Second last entry...

My mom ('Grandma') with Brennan in the summer

Sick Brennan getting his medicine

I haven't posted in 10 weeks.  Brutal for a blogger.

Back in July, Lil B and I spent a month in Canada.  It was an incredible time with family and friends. Brennan got to meet everyone and soaked up the love and attention.

Shortly after returning to Hong Kong, Brennan had his first cold and fever, followed by another fever.  It was a couple weeks of misery for the poor kiddo.  More importantly, we got news that my mom's cancer is back (never left?) so Brennan and I are moving home on Monday (tomorrow) to be with the family.  Mike will stay here, but will fly back and forth a couple of times before moving home in January.

Poor sick kid

So, this will be my second last blog post...

Since deciding to move home, it has been the 'Trish & Brennan Farewell Tour' here in Hong Kong.  While there wasn't nearly enough time to do everything I would have liked, we were able to say goodbye to many of the wonderful friends we have made here.  They made our final days here feel special, and they are one of the biggest reasons I will miss Hong Kong.

Our final dim sum dinner... yum yum dim sum!

Given Brennan and I are moving half way around the world on short notice, time is tight, so I will allow the pictures to do the talking.

Farewell Lunch - Dustin, Rina, Me, Mike

Cantonese School friends - Ayu, Mimi, Chi (Brennan), Me (Lucas). Photo from Ayu

Farewell Party hosted by Beth.  Photo from Beth.
Back- Stu, Jen, Me, Natasha, Mike, Beth, Pat
Middle - Rhys
Front - Olivier, Gillian, Mel, Andrew

Foley and his son - packing in the quality time

Farewell Bender - Great night, horrid morning.

Mom's Group Baby Circle - SO much CUTENESS

Bachelorette in BALI!

Gorgeous pool

At the villa entrance

Another amazing thing about living in HK? When it's time to celebrate upcoming nuptials of a friend, you can hop on a plane and vacation in incredible places in Asia for a long weekend... our choice = Bali!

Natasha is a wonderful friend that we met once living in HK.  She is getting married next month, so obviously this was a great excuse to celebrate for a weekend away.  Also in attendance was our chief-organizer-and-party-girl Beth, deceivingly-sweet-wild-child Mel, and surprise visitor Shan Andrea, Natasha's future sister-in-law who flew in all the way from France!

Me and Natasha - Beautiful bride-to-be

Full disclosure: We planned this weekend while I was pregnant.  At the time I thought 'gosh, after 3 months of diapers and sleepless nights I'm going to need a break away from the baby'.  The reality was the exact opposite.  It was hard, really hard, to leave little B for three whole days.  But, I truly knew he would be fine (Daddy-Fole was itching for the time alone with the little guy, a true 'boys weekend') and I knew I would enjoy the time with the girls once I pried myself away from my baby.

I'm sure there are many people out there judging me... judge away.

Natasha, Shan Andrea, Beth, Me and Mel at Mexicola

So, once we checked in and raised a glass to 'cheers' in the lounge, our holiday had begun!  (Amazing travel agent got us upgraded to business class!  Yippee for free wine and comfy seats!)  We arrived in Bali late Friday night to Mel and Shan Andrea friends already there.  The surprise was awesome!  Natasha was amazed with it all, especially her sister-in-law from afar!

Mel and Beth at Mexicola

Bedroom - GORGEOUS!

Bathtub

Outdoor bathroom

Outdoor Dining Room

The villa was the most beautiful I have ever stayed in!  It was located about 20 minutes outside of the closest city (Seminyak), out in the rice patty fields.  Gorgeous.  Because it was outside of the city, it was spacious and had a beautiful big green lawn.  Being from HK, we don't get to see a lot of grass.  There were two pools with lots of greenery around.  Outdoor dining room, living room and all of our bathrooms attached to each bedroom were also outside.  Absolutely stunning.

'Visitor'  Hahaha.

We ventured out of the villa for dinner and an awesome bar called Mexicola on Saturday night.  Sunday we stayed in and had some hilarious visitors over instead.  Some wild times, great laughs, and less sleep than I would've gotten at home with the baby.  It was a legendary weekend celebrating the upcoming wedding of an amazing girl.

As I need to run off to the airport soon, I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...  (some photos are mine, some are from Beth's phone and Mel's phone).

Playtime in Phuket!

Dustin & Rina in a tuk-tuk

Life will not always be like this little one.

Our dear friend Dustin turned 30!  How do you celebrate such a momentous occasion when living in Hong Kong?  You fly to Thailand, naturally.

Cute baby, ugly passport.

Lil B in airplane bassinet

Eight of us (plus baby) rented a villa in Phuket for a long weekend in May (May 2-4 at home, Buddha's birthday in HK).  Amazing.  It was lil B's first flight so there was some prep work in terms of getting a passport (hideous photo of an otherwise cute baby), getting his visa (oops, missed that step) and figuring out what to pack (oodles of baby stuff).  Luckily HK customs was pretty forgiving of our illegal son being allowed back into HK without a proper visa.

