Ian's First Photos--birth to 6 weeks!

These are the first pictures of Ian. When he was born the social workers from our adoption agency flew from Dallas with him to San Antonio where he lived with foster parents the first 6 weeks of his life. His foster parents are lovely Christian people and they took excellent care of him. Ian even had a big sister during that time who was very helpful in caring for him--the foster parent's teenage daughter.

It took some doing, because the memory card had been lost, but his foster Mom found these photos and sent them to us. What a blessing!

Mommy holding both babies!

Granny White with her newest grandchild--#11

Granny White and foster Mom introducing Olivia--
I think she just poked him in the eye.

Post #101--New House

Well, as we are cleaning and getting ready for our American visitors we thought we would take a few pictures. It might not be as clean for a while. Also, while clean, we had our first home inspection. With this move we got a new rental agent and she is very good at her job. Every agent is supposed to do this every three months, this one actually does. Today was her three month cycle and even though we have only been here a month we were on the visit list. Very nice. We also had a visit from the owner (who is such a nice man) to fix a fuse. You will see our very exciting fuse box (for our American viewers) in a bit. One blew last night and we couldn't fix it ourselves. Anyway, here it is--our new house. We hope we get to live here for many years. It came decorated with these papers, etc, not necessarily what we would have picked but better than bare walls.

View looking into our hall from the front door.

Everyone should have a changing table in the hall!

Immediately to the right is the "lounge"...
never mind the toddler trying to kill her baby brother.

Daddy sitting in the window seat in the lounge.

Our fire place/heater and the very expensive fire guard!

Also the world's largest floor lamp!

The back wall. Our couches will only fit lined up here.

We bought these second hand. The slip covers are washable.

Inside the front door to the left is our room.

Ian naps in here.

Down the hall to the left, other bedrooms and bathroom.

To the right the kitchen, laundry, & toilet.

Guest room

Guest room looking into the hall.

Looking into the babies' room.

Olivia's corner (the quilt hides the wallpaper

she peeled off the wall--in her defense,

it was loose).

Ian's corner--I haven't gotten to paint his letters yet.

The "manrobe" they share. We put in an

extra rail so we can hang up all of their clothes in there.

The bath room--new.

Looking into the kitchen--my favorite room!

My favorite part of the room!

Olivia's Fiesta dress from last year.

Our Fiesta posters--2003 (anniversary),

2007 (Olivia), 2008 (Ian)

Out towards the back yard.

More Texas kitch...

We love our deck. It's great for entertaining.

To the left...there is about 20 sf of grass back there.

We bought that set on clearance for $300 NZD (really great deal).

To the right, the church gave us this set.

So we can seat 10 people outside--cool!

This gorgeous rock wall runs all down that side

of the house. Part of it is covered in ivy that

Granny White will love!

Down the right of the house to the front.

Down the left of the house--its all fenced.

Back into the hall from the kitchen.

The fuse box!

The man comes once a month (into the house)

to read the meters.

Back down the hall to the front door.

Our front porch--the last of the boxes!

We have a gorgeous pink Hibiscus--

like the one my lovely mother-in-law bought us

in AL that I hauled all over the country for 5 years.

Our new (to us) Honda van--brought

"Sunshine" home today!

The front of our "bungalow."

To the right--never mind the laundry.

Our big front yard!

THE END

New Happenings

It's been a busy few weeks: packing, moving, unpacking, settling-in, mountains of laundry and very busy children. Ian is still cruising around the furniture. He has had a stern warning that if he starts to walk at 9 mos he will spend a lot more time in the play pen. Will try to get pictures of the house this week to post. Until then--enjoy the kiddos.

Does this look familiar? Olivia used to do this too.

Ian and Olivia being silly

Ian's stands up without holding on (watch closely)

Olivia and Ian, March 2, 2009

Ian Eating and Laughing!

Flower Girl

This picture and video adds new meaning to the term flower girl. It was our last day in the old house and Olivia wanted to play flower in front of her mirror (the oven door).

Does this flower make my butt look big?

Just another day in the life...

So, the other day Ian managed to climb into his chair, turn himself around and sit down. Of course our camera batteries died in the middle of the operation. How long do you think it will be before he walking? This child isn't even 8 mos old yet? We are in so much trouble.

Growing Up Too Fast!

This has been a fun filled few weeks. Over the last 6 weeks we have had company for 5 of them. It's been so nice--especially the ever helpful, good natured, and EXCELLENT baby sitter our cousin Kimmie. Who knew having a 16 year old in the house could be so easy and so helpful. I think every home should have one!

Over the last few weeks...Kimmie taught Ian to crawl, which led to him pulling up; Olivia got a ride-on tricycle (her first); and the babies got their very own arm chairs for the living room. We've been to the beach like 4 times where Olivia loves to dig in the sand and helps Dad put up the sun tents. We have played outside a lot! Olivia loves it out there! And we keep working on finding new things to eat. Ian is eating baby food like a champ, which often leads Olivia to eat some too. Olivia loves eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, cheerios, yogurt, milk, apple juice, rice crackers, malt biscuits, broccoli, spaghetti sauce, toast, tuna casserole, egg salad, and tuna salad.

We also went to visit the Clapham Clock Museum here in Whangarei--it is the largest collection of clocks in the Southern Hemisphere.

This week will be very busy as we get ready to move into our new house. We are so excited! We'll be sure to put up new pictures after we get settled.

Kimmie and Ian--never mind the baby drool.

Ian loves his chair too!

Sweet boy...
No more pictures please...

Just a big girl--sitting a reading her book.

Olivia's new (to her) ride-on tricycle.

It has a seat belt!

Nana Shirley started the chair trend...

Olivia has this one too for when she's a little bigger.

She can't get in it by herself right now, without tipping over.

Olivia's first ride on her tricycle!