Life is getting back to normal...I think

I am finally starting to feel like we are getting back into a routine around here. When I walked into my new home two and half weeks ago and there were boxes everywhere and new responsibilities to take on I admit I was a little overwhelmed. I have almost finished unpacking all the boxes in all of our bed rooms but John's office looks pretty sad right now. It is becoming the "I'm not sure what to do with this yet" place to put things. I'm sure it doesn't create a very good work environment.

Kayleigh is doing well. She is doing well in pre-school. She doesn't cry when we drop her off but cries when we pick her up. We think that she really likes going and wants to go but by the three hour mark her little brain is fried from hearing a second language. Also, she doesn't like the soup that they made her eat! Her class spends time everyday singing as their teacher plays the piano. This is perfect for her since she LOVES music. We feel like it was a really sweet thing for the Lord to place her in a school that has lots of music. She also is constantly saying funny things which I should write down so I can tell her when she is older. For instance today she told me "Momma I like chocolate today". This was her way of asking for a donut. The thing is she loves chocolate everyday!

Today I took Zeb to buy shoes. I brought shoes from America but his feet seemed to grow two sizes in the last two weeks we have been here so the shoes I brought were too small. During that time he crawled all over me and knocked me on the floor while I was trying to listen in a second language about which shoes would be best for him. He of course was not going to sit quietly while I looked for shoes and even tore some part of the cardboard off a box which contained a car that I was trying to use to distract him. I think it is safe to say he is a true boy and is not a fan of shoe shopping. We did end up with a pair of shoes after the lady told me his foot was too fat for the pair I liked and he needed the other pair I picked out.

So life is just passing along here and we are doing great.

Swings, Swings and more Swings!

Kayleigh and Zeb love to be outside. At home in China we have a small little playground with slides. However, I have never seen a swing set or swings at a playground in China. They may have them somewhere but not to my knowledge. Kayleigh's favorite thing to do is swing. A little over a year ago, when we lived in Thailand for Zeb's birth, she would swing everyday for hours if we let her. So my goal this summer, while in the states, is take her to the park to swing as much as she can. Zeb loves it too! There are a lot of really neat playgrounds near both of our parents houses so we have been taking advantage of the swings. Here are some great pictures of the both of them. I love the bottom picture. Zeb has started to want to walk around holding our hands which means that he needs to wear shoes when we go outside. So far this hasn't gone over very well. This was the first day I put shoes on him. His reaction you ask? He continued to hit his shoes and screamed in frustration because he couldn't get them off. Lets hope I can convince him to wear shoes before we return to China. I can only imagine what the grandmas would say if I took him outside without shoes on.

Going Outside

It usually takes a few people and a good amount of resources to get ready to go outside. This time we were getting ready to ride a friend's electric scooter around town.

Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday

On Sunday we had Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday Party. All of her friends and team mates were able to come. Kayleigh had a blast and was exhausted after the day was done. Above are all of her friends that came to her birthday party. Kayleigh's Grammy made hats for all of her friends and as you can see we never successfully got a picture of them all wearing it. Some wanted to play with their hat while the others wanted to eat it!


I think this is a perfect example of one of Kayleigh's amazing facial expressions. She has just opened a princess dress with pink high heels from her Uncle Henry and Alana. As you can see she thought they were pretty great!

I had mentioned to a friend that I wanted to find Kayleigh a small broom for her to play with since she takes our helpers broom out of her hands all the time and tries to sweep the house. She even tries to sweep other things like the couch sometimes. Our friend Erin Ashley got her this broom, dustpan, and apron. The dust pan has her name on it. Ever since her party she has been sweeping every morning. This afternoon she decided to make a mess on the floor so that she would have something to sweep up. Clever! I think she looks like a little house wife in this picture.

Kayleigh and her friend Julianna were having a little fun before the party began. As you can see they were having a little trouble with their sunglasses!

Dragon Hat

Zeb received a Dragon hat and shoes from one of my teachers last week. Kayleigh wanted to try it on and have some fun with it.