2 CUTE 2B2

She's precious! She's adorable! We love her, and she's two. If you ask her, she usually tells you she's three, but she is, in fact, two.

She is a talker. She picks up on vocabulary almost instantly. She and Archie can switch from babble to English now! It's pretty funny to hear some of the things they talk about. Today, he told her to be careful with her toy pet, Fat Rat, and keep up with it. "OK," she replied. She likes learning. She mastered the colors awhile ago and is working on her uppercase letters and counting. We'll do one morning of Mother's Day Out each week and one day of Bible study for social skills.

She's pretty much fearless. We go to the hotel pool nearly everyday, and she's not afraid to put her head under. The only things she's scared of are leaves floating on the surface and pretty much anything with four legs. I think I wish she would develop a little healthy fear (or caution)...

She's also fully potty trained other than the occasional accident. It's really nice to finally be diaper free! She likes to do things the grown up way, and got her toenails painted pink for the first time on her birthday. She also demands big kid toothpaste. I keep the amount less than pea sized because she doesn't quite have the spitting down...

Happy Birthday, little Princess!

Six Years Plus Five Kids

The last time my college pals, Rebecca, Angela, and Hannah and I were all together one of us wasn't even married. We said goodbye to Hannah in '05 then started scattering around three different continents and four different countries. Although several of us have individually had opportunities to see each other over the last six years, this was the first time we all four shared together. It was so great for everybody to reunite (minus one husband).

Girls and kids. Archie's the oldest and baby Conner wins the youngest prize.With Hannah headed back home overseas and another reunion looking like it will be at least two more years away, we have a bet going on. Next time we're guessing we'll have NINE kids between us (one more for everybody).

Just the girls.
We loved having the reunion on a farm. Hope to post some pics of farm life soon.

One Year

Yesterday marked one year since we left China. It really doesn't seem like it could be possible but it was. I marked the anniversary by creating a photo memory book of our three years in China on Snapfish. I'll celebrate/remember our one year on our blog by posting pics of the kids then and now.

Plane ride home:


Grace's pre-2nd birthday party with Memaw and Papa:

Archie and his new guitar:

Family Portraits

The Kiss

Grace's big cousin, Jacob, caught her off guard in the parking garage of the Children's Museum of Norfolk. LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic (minus, of course, that grainy quality from shooting with a point-n-click in a dark garage).

Archie is standing over my shoulder and begged for this pic of him driving the bus to be posted :)

Archie Sings the Presidents

After much work, Archie has finally mastered the U.S. Presidents. He was so proud of himself when I made the recording this morning. Afterward, we took a trip to Target to buy his long awaited first guitar. He has wanted it so badly to take to all the free kids' concerts here, and I hope that someday he can learn to really play it.

Pool Fun 2011

One of the pluses of staying in a hotel all summer is the pool. We greet Daddy at the door and rush down to the pool as soon as he comes home from work each day.

The Daddy toss is by far the kids' favorite activity.

Hanging out in the water is pretty fun, too. Archie still hasn't taken a big interest in swimming and doesn't like getting his hair wet. Doesn't keep him out of the pool, though.