All posts by V.A.N.E.S.S.A

About V.A.N.E.S.S.A

I've lived in Shanghai, China with my husband since August 2009. We have a brand new baby, Eve Scarlett and a miniature wiener dog named Sophie whom we brought from America. This blog will focus on what our life is like in China, whether it be day-to-day or special trips. Feel free to read anonymously or leave a comment! View all posts by V.A.N.E.S.S.A →

Eve’s 1st Birthday

June 16, 2013Christmas, Field TripsV.A.N.E.S.S.A

Eve is one. What? Wait? When did this happen? How is it that I felt like I was pregnant for 5 years but Eve’s life from 0-12 months happened when I blinked.

I look at pictures of her as a newborn and remember thinking she was the cutest little baby and then the next month I would think, “well, you know she was cute but nothing compared to now!” and that same process would repeat itself every month. And now I look at her and think, “Wow if I had ANY idea what you would look like! You are a babe!” (no pun intended.. I think).

Ok your grumpy old man face in retrospect isn’t as cute as I remember. I was drunk with love.

So Eve had a birthday party celebrating her ONEness. And let me tell you, it was so flippin sweet! Better than I could have imagined. After checking the forecast for 2 weeks straight, it rained like it never rained before but people still came! Altogether, including us Deweys, there were 14 adults and 4 babies. And that’s after a few cancellations due to bad weather. I didn’t think people would bring presents and didn’t expect them to but people came like little Santa’s full of the most awesome stuff. So sweet! It was so fun to see Vish and her husband who I hadn’t seen in like forever and meet their little girl. Eve had 3 little friends who all played in the ball pit together. Hey-O! Eve has got a little baby posse! And the ayi was awesome cleaning up dishes and the wrapping paper throughout the span of the party. I taught her how to make the mini 7 layer dips, and she made the rest. She cut up all the vegetables for the dips, including tomatoes, avacados, onions etc.. for Ramsey to mix together. And wrapped all of Eve’s bajillion presents. What?! And it doesn’t stop there. She spent all afternoon cleaning and blowing up balloons. I just kind of showed up to the party and was all like “hi”. So heck yes I had fun! No stress. Delicious pizza and snacks and everyone adoring my precious little Evester. And cake. There was icecream cake. I don’t want to say how much I spent on this icecream cake. But it was delicious. Moving on… To see more pictures from the party view the gallery:

: Rained on!

See Eve Run.

June 16, 2013My Everyday LifeV.A.N.E.S.S.A

Eve was so out of control at church today. She’s at this stage where she can’t sit on my lap nicely and play with toys and if I try to force it, she will make inhumanly utterances that are shocking coming from such a small person. One person next to me heard that sound and compared her to a little gremlin. She said, “Make sure not to get her wet.” I wasn’t offended. I thought it was freaking hilarious. Because it’s so true!

She has to run around and explore, explore, exploreeeeeeeeeeee. I’m pretty sure if she wasn’t so dang cute someone would have thrown the Dewey kid out the window by now because it’s so dang annoying fo realz. I looked at those parents with my beady little eyes of contempt and now here I am letting my wild child crawl over furniture and run circles around the relief society teacher. I just cannot contain her. I wish she could just go in nursery already.

The problem is she started walking too early. Usually when they start walking at 12-14 months there is an awkward, slow period where you can catch up with them. But because Eve started at 10 months, she is now a pro at it but doesn’t have the mental capacity to respond with discipline yet like most good walkers would be able to do. It’s like chasing after a mini caveman. Why do I bother going to church when I’m sure people are just shaking their heads at me? I know it’s distracting from the spirit. I was so close to staying home today but one lady who is moving out of the ward wanted to give me some baby clothes and I wasn’t about to miss that. I got some really cute shoes, swimsuit, and jammies.

Our sacrament hall is so vast. I see this glimmer in Eve’s eyes like “yes!! I can run run and run to my heart’s content!” I’m sure she so bored in our apt all day. It’s like a jailed bird who is let out of her cage. She has this hungry insatiable desire to run that cannot be quenched and ”if you even think about touching me mom, I swear to all that is holy, I will…..”