you enjoy the pictures!!