happy friday!

It's actually more like bittersweet Friday because T's sister-in-law and niece left today. They stayed almost three weeks and we'll miss them, but it will also be kind of nice to settle back into our (ever-changing) routine as a family of four. (Wow! That still feels surreal to say/type!)

It was so nice to have them here because Mabel loves Xiaoxuan (her namesake) and it meant two extra sets of hands to help. T's sister-in-law usually cooked one meal a day and she basically held Clarkie whenever it was daytime and I wasn't feeding him. (We told her not to, because, Babe, when your sister leaves, he is not going to be happy that he's not being held 24/7, but honestly, I'm not too worried because Clarkie is my second baby and I'm happy to report that I'm much more relaxed about stuff like this, and really, it's nice that someone was cuddling him because I still feel a little guilty that I haven't been able to cuddle him as often as I did Mabel because... we have Mabel *insert shrugging emoji here*.)

We tried to make it fun for them, too, at least as fun as it could be with a toddler and an infant in tow. We went to the aquarium (if I blogged about it, you would know that Mabel was scared of half of the exhibits, we spent a silly amount of money on a drink with a duck on it and a place for Mabel to play and me to sit and feed Clarkie, and I sprayed milk everywhere), took them out for burgers and Mexican food, I took Xiaoxuan for her first pedicure, and Tony took her to see The Lion King (I'm only a little jealous because we realized neither of us had seen a movie in theatre since before Mabel was born). We also just stayed inside a lot because Beijing is HOT in the summer, much too hot for a baby to be outside in the daytime and even sometimes the evening.

Some things that made me happy this week:

+ The messages I received after sharing this post.

+ T and I going out for a lunch date to celebrate Chinese Valentine's Day.

+ The margarita I drank on that lunch date.

+ The iced latte I brought home and drank while reading Recursion and holding a sleeping Clarkie.

+ T, Mabel, and I going out for ice cream, just the three of us.

+ Two new pairs of earrings (from this shop).

What made you happy this week?