Birthday Pizza Party

A few weeks ago, after we went to dinner for a friend's birthday, Jacob started thinking about what he wanted to do for his birthday. He decided he would like to have a make your own pizza party. So, since we got back from Hong Kong (Sunday night) I have been preparing for his birthday dinner. We had individual pizza crusts and lots of toppings for people to choose. Then we toasted marshmallows in the oven and had s'mores for dessert. It was a lot of fun!!

Keely sure liked her cheese pizza that Jacob made for her!

Happy Birthday Jacob

Thank you Grandma Kane for sending this picture. You definitely can tell who is Keely's daddy!

Busy Week

We go on vacation next week, so we have been busy trying to get a lot of things done before we leave. Monday, the girls and I played at the office in the morning. Tuesday morning we had to go to immigration and our visa was renewed. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we went to the office so I could work on my projects for our upcoming meetings. And of course Keely is a big help.

"Dad, I'm not sure that is a good idea. Let me think about it."

On Wednesdays during lunch, I have a study with the ladies in the office. So, Jacob and Keely do lunch together. Sometimes they go home and sometimes they go out. This week they went to Burger King and Keely got her very own Burger King crown. She was modeling it for me when we got home that evening, but by the time I got the camera she was ready to take it off!!

"May I take this off now?"

Keely's New Friend

Last Friday, a new family arrived to our city. They have a daughter who was born on September 1st as well! What a small world! Monday morning, we all played together while her parents had meetings. They seemed to be having fun, what do you think?

Teething

Keely is cutting her upper teeth and chews on anything she can. She enjoys chewing on her plastic links because they fit in her mouth just right and doesn't have to hold on to it. It is really funny to watch though. We were in the grocery store and she was sitting in the cart with the link in her mouth while she played with another toy. I couldn't help wonder what the other people in the store thought! Today she crawled all over the living room with the link in her mouth.

Gotta Get My Toys

Keely likes to pull up on anything she can, including the drawer that holds her toys. Her newest "game" is to lean over the drawer from the back and pull out all of her toys!

French Fry?

"Hey Mom, see the french fry Dad gave me."

Learning to Drive

The other day when we were getting Keely out of her car seat, Jacob pulled up to the front with him. She was so intrigued with what the front seat of the car looked like, so Jacob decided to let her get a feel for what's it like up front.

"Where to Dad?"

"Do I turn here?"

Hanging Out With Friends

The last couple weeks we have been pretty busy. But busy hanging out and catching up with friends! We had some friends come in town for a meeting and met them at the airport and hung out with them most of that day. Keely loved the additional attention!

That Friday, Jacob took the day off and the guys went golfing in the morning and the girls hung out. That afternoon we went swimming. In the evening, Keely got to play with a babysitter while the adults went to dinner and got shoulder and back massages. The next day our office had a 4th of July swim party. Keely was heaven with 2 days in a row of swimming! (One day we'll get a picture of her neat float she uses in the big pool). Monday night, another friend came into town and we got to hang out with her Tuesday and Wednesday morning before she had to be at her conference. Wednesday morning (July 4th) we went to a waterfall. That afternoon we went bowling with some friends. Keely loved all of the action going on there. Afterwards, we went to a friend's house and grilled out, made homemade orange sherbet (and Keely ate some) and did fireworks. Keely loved being with people all day long! We didn't have our camera nearby, but some friends took pictures so hopefully we'll post some of our 4th later!

Playing in the Pool

We were playing in the pool this afternoon, but Keely decided today that the grass looked like a lot more fun and tried to eat it (and suceeded a couple times)!

After the grass got boring, she did play with her ducks for awhile! We had a fun lunchtime!

Daddy's Big Helper

A little drool never hurts, huh?
(I guess I was wrong, because right after I posted this I looked down at Keely who was sitting in the chair with me playing with my cell phone and looks like a little too much drool got into it! Hopefully it dries out!)

"So, how do we install this dad?"

Reading Books

In the previous post, we posted a picture of Keely trying to get her books, but hadn't quite figured out how to do it. Well, a few days ago she figured it out and books were everywhere! But that's ok! We must have a reader on our hands, right?

"There's my books!"

"Mom, I'm going to read them all! Ok?"