The boys: Foley, Lil'B, Dustin, Rhys

The Girls: Natasha, Heather, me, Rina, Beth

In our crew were the bday boy Dustin & his wife Rina, their visiting friend Heather, our engaged Brits Natasha & Rhys, the hilarious wild-child Beth, Foley, Lil'B and moi.  A stellar group of friends and a baby.

Being a 30th birthday celebration, the general scene wasn't typical for a 10 week old baby.  However the beautiful thing about little babies is that they adjust.  He napped on the villa sofa, took his 'bath' in the shower, and slept through the late night drinking and partying happening around him.  He even slept in a couple of mornings.  Best. Baby. Ever.

sleep in... zzzzzzz...

100% UVA protection

Not bad for a first swim!

Our days were pretty relaxed and lazy around the villa.  It was Brennan's first swim in a pool... sooo cute.  This mom *may* have gone a little overboard with the sun protection.  We played cards, swam, napped and ate.  Granted, Mike and I had a slightly different weekend than our friends; with far less drinking, less sleeping, and more poopy diapers, but it all worked and we all had a great time.  I took one night 'off', when Mike fed lil'B formula and I participated in the nights activities... a fun highlight for me until the 6AM wake up.

YUMMY thai food!

A few things that make Thailand one of my favourite places:
1)  The truly kind people.  I wasn't even worried when two of our friends went 'missing' for a night.  After a wee bit too much sauce, they got lost and couldn't find their way home.  In most countries this would be cause for concern, but in Thailand you just know some locals will eventually help them find their way home.  To generalize, the people we have found to be caring and sincere.
2) Delicious Food!  Who doesn't love Thai food?
3) Above and beyond service (ESPECIALLY when compared to HK, which is NOT service oriented). A guy at our favourite restaurant would drive us home after meals and even came to pick us up in the rain without asking for a penny (consequently, we ate there a lot).
4) Lanterns!  A beautiful thai tradition to light lanterns on the beach and release them. We didn't do this last time Mike and I were there, so I was glad that we did it all together this time.

Beth & I with lantern

Natasha & Rhys with lantern

The Foley's with lantern

Dustin & Rina with lantern

Taken by Mike Foley... those certainly aren't my feet.

Finally, here are some pictures of the beach, random fun times, and our lovely villa on a hill...

It was a great holiday we were happy to spend with such great friends.  Thank you for celebrating your 30th with us Dustin!

Taken by Mike Foley.

Living room with walk out to pool deck

The kitchen

The pool with a view

Electric Circus tuk tuk... complete with black lights and pounding bass.

Natasha, me, Rina, Beth

The beach at night.

Auntie Beth, Brennan & Foley

Some people are tough to impress.

Welcome to the world, Brennan!

About 10 minutes old

Lil B meeting HK 'Aunties' - 1 day old

On Sunday, March 10th, at 11:27pm, Brennan William Foley was born.  We chose the name because Brennan is Mike's middle name, and his grandmother's maiden name, and William is Mike's dad's name.

Lil B (as we seem to call him) is a sweet boy with a wonderful temperament.  I have been loving these early weeks with him and admittedly neglecting my blog posts because of it.

Our beautiful room.

View from our balcony

As posted before (Pregnancy Princess), the hospital was a luxurious experience with delicious meals we chose by menu, 24 hour 'bell' service support of midwives and nurses, and private room accommodations where Mike had his own pull out bed to stay the nights with us.  In a challenging time with lots to learn, we couldn't have asked for anything more.

Weekly update photo to family

Weekly update photo to family

In many ways (despite the 5-star hospital), it's tough having a baby, a first baby, so far from home.  To stay connected, we send weekly photos and updates home to family.  It's a small reconciliation for having their grandson/nephew/cousin so far away.  A few times in these updates I have included short videos for them to see Lil B in action.  If you're interested, here are the links:

Loved having mom & dad here for Lil B's arrival!

4 weeks video link
5 weeks video link
8 weeks video link

The first month or so of Brennan's life is a bit of a haze.  Yes, there were some sleepless nights and challenges with feeding and figuring out this whole parenting thing... but generally it was a blissful haze.  Now days are becoming more predictable and lil B is becoming more interactive and smiley, it's even more wonderful.  I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story, as they are so much more fun than words.

One day old, holding dad's finger

About 1 week old

Big Smiles! 7 weeks

Bath time! 7 weeks

Getting chunky... as babies should!

Precious big 'good morning' smiles!

Beautiful boy - 8 weeks old

Playing with Dad - 9 weeks old

Playing with mom - 9 weeks old

Looking out on our big city!