Whew....

We've been keeping a little too busy now that we're home, so blogging has been taking a backseat. Someone has a lot more stuff to get into here at home so we've been more busy with that too and Josh is back to traveling during the week, his new project is in Orlando, FL. However, today he left for a training session in Brazil! Tonight, Gretta and I went to Walking With Dinosaurs with my Aunt Julie and her 3 girls Michelle, Gretchen and Sarah, it was a lot of fun and Gretta had a lot of fun with the girls and watching the dinosaurs, she didn't get scared at all! Thanks for a such a fun event Julie!

Ahh...the drawer of pens and other miscellaneous objects of wonder....

Climbing the stairs! She can make it all the way to the top, very quickly!

We rearranged Gretta's room and got her a new rug, slowly we have been nesting for her. Didn't really get to do much before she was born or for her 1st year since we weren't really here!

Mother's Day

Will post more pictures and words later, but just wanted to put these up quickly....

4 Generations

Great-Grandma Ellie and Gretta

Surprise!

We're home! We surprised some friends and family this past weekend with coming home early! We got home Friday and Saturday we just took the day to settle in a little, do some grocery shopping, go through 3 months worth of mail, unpack. Sunday was a day of surprises starting with our friend Laura, we were at the finish line of her 1/2 marathon! We made a stop at our friends' Beau and Jess's house and then on to Grandma Rachel and Grandpa Fred's house to surprise them and Uncle Seth, thanks to his girlfriend Kim for the elaborate planning! We weren't scheduled to be home until the end of the month so it was fun to see the look on people's faces and we got some video and pictures, but I'm sure they will appreciate if we don't post their funny reactions......

Petra and Angelie happened to be home when we were coming home so the girls got to have a little cousin visit.

Gretta tried to blow raspberries on her belly and then body slammed her, luckily it wasn't a full body slam so she was unharmed. Oh the fun they will have!

Had to test out the Burley right away, only around the block though, we need to get her a helmet.

The apron from France that Grandma Rachel brought back

Exhausted! Surprising is hard work!

It was so nice to come home to our house and we're slowly settling in, getting over jet lag and all that. Josh headed to his new project in Orlando, FL right away on Monday and was home last night so a nice short trip. Gretta and I were busy all week with visits to Abby and Nick, Sara came over and visiting Meghan and Joel's new house so the week went fast. Now that Josh is home for the weekend we're going to continue settling in and getting our house in order, do laundry, mow the lawn, etc. You know, "normal" stuff!

Thanks Joel and Meghan for taking such good care of our house and congratulations on your beautiful new home!

Show off

More video....it just shows her off even better than pictures lately!

Slap up some pictures!

Recently a friend (who shall remain nameless) commented that we haven't updated the blog lately and the exact words were...."I mean, how hard is it to slap a couple pictures on there?" Well, truthfully, not that hard. I've just been trying to catch up on pictures after the hard drive incident. So here are a couple from a few weeks back that just didn't make it on here yet and a few new ones as well.

Enjoy!

Around her birthday, Gretta graduated to a straw sippy and is enjoying it immensely! Especially when it sprays her in the face.

Also, she has a "fort" that she likes to go and hide in, behind the chair. She also hides other treasures there.....like the remote.

Playing with mom's purse.

Happy Friday!

In case you were wondering....our weather here today is supposed to get to 102, dewpoint of 72 and 50% humidity, the low is 84. I think it might be a good day for the pool!

The weather report from Bangkok

The view normally.....

The view (or lack there of) with rain!

We had a big lightning storm tonight and got some cool pictures from our apartment balcony, we're on the 35th floor!

Happy Tax Day!

If your taxes have you down in the dumps, just cheer yourself up with a video of our little tax break......



The bow at the end is our personal favorite, what a grateful performer.

M 6 Bean & Chicken Soup....

This is Josh's "M 6 Bean & Chicken Soup", we made it tonight and he decided on the title of the recipe given the recent events here. Ingredients included: Carrots, onions, celery, chicken, great northern beans, chicken stock and tomato paste along with various herbs, we don't really do measurements......

Gretta's birthday cup from the maid, her 2nd time having soup and she again LOVED it!

We of course had to make some bread to go with the soup. Given that the weather is always hot here, its funny that we'd have homemade soup and fresh from the oven bread for supper, but I guess that our wintery home wasn't enjoyed as much this year so we're making up for it through food that reminds us of the cold weather! We've also been cooped up all weekend due to those silly protesters.....Josh has a couple days off from work as it is the Thai New Year here so we've been trying to find things to do and the kitchen was as good a place as any to spend most of the afternoon! On Easter Sunday we did get out for a walk in the park in the morning but then when we got back in and turned on the news we realized that the political chaos going on had moved to within 1-2 miles from our apartment so we've been staying in the rest of the time!

We were having some fun one morning in our pjs...

Hm....what mischief can I get into today?

Off we go!

Cool clouds.

Birthday Fun

We saw it only fitting to celebrate Gretta’s birthday for 2 days for a few reasons, one being it took about 2 days of labor for her to make her way into the world, secondly we had to celebrate on April 5 in Thailand and then when it was April 5 in the US, third Josh had Monday off so why not have some extra fun?! Actually it was kind of rainy both days so we didn’t get to do much other than go to the mall and walk outside under cover up above the streets! No pool or park for the big birthday.

On Sunday we went to one of the malls and saw a photo exhibit and did some walking around and walked to lunch at a Chinese place we like. Then we went back to the apartment and got the birthday girl down for a nap. When she woke up we did some presents and pictures. Thank you Uncle Seth and Kim for the adorable dresses! When Grandma Peg and Grandpa Steve visited in March she opened her present from them, a book that she is loving and another cute outfit. Also, the maid brought her a cute cup with cartoon characters on it. Grandma Rachel and Grandpa Fred’s present came April 5 US time and she got some Easter candy and a rubber ducky that lights up, which will surely make bath time a whole lot more fun. Right now she enjoys chewing on it. She also received some very cute cards from Auntie Molly and Uncle Elden, Laura and Tom and Beau, Jess and a special photo card from their son Devin who is 5 months younger than Gretta but already hitting on her…..:) Also, many email greetings were sent our way and we thank everyone for thinking of Gretta on her day of turning the big 1 year.

Later we had her favorite, spaghetti, for dinner and then tried to engage in some fun cake time…..she wasn’t having it. She did NOT like having frosting on her fingers, maybe it reminded her of sand? Anyway, she did have a little taste and enjoyed playing with the bunnies that were on top of the cake and REALLY liked the candle flame! We had to watch her pretty carefully because she wanted to touch it. Overall, it was a very fun day!

Woo hoo presents!

What's in there??

Her latest facial expression.


One of my favorite pictures, so glamorous and hilarious at the same time!



She needed to see what the pictures were looking like so far.....



Mmm....cake


She likes to point so it looks like she is saying she is 1 year old!



Fire.

Gretta Renae turns 1 today!

What can we say about the past year? It’s been an amazing and fast ride! We have been pretty spoiled with our Gretta and she has set the bar quite high for any future siblings she may have. She has had her moments as any child is sure to have, but they are few and far between. In fact, we practically forget that any bad days ever happen! We don’t think we could have asked for a more happy, easy going, lovable, huggable, kissable, snuggable (this is SO a word), wonderful, beautiful baby girl.

She has been fun at every age so far, it has just been unbelievable watching her grow into the little person she has become so far. Even though every once in a while we might pine for the days when she would just sleep or lay on the couch unattended, we wouldn’t give up these moments of chasing her around more and watching her discover the world around her. It is amusing, to say the least, to observe her little mannerisms and expressions!

Here is a little photo montage we put together of her 1st year. Warning: It’s about 10 minutes long (couldn’t help it!) so if you choose to watch it, you might want to first make sure you’re comfy, then maybe grab some popcorn or other snack item and a beverage of your choice. If you’ve got the time, it’s worth it! We're hoping this will buy us a little time to post about her big day too....