Happy 2nd Birthday Archie!!!

Today is Archie's 2nd Birthday. As we did with his first birthday, we'll probably celebrate it several times with different people. Today, Archie got his present from GrandMa. We took Archie down to the big baby/toddler store in town and let him pick out one toy (as per GrandMa's instructions). We had to help him a little bit, since narrowing his choices down to just one was a little bit difficult for him. But I think as you can see from the pictures below he is pretty happy:

Looks like GrandMa got Archie his very on tent with colored balls. He's a big fan. We took Archie out for dinner with a few other teachers in the area and then celebrated with his very own funfetti birthday cake!

We'll probably celebrate again in a few days when some more friends come over from the USA. If we add that to the party we had with Grandma and Grandpa in Thailand, Archie will get to celebrate his 2nd birthday 3 times!

Aunties

One of the best things about being back home is all the visits from friends we've had! Archie sure enjoys all the attention he gets from his Aunties. (Where we live, kids call people of their parents' generation Aunt and Uncle and older people Grandmother and Grandfather regardless of if the relationship is close or if it's a first-time meeting.) I am so proud of how Archie greets his Aunts, Uncles, Grandmothers and Grandfathers by the correct term (most of the time) now.

Language tutor Auntie:

College friend Aunties:

Tomorrow (9/15) is Archie's 2nd Birthday. Happy Birthday, Archie! (I'm making a slide show video, but I don't think I'll have it posted by tomorrow.)

Gone camping: a campsite tour

OK, I'm finally posting the pics of our new campsite (uh...apartment). Although it looks fairly nice, everything is always falling apart...the floor, the walls, stuff in the bathroom, the kitchen sink, etc. We've just decided to pretend we're camping for the next year. After all, you don't really need nice stuff at a campsite, do you? (That being said, I just paid the landlord about $35 bucks to fix the floor that wasn't put in quite right and to adjust the squeaky door so it doesn't wake up Grace when we go in to check on her or retrieve something from her office/bedroom...)

Tent entrance:

Baby playground:
Toddler lounging area:
Wide angle of the large forest clearing we inhabit mainly: (You can tell me how ugly the big orange chair is and I won't be mad - believe me the bright blue paw-print sofa is worse - but it is a pretty comfortable chair.)

Campfire: No gas for a campfire is in the apartment so we have a single electric burner by our mini fridge.

A few camp cooking utensils:

The campsite chef making Hamburger Helper imported from down south! What a delicacy! Beside it you can see our toaster oven.

Camp washroom: How many campsites have hot water heaters (that must be turned on before showering) and washing machines? Luxury!

Camp latrine: (The mop is necessary for mopping up the water that goes everywhere every time you shower or bathe babies.)

The best news about our campsite? We have a campsite helper now who cooks, cleans, washes clothes and helps watch kiddos 18 hours/week.

We're also buying a new washer tomorrow that doesn't have to be manually filled with water twice each load, drained twice each load, and have it's contents shifted into the separate spinner.

All in all, pretty nice campsite, huh? Come visit us, and we'll make you s'mores (if you furnish the marshmallows)!

Grace's life at home

Mommy loves Grace! Isn't she beautiful? Actually, she has both baby acne and eczema really badly and her face isn't too cute sometimes. Hunter and I never thought we'd be retouching baby skin tones, but the pic looks a lot better with her not all red. She should outgrow at least the baby acne in a few months. Whatever she looks like, she is still our little princess.

The Grace "O." We think it is so cute when she makes a perfect O with her mouth like that!
Hokie Grace. Even though it is only the beginning of September, we already have to bundle her up to take her outside. Here's her Hokie hat.

My favorite time of the day!

Both kids asleep. Does life get better than that?


This is also a first for both kids. Since birth, Grace has been sleeping in her travel cot in the bed with me. Since we moved last week, Archie has been sleeping in his bed with Hunt. Now, Grace's travel cot has been moved bassinet-style into her crib and she is sleeping solo. Archie is also sleeping solo in his first big-boy bed. Parental sleep quality improves!

Archie's life at home

Archie likes our new apartment. He finally has his own room. He thinks it's pretty cool. "Room time" has become a part of everyday. Archie is learning to play by himself in his room for awhile and clean up afterward I love the drawers in his bed. One has toys and one has books. Bigger toys go on the blue and yellow mat.

I wasn't a big fan of the cow sheets at first, but they've grown on me.

I had to make new passport pictures of our family for our new visas the other day. Archie's actually turned out cute (at least with a little retouching).

This pic is from before Grace's birth. The workers planting flowers thought
he was so cute they gave him one - pot and all! (Unfortunately, my hands were full so we had to leave it on the side of the road when he finished. Hopefully, it got reworked into the landscaping!)

More newborn favorites

In Thailand, they celebrate Mother's Day on the Queen's birthday. In honor of the Queen, one of the malls made a beautiful tulip display, which I had fun photographing.

Hunt's Dad helped me take these next two with me and my girl:

Now moving back to our apartment photo studio

Grace in our arms:

Grace in Hunt and his mother's arms: