Redhead???

Grandpa and Grandma Cole

Family Photo

elijah 4 wks

just maintaining!

Today is one of those just maintaining days... not much progress forward, just maintaining our ground. 

Elijah has developed a pretty bad diaper rash due to what i would call his "healthy" GI system, though the extreme heat/humidity here definitely don't help the situation! So today is my attempt to keep him out of diapers... haha what a riot!!  

Thankfully eva is have a golden day! She loves to play on her own and trots around the house talking up a storm and playing with everything she finds. I wish i knew what she was saying!

Pictures from today... Eva got a new book in the mail (thank you Mindy!) and has found her favorite place to sit to read her book out loud. 

Now she's keeping busy with a box and bag

fish for lunch?

Our neighbor stopped by with a plate of goodness for Eva and I for lunch today!!! Yum yum, deep fried fish! 

These are the same neighbors who made Eva a basket of sticky rice a few days ago, who came by multiple times with bread and fruit while Nathan was gone in Bangkok, who check up on us each time Nathan's traveling, and who usually end up at our place each evening to hang out for a little while. 

How awesome are our neighbors?!

keeping busy

Eva playing with the hose!!! One of her favorite things to do and a great way to keep cool!

Wearing dad's flip-flops around the house

elijah cole

morning routine- cleaning dead bugs

Here's what we find in the morning... piles of dead bugs!!!! Mostly piles of wings actually. This was the biggest pile for sure and don't look too closely if you're freaked out by piles of bugs... i didn't find it so easy to look myself! Somehow the bugs find there way inside through cracks in doors and windows because we find these guys inside each morning beside each door or window, dead on the floor. 

the air is thick!

We are being attacked by swarms of bugs!! I have no idea what these little winged creatures are... moths? winged termites??  but they're thick enough that we're walking around the house with lights turned down low to keep them from being drawn to the bright indoors... yesterday morning we had hundreds of dead winged bugs on our floors after they'd crept in through doors and cracks in our windows! Nathan tells me that cockroaches eat these bugs, which could explain the increase in large cockroaches around the house!

Nathan and Eva standing in the swarm in front of our house. The dark area on the ground behind nathan is a pile where they have accumulated! They're apparently drawn to water puddles on the ground

Bugs in eva's pool just outside our front door

eating pbj

Usually lunch and dinner here is some sort of dish with rice... rice is like our substitute for bread. So when eva gets to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, she's in heaven!!! 

Actually, eva loves almost all food! Last night, we had vegetables and rice, and we were juts amazed to watch eva's hearty appetite for ALL the vegetables... carrots, tomatoes, asparagus, cauliflower! In fact, i don't think there's a food she doesn't like. Fruit is sometimes a struggle for her due to the texture, but in the end, she likes that too. 

But NOTHING beats PBJ!!!!

what's so interesting?

watching the bathroom get cleaned!!!! she's not allowed in this room so she likes to sit in the doorway instead and watch what's going on. for some reason, she thinks this is just hilarious!

eva and elijah

elijah must be baby number two because we just haven't taken that many pictures of him yet! i mean, he's the cutest and sweetest baby ever, but we've had so many things going on, i've hardly had a chance! plus my camera ran out of batteries and i didn't have an opportunity to buy any more. so here are the first pictures of the two kids together- elijah is almost 3 wks old here and eva almost 17 months.

the stats

For those who have been asking for Elijah's weight and height at birth, I finally have that for you! I have now finished unpacking, found the birth record, and converted from the metric system...

Elijah's stats

Height 22.4 inches (95th percentile according to the online growth chart i use)

Weight 7 lb. 14 oz. (48th percentile according to same chart)

(Not completely sure about the accuracy of the above numbers... the same birth record says he was born on Tuesday, but I know for a fact that he was actually born on Wednesday). :)

it's a good thing we love to travel

Last Monday, we drove with newborn Elijah and 16 month old Eva to Bangkok to get Elijah's emergency passport and consular report of birth abroad. The trip was a long 9 hour drive but both kids were awesome... AND... we were able to stop at a McDonalds to eat on the way!!!!

Wednesday was the 9 hour drive back to Udon Thani, where Elijah was born.

Thursday we were able to get Elijah's temporary visa and head back to Laos.

On Friday, we drove back down to Tha Kaek, and were so happy to travel with Beth, making it a happy 5 hr drive instead of a hard 7 hr bus ride.

WE ARE SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!