ducks

While these pictures may look sweet and serene I must admit that usually when I leave the house I am constantly worried that one of the kids is going to run out into the street, fall in a lake or just fall down and start screaming. Most of the time I end of carrying both kids, which is now almost 50lbs. I have been working really hard on getting the babies to hold hands when we out out places. Hopefully in they will get better at it soon.

books

The kids LOVE to read books. Books are their favorite toys. They don't just flip through the pages, the look at each page and point to the things that they recognize. They often come and sit down on our laps with a book in their hands saying "book, book, book" and nodding their heads.

Regardless of what the book is about they are ecstatic if they can find a dog or a cat. They aren't talking much yet but the use a lot of signs that they learned from Baby Signing Time. They make all the signs they know when ever they recognize something in a book.


Here the babies are reading "Where the Wild Things Are". They love the book, but I'm pretty sure they aren't ready for the movie.

at this age...

At this age we like to climb up on top to chairs, tables and book cases....

we like to get stuck in strange places....

and we don't like to be locked up.

why, mom why?

Maya was really not interested in having her photo taken for her visa. Maybe I shouldn't have offered to let her watch Yo Gabba Gabba before I remembered that I needed to take the photos.

snuggle time

The babies are getting even more snugly these days, and I love it. They nuzzle their little heads into my neck and wrap their arms around my shoulders when they are upset and when they are ready to sleep.

They even have started to be snugly with each other. Sometimes when they are sitting in their booster seats, they will lean their heads towards each other and smile. They like to hold hands in their car seats, and sometimes (with a little encouragement) they will run up to each other and knock each other down with hugs.

When I came into the room a couple of days ago, I found Maya with her head on Max's shoulder. I was too late to catch it on camera, but I love that they like each other so much. Of course, they also take toys from one another and fight for Mom and Dad's attention, but they really do like to be together.

mangoes and a sunday walk

latest on the house

Yesterday, we finally had a sunny day, and we had professional photos taken of the house. Our realtor sent a stager over last week to help us get ready. Saturday, we had some landscaping done to clean up the yard. Everything is now in order. Finally our MLS listing is completely finished.

The stagger had us take down all personal photos and religious art. We cleared off the bookshelves and added decorations to the bathrooms. Thankfully, she loved all the Mayan weavings and used a lot of them to decorate walls that were once covered with family photos. It was fun to see how someone else (with more decorating skills) could use my things to make the house look nice.

We had our first showings on Sunday. Five families came to see the house on the first day. We feel very optimistic that the house is going to sell qucikly.

It feels pretty strange to live in the house that we are showing. My yard has never looked this nice, and there is no clutter anywhere (other than the garage which is starting to fill up with things for a future garage sale). Even my closets are clean. If only I could live this way all the time. (If I had all my brothers and sisters here, I would feel like we were the Bluth Family.)

Thankfully, the babies have been good sports about not having all their fun toys out. This is due in large part to the fact that we have taken several trips to Chick-fil-A. Max and Maya have reached the developmental milestone where they are more excited to play than eat. When we arrive at the parking lot, they start kicking their legs and squealing with joy.

anyone want to buy our house?

Katy, TX, Kelliwood Gardens subdivision

$240,000- 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 3000+sqf. Granite counter tops, hardwood flooring, porcelain tile, mature landscaping with koi pond and fruit trees.

Here is our current link on the MLS. By the end of the week we are going to have a professional stagger, landscaper and professional photographer out at the house and the MLS will be updated.

We have listed out house with a realtor but we get a discount if we find our own buyers....so here is our shot in the dark.

We are also open to trading houses with someone who lives in Auckland, NZ.....just in case someone in Auckland is planning on moving to Katy, TX, and happens to read our blog.....you never know. :)

nana and papa

My parents are moving to London and were kind enough to stop by Houston on their way out. My Dad was only able to come for a little over 24 hours. My mom stayed for 4 days.
The babies sure love their Nana and Papa.

Moving to New Zealand....

We are moving to New Zealand!!! We got an offer this week, and this morning Lonnie formally accepted the offer. Lonnie will need to start work in January, so we have a lot to get done in the next couple of months. We are thrilled, scared, and overwhelmed with everything we need to do.....sell the house, move our storage to Utah, sell the cars, get visas, etc.

Neither one of us have ever been to New Zealand, but everyone we have talked to has told us great things. Thankfully, the kids are young enough that they don't get too much say in things at this point, but we think even they will love it. We are looking forward to the adventure.

We would love any contacts, congratulations, advice, etc.

Read the story of how it happened in the previous post.....