You Know the Spring Is Coming When ...

... holes on your kids sweat pants are getting noticeable ... ... their jeans look like they are expecting high waters ...

... spring hair cuts ...
... less and less snow in your yard (almost snow free !!!!!!) ...
... oh yeah and buds on the trees ...
... your spring garden getting ready.
Your house faling apart?

I am so ready for spring!!!!

Unexpected Stowaways

Among all the things we brought with us back from Ethiopia we also brought some stowaways right under our noses. Yep we brought home some lice (and let me tell you it is gross). Jordan got it the worst and since she is only 9 months old that complicates things a little. We cannot use any chemicals to get rid of it. When I called the doctor office they told me wash her hair everyday and comb it with a fine comb. Have you seen how much hair that girl has? I am having a hard time combing it with a regular comb. That also ment washing everything (I mean everything) in the house. I just finished washing everything to get rid of the pink eye and here I am washing again. Just in case you were wondering what I have been up to last week. My washing machine is getting a big workout everyday. We also did some more research and found out few things how to get rid of lice without the chemicals. That is what you see in the picture below. First I had to find a kid friendly shampoo with olive oil and/or coconut oil. Dr. Bronner's Magic "All-one!" has both (by the way I love this shampoo). Next I mixed it with Lavender, Rosemary and Tea Tree oils and washed everybody's hair. We stayed away from the Eucalyptus and Pepermint oils as they can cause some problems in children under 5. So far it is working. Jordan is not happy when I comb her hair and I sure hope she will forgive me for this (the vinager and olive oil was for my hair and it worked!)
The boys got the easy way out with their new spring hair cuts. I never found any "bugs" in their hair but I wanted to be on the safer side (Dad has the same hair style).
By the way this is when the shower caps you take from Hiton in Addis Ababa come in handy.

9 months old

If you have been following my blog for a while you are probably wondering what 9 months I am talking about. I believe I forgot to mention that Jordan is 3 weeks older than we originally thought she was. Most of you know that Ethiopia uses a different calendar (it is currently their year 2000) and sometimes the conversion of dates can be wrong (Jordan was born in 1999 in Ethiopia. Which means she is older then Sam :) ) We intially though Jordan's birthday was 7/31 in reality it is 7/8. Therefor she is 9 months old today (such a big girl) I also learned they have different time. Their day starts with sunrise at 7am and for them that is 1 in the morning. Do not worry I believe they use both at least at the hotel.

Our TREASU(RED) girl (they are both treasures to us).
Girls ready to go strolling. Jordan loves it by the way she thinks it is the funniest thing ever.

So we are ready to go. Anybody interested in joining us? (The stroller is tank by the way. It ways a ton and I believe I will get a good workout this summer.)

Baby Shower

On Sunday night we had a special welcome home - a baby shower for Jordan from our church family. It was a nice surprise for our family. Since we already have most of the stuff we need for our girl we were given a double stroller. This was great since we needed a double stroller. I cannot wait to go strolling with my girls.

Jordan (and Emma) loves playing with the balloons. She has been chasing them around her high chair.
Thank you so much to everybody at our church for such a generous gift.

Sunday Reflections

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8

Update on Jordan

Jordan is adjusting more and more everyday. She loves her siblings and she even got used to being in the exersaucer (Emma tried it out as well). All of Jordan's medical tests came back from the doctor and she is healthy little girl. We are so thankful for that. I also got brave enough to do something with her hair. She still doesn't like when I touch her hair but she looks cute with her pony tails.

She is eating everything we give her and she is sleeping through the night (hallelujah). She still loves to be held all the time and she love riding in my car.

Thank You

We wanted to say a big THANK YOU to grandma and grandpa for watching our kids while we were traveling. It was good to know that our children were in good hands and well taken care off. I am sure they had a great time together even though they did hit few bumps in the roads. (Both grandma and grandpa got our stomach flu that we all had before we left, but they recovered quickly)

THANK YOU And here are few pictures while we were gone. Wondering what our kids were up to when mom and dad is not around?

Playing hockey with grandpa.
Swinging on a swing set.
Making a trap for grandpa.
Catching grandpa.

I wonder what was his crime.
I guess Emma was the judge.
Who knows what they were playing here.
Emma the warrior princess.
And here she is listening to jazz with grandpa.

They kids had a great time with Fil's parents.