Prep for the Berlin trip

In the process of applying for Sam and Maries Austrian passports and stuff we had to go to Berlin basically to prove that they exist or something like that. It was a crazy trip and with the right preparation it turned out to be a lot of fun and not too expensive. :) Oh, I love trains especially the ones with kiddie compartments!

We decided to plan out what we were going to take to survive the day with the two kids. As we thought about it we decided to take out super stroller and boy are we glad we did. It was so nice to have and as you can see from the pictures when collapsed down it really isn't much bigger than the other stroller. It was easy to collapse and put back together and it held our stuff (diapers for the day, food, extra clothes, etc) and the babies so it was perfect for the trip! :)


This is the new ritual called babies sleep well dance. Yup, in hopes that the two would sleep well and get there quickly so they could be rested for the 6am departure the next morning and not be screaming the whole trip because they are too tired to cope with anything dance. I think Arnold did a great job, and for the most part it was a very successful dance. Maybe we should have him do it on a more regular basis. :)

Philipp is back!

Arnold's brother, Philipp, got back from his mission in Russia last week. We got to go to the airport to pick him up. For me this was the first time I've seen him since Arnold and I got married and it has been so much fun to see him again. He did a great job on his mission and I'm sure Russia is sad to have him go but we are glad to have him back.

Unfortunately most of our pictures didn't turn out wonderfully since there was much chaos with 2 kids and a camera in a strange environment. But we did get some cute ones of Philipp and Marie. She is very curious about her newly discovered Uncle and enjoys having him around.

This is the only other picture we have that shows his face. Julie, Christoph and Emily are also in the picture.

Welcome Home Philipp! We've missed you!

6+ months and almost 2 years

Well I have to admit I should have done this a few days ago but I haven't . We decided to have Marie's 6-7month checkup and Sam's 2 year check up at the same time since it could work that way so I guess it's a little later for her and early for him but it saved on trips to the Dr which always saves in sanity. So here it is. (I had to do the conversions so hopefully I did it right)
Samuel:
Weight: 28.5 pounds
Height: 34.7 inches
Head: 20 inches
Other: Handsomest little man ever and a delight to have around always.
Interests: Trains, Airplanes, Drawing (especially with LILA!), climbing everything, reading, running, laughing, and overall being an exhausting joy to have around.

Marie:
Weight: 17.6 pounds
Height: 26.5 inches
Head: 17 inches
Other: The cutest most beautiful little dainty girl you ever did see
Interests: Dancing, laughing, eating (boy does she enjoy eating), exploring everything, chewing on everything, trying to keep up with her big brother, and bringing smiles to everyones faces.
Newest achievements in the last week to add to crawling and standing up on her own...

Sits on her own (and eats grass on her own too along with other things but grass is pictured here)

Climbs stairs (luckily these are the only ones she has access too right now)

And for other random fun cuteness...

Boy do I miss eating corn. At least I get to enjoy watching 2 of my favorite people eat it. :)


Sleeping babies are always the best!

Chillin on the kitchen floor is always fun on a hot afternoon.

It was a very hot day that we chose to go out and pick berries so Arnold pulled out a hat or two. Sam found one for himself in the kitchen cupboards.

Crawling

So here's the start of the full crawl. I love how deliberately she places her hands each time and how she smiles the last time. She's just so happy and cute!

Starting to crawl

Yup, She's at a full crawl. It went through a few phases before she got there but she's definitely there now. Here's a video of just before the crawl. Kinda looks like she's doing the butterfly or whatever that swimming thing is. (no I'm not a swimmer and do not like the water much) Anyway, she's pretty fast at it and very mobile at this point.

Absence...

So I just want to do a quick apology for my absence. I have excuses of course like a visiting friend, getting REALLY sick with a stomach bug, no internet for a week. I think that covers atleast 3 weeks or more of my time missing. So here's to trying to catch up for the next little while.

In my absence a lot has changed, mostly with Marie. Here are a few pictures from today one of which might give you some ideas...

Matching babies. So cute but so wiggly. When will they ever hold still for a picture? And why is it that they always play on my lap? It is cute though.
Sam is so flexible. Not too many boys would play in this position for at least 5-10 min.
Any finally...

You can guess how she got there by the grin on her face. She is fast and determined. So now I just have to keep up with both of them. Lucky for me Arnold is going to be home for a while now. :)

Oh and for those who are wondering. I keep forgetting to put this on but the song Sam sings is Twinkle, twinkle little star. Just in case you were wondering.

Interaction

So for the last month or so Sam and Marie are starting to interact more. It's really fun to watch as they start to play together. This first video was almost a month ago. It might sound like she's squealing in pain or crying but she is really laughing. I think Sam says draw in german but I'm not sure...you'd have to ask Arnold. I also like the way he wants her to get up about 5 sec into the video.



This next video was last week. I can never seem to get the moment at it's best but this is pretty close. Sam and Marie were alternating slapping the tray and giggling and it was just too much fun. I almost didn't get a video because we were all having so much fun and laughing that I didn't think about it till it was almost over. Marie isn't giggling but she was just before I got the camera. It's still cute.

[EDIT: we can't seem to get the video to post, we are working on it]