Layla meets her family!

Yesterday afternoon, my parents brought Kayleigh and Zeb to the hospital to meet their new little sister. I have never seen Kayleigh so excited. They both were in awe of her. I just know they are going to be a great big sister and brother to her. Below is a picture of me with the two best nurses in the whole world. On the left is my roommate and dear friend from college Catherine. On the right is my sister. Since I went into labor and Layla was born two days early ( a story for another post) Catherine happened to be working and my sister too which was a huge blessing. They both assisted with the delivery. It is awesome to have two people that you know so well and know you so well in the delivery room with you. There were actually a lot of laughs going on during her birth. An experience I will never forget.

My parents

John's dad

John's step-mom

Beijing

As my parents were ending their time here we flew to Beijing with them to see some tourist sights. We had a wonderful time and John and I especially loved eating at Outback Steakhouse! It is a huge treat for us to eat there since we don't have many American restaurants located close to us.

We had a great time at the Great Wall. I can now say that I have been on the Great Wall with every one of my immediate family members except my brother Johnathan. Johnathan, you need to come over here! Despite my mom's fear of making it down the hill from the Great Wall on a sled, she did a great job. I was proud of her.

Everyday we were there we spent every morning site seeing. Kayleigh refused to take naps while we were there but the traveling got the best of her. This is a picture of her on a public bus. It was very crowded, loud and about 100 degrees yet she slept through it all! When it was time to get off the bus we had to pick her up and carry her. She was so tired!

The weather was unbelievably hot there. We would be outside for 15 mins and had already sweat through our shirts. Despite the heat we had a great time and I am so glad my parents got to see Beijing.

Baby Sarah

When you live overseas and you aren't able to see your family very often the friends that live around you become your family. Right now Kayleigh and Zeb have several people in their lives that are basically like aunts and uncles to them. These special people love on them all the time and Kayleigh even goes to some of their houses to spend the night. Just recently we had an addition to our little family over here. Her name is Sarah Dean and Kayleigh just loves her. Kayleigh basically mentions Sarah on a daily basis. Like today she was comforted to know that if she had to take a nap Sarah was mostly likely doing the same thing. Since Sarah is only 6 weeks old I could confidently tell her I was sure she was going to nap today. Kayleigh has even asked to spend the night with her which I kindly told her wasn't the best idea especially for her parents. We are all so excited that she has joined our family and can't wait to watch her grow!



Even though Sarah was not in the best of moods here, Kayleigh is smiling from ear to ear because she is holding her.

Family Reunion

This past summer my family attended a family reunion. I actually keep up with some of my distant cousins so I was really sad not to be able to make it. They made t-shirts for everyone including us even though we couldn't make it. Zeb's shirt was the only one that would fit in one of those envelopes that my mom's sends to us every once in a while. The t-shirt was supposed to be a 12 month size but I'm not so sure about that!



Check out this gut and the slobber! I'm not exactly sure how my son manages to stay hydrated through out the day with all the drooling he does.