Ben, Em, Diana, and Helen

We took two cameras to Bali, and when we returned home, we realized we only had the cable for one, so half of our photos are trapped on Ben’s camera for now.  Here is a brief look of our trip in Bali.  Helen was a happy girl for the trip, and Diana’s favorite part was our trip to the Monkey Forest (luckily we were able to download those pictures).  We got to walk through a beautiful forest teeming with monkeys, and other, perhaps more fascinating, wildlife…..

[Show as slideshow]

We went to a neighborhood Christmas Eve party and got the girls all dressed up.  Both girls had a good time, and we were happy to have left before Santa arrived (a few of the other 3 and unders were a little cranky by that point).   Diana seemed to understand the concept of Santa, in that he would come and bring chocolate and presents.  On Christmas morning, it took her a while to even see her stocking (which “Santa” left hung up on her dresser).  Once she saw it, she loved taking out all of the things and looking at each one throughly.  She got some crayons, and took them out to draw, and then saw that Santa had left an even bigger present – her new red kitchen set.  She has been playing with it non-stop since then.  We, er, I mean Santa, was clever enough to hide the rest of her and Helen’s presents inside the various doors, so she had a lot of fun finding everything.  Hope you all enjoy the photos!

[Show as slideshow]

1 2 ►

Here’s a little look at what our daily life is like here 🙂  Sorry about the camera work…

tummytime

Here’s some more pics of our recent adventures.  As you can see, Helen is growing and enjoying sitting up in her Bumbo, or her saucer.  She loves watching Diana run around and dance, and judging by her laughter, seeing Diana cough was the funniest thing she’s seen yet.  We went to the pool this weekend, and Diana was a fearless swimmer and didn’t want any help from daddy, although she put up with it when she realized what would happen if he let go.  Diana has also discovered M&M’s, and got a blue one in the tub as a treat this week – she’s savors them, and that combined with the drool made for a pretty funny picture.  Enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

We’ve been missing seasons back in the US, and Thanksgiving snuck up on us here in Tembagapura.  Luckily the teachers invited us to their Thanksgiving feast (we’re one of the few couples in town with no kids in the school yet, so there was no conflict of interest).  We had a wonderful meal, and both girls behaved themselves very well.  You can see from the pics below how much Helen has grown.  She’s a very happy baby who is a wonderful napper.  Still working on sleeping through the night, but she rarely cries, so it’s not too bad.  Diana is getting much more active, running around the neighborhood, and enjoying going to the Sport Hall with a racquetball and running in circles.  She knows the difference between underhand and overhand throwing, and actually has a pretty good sidearm as well, so we’ll be signing her up for baseball soon 🙂  Her hair has gotten so long that I can braid it now – I usually have to bribe her with television to get her to hold still long enough, but she loves watching the ballet sequences from the two Fantasia movies (and one from the movie Center Stage), so that makes it easier.  I think she’ll be the first little league pitcher to wear a tutu to the mound!  That’s all for now.  Missing you all and the cold weather you’re having.  (Diana saw the heavy fog outside this weekend and starting shouting “it’s snowing out side!!!” very excitedly.  We’ll have to get her to see real snow sometime!).

[Show as slideshow]

We had a wonderful afternoon at the Halloween Carnival, and Diana was able to wear her same costume from last year (!).  Helen only lasted about 5 minutes in her felt pea costume, it was just too hot.  We were a big hit in our HERO shirts (the local grocery store cashier lent us two XXL shirts for the day).  Helen has been growing like a weed, and is starting to smile and coo a lot more.  She’s also able to hold a rattle now, as evidenced by the picture below (I think she looks like a Brando-esque street tough).  Diana is talking a mile a minute and is really learning a lot of new words, both English and bahasa Indonesia.  Her new trick is to squat on her little potty – a trick I think she picked up by watching her Indonesian friends use their squat toilet.  Enjoy the pics, and more to come soon.

[Show as slideshow]

This is what happens when Diana gets half a donut before dinner…. it lasted for about half an hour!

Donut…Donut…I’m a little dizzy!

We all had a great weekend and here’s some pictures:

[Show as slideshow]

Here at last are pictures from our layover in Australia and then our vacation in Chicago before Helen was born. Since we’ve got our hands full with two, we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves for now…

[Show as slideshow]