Roofers

It has been really busy the past couple weeks. Our supervisor, who is the head of our office went back to the states, so we were busy with making a scrapbook, a reception and a lunch for them. Tuesday, we spent most of the day working on our visa...and have to go back next month to do it all over again. They are being much more thorough this time and everything is sent to Bangkok before we can be given a new 1 year visa. Both times we went to immigration on Tuesday, Keely and I both also had to make an appearance. The first time, after 30 minutes of a 9 month old wanting to get down and crawl or go take a nap, they finally let us go outside. Then Keely fell asleep on the way there in the afternoon, so she and I stayed in the truck until they needed us to make our appearance. On top of all of that and my computer crashing, we had roofers at our house for a week and a half! Below are pictures of how they fix your roof in Thailand! (At lunchtime and on breaks they also liked to sleep on my porch)!

Family Outing

A couple weekends ago, we went with some friends up the mountain for a picnic and to see the different waterfalls along the way. It rained, so we ended up eating in the car. However, it was still lots of fun and a lot cooler up there!!

9 months

Keely turned 9 months on June 1st. Boy has time just flown by! She is crawling (army crawling that is) all the time and exploring everything! Yesterday she found the package of diapers under her crib and helped me take them out of the package! Wasn't that sweet of her? Here are some pictures from the past few weeks!

"Oh, keep the light out of my eyes"

"If those are my books, why can't I reach them?"

"Mom, I just couldn't wait for you to undress me this morning.
I'm a busy girl and have places to crawl."

"Hurry up or I'll drive myself to the pool!"

TRYING to post

Trying is the key word there! I haven't posted in forever, because I haven't had a chance to download pictures. So, Keely is taking a nap and life is calm for an hour or so, so I'm trying to post. NO...that is the wrong answer Sara! My photoshop keeps crashing, so I can't edit my pictures! Come on, give me a break. I don't really know enough about code to do me any good...especially with software, but decided to look at the report after it crashed the 3rd time. In my summary of what it read, it told me it crashed. Thanks report for the help!! I'm off to restart and hopefully to post some pictures sooner than later!

Mimi and Ruff's visit

We had a great visit with my parents. It was way too short, but it was still great! We mainly just hung out, which was really nice after all of the traveling we had been doing. My dad helped Jacob with some "honey-do's" like hanging some blinds and pictures (drilling into concrete is a huge headache and any small project ends up having its problems)! The international school was hosting a garage sale, so my mom helped me sort and price and dad helped Jacob sell. They did a great job and came home with only a handful of items!

Keely had a great time getting to know Mimi and Grandpa Ruff too. She loved having so much undivided attention. After they left, it took a little adjustment back to our old routine!


Keely didn't know what to think of Grandpa Ruff at first. However, as you can see, she was checking him out and he turned out to be ok. She liked those whiskers! LOL!

What a great week! We miss you!

Quiet Saturday Morning

Keely and I are up playing on the floor, and I thought maybe I should post some pictures from our week when my parents were here. First though, we have had a busy week. Keely and I went to our first play group Thursday. Keely was proud of me, because I got out of my introverted self and found where they were meeting. Our friend that told us about the group wasn't able to go, so we weren't sure where they were meeting but I had a general idea where they met. So when I drove up, I saw a car parking, so I got out of the car and asked her if she was going to the play group and she told me where they were meeting. Then as we were parking, two other moms and their daughters were going in too. I thought Keely might be the youngest and that it would mainly be toddlers, but there were two little girls Keely's age. So, that was a lot of fun for both of us. Keely even tried to give one of the girls a kiss on the cheek!
In other news, Keely has been content to not be mobile, but she has started to figure out moving to get those runaway toys is fun! There goes my "velcro" days! This week she has been rolling and scooting all around! It'll be soon! Her favorite thing to do is have us hold her hands and walk her around the living room!

Jacob "dancing" with Keely on his feet. She didn't know what to think about this! I think she likes the floor better.

Mimi and Ruff Come for a Visit

Keely is SO excited that her mimi and ruff have come to visit. She says being spoiled by the grandparents is the best!

Trip to China

We had a great time in China. For three weeks of travel, Keely did a fabulous job. Here are just a few pictures from our adventure.

Never thought I would ever see North Korea. Can you see it there behind us?

Go Seminoles!

I'm such a cute bunny! My new friends gave
me these neat new ears.

All this travel wore me out. It's nice to sleep in my mommy pouch!