Andreja, Urban and Zhiva arrive!

Andreja, Urban and Zhiva made it in from Slovenia on Thursday. We were very excited to see them. I think they were happy just to be off the plane!

It took Beatrice and Zhiva about two minutes to get used to each other. With B at almost 3 and Zhiva at 18 months, the language barrier is not really an issue. They understand each other. Meanwhile, my Slovenian is certainly getting better!

Zhiva loves Bea's tea set and is learning wonderful tricks (like how to "boing, boing" on your knees on the couch) from her. Luckily she hasn't mastered purple hair (see photo) - this is how Beatrice came home from school the other day. I wasn't expecting this until age 15...


We're having a great time, and the girls are adorable together. Zhiva calls me "Teta Sarah" (pronounced "Ded-a Sahr-ah", which means Auntie Sarah) - I love it!

Halloween Card

"It say, 'Happy Bill and Halloween...Halloween and Ah-Boo you too'...it's from Grandma Wibbs and Bill...it's for me, for Halloween"

Map of the United States

Beatrice loves this puzzle. We probably do it forty-'leven times a day. At least. But I have to brag on her a little bit - this was the first time she did it all by herself. I was "cooking" dinner and she did it all on her own.

And yes, the puzzle has the outlines of the states, and yes we've done it a million jillion times, but still... she did it all by herself! That and she actually knows many of the states! That's better than many 30 year olds I know. California, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota-South Dakota-Nebraska-Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas (she knows they all go in that order too), Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Tennessee (the "banjo state"), New York, "the stamp state" (Pennsylvania), and "little Virginia" (West Virginia) and "big Virginia" (Virginia). Wow.

She did take a break in the middle to try on her new dress. We all need scene changes every few hours, right?
A video from the weekend...very dull, but it has some moving belly shots and Zach and Beatrice doing (guess what) the puzzle together.

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On Monday we had Keeley, Kolya and Casey over for dinner. The boys came in their costumes - Casey was a puppy dog and Kolya came as Iron Man.

Tikki tikki tembo

Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo

Don't know what that is? Me either, but Beatrice sings it over and over and over. From a book she and Jessica read. Over and over and over is my guess.

Really? Again?

Seriously? Another fallen tree limb on our car? Again? From the same tree? No way. No damage this time, but at 6:45am, in the cold and rain, the 12' limb (at almost 8 months pregnant) was more than I could handle. Luckily a neighbor was able to move it off the van. Crazy.

Oh well, hopefully things don't come in threes for us with this tree. One lesson learned - I'm never parking under that tree again.

In better news, Beatrice decided to pick her own outfit for school. Then she wanted her picture taken.

31 Weeks

So it turns out I can't do math after all. My previous "week" postings were all a bit aggressive. So...here I am at 31 weeks. This week four different people asked if I was "due this week." I must admit it is somewhat depressing to say, "No, I've got two more months to go." Their reactions are priceless though. Most just sputter and say something to the effect of, "Wow, you're HUGE!" After I saw the picture Zach took of Beatrice, baby, and me...I get it.

HERS apron on Zach - love it. And Beatrice continues to be baby obsessed. Wonder why?

New skills

Beatrice and Jessica made cookies this week. From scratch. Zach said they remind him of childhood. I am totally intimidated, but man oh man were they good! Beatrice made an "M" for me and a "B" for her.

Beatrice also enjoys "reading" on her own, especially if they are our books. Beatrice did manage to get Grandpa to read to her. Why she picked the guest bed for the spot - beyond me.