Back in Texas!

Hi all! So we (and all of our stuff - finally!), and we're slowly getting the boxes put away. The kids sure love helping with the boxes! :) I definitely miss Switzerland and our life there, but it's also been nice to be back in the mother land. John found me some baby goats today on his bike ride, but they're not in the nicest neighborhood, so the doggies, babies and I probably won't be walking over to visit them. The babies have a ton of new friends here too, and they're learning to enjoy other people's toys (translation: stealing toys from each other). I love our new Pearland HEB! It's HUGE, and I've already made friends with Dina, one of the managers, and Shemika at the deli counter. They always remember me, and they love the babies! And the best part: the carts have two seats! It's not that obnoxious plastic fake car shopping cart, but an actual cart with two seats! They love riding there while I shop. They also like taking things out of the cart once it gets full enough for them to reach :)

As for other milestones, the babies love to dance! Uncle Michael had the old country going while he was visiting, and I think they got used to constant music (we had our cable box hooked up to a receiver and were listening to the cable music channels). Now, when it's on, they both dance when they like the song. Today Claire changed the channel herself to "Smooth Jazz", and I could tell she REALLY liked what was playing! She started laughing with a huge smile, and her squat dance had even deeper squats than usual :) I also think she's singing along with me in the car, but I'm not totally sure.

Will is loving language. They're both learning the names of things, but Will seems to repeat and vocalize more. Claire speaks in her own little language. Some of their constant words are: doggie ('dah-dee' or 'dog'), all done ('ah duh' for Will and 'ah dee' for Claire) with hands in the air, yogurt ('oh dirt'), hi, hoi (Swiss version of 'hi'), uh-oh, nighty-night ('nye-nye'), nose ('noh'), light ('ligh'), belly button ("beh buh"), thank you ("tay-too"), and Will's favorite "NO!" (no translation for that one :) ). We also gave them our old cell phones (sans batteries), and it works perfectly. No more stealing daddy's blackberry, and no more crying when we take it from them. Also, as I said above, I think they're enjoying the boxes. Will climbed into a big one and wriggled around like an eel for about 10 minutes!

Another FUN one, is that they're getting involved with the other one's diaper change (sigh). Claire's been VERY jealous of any other baby I pay attention to, and sometimes that even includes Will. She usually wants to sit in my lap or hand me the wipes box (over and over) while I'm changing Will's diaper. It's not a huge deal unless it's a messy diaper! Will. on the other hand, likes to drop things on Claire's head while I'm changing her diaper. This makes for a very unhappy little girl! They've also begun to have a few tantrums (face down on the floor crying and squeaking), but we try to ignore them. The fighting is new too, they get mad at each other and yell and hit. Right now it's a little bit funny, but that will change as the fights get bigger, I'm sure :)

And lastly, what you've been waiting for...pictures! I have two albums this time, one of the last few days in Switzerland, and one of the first few days in Texas. Enjoy!

Just for fun, here's a before and after picture of my BADLY needed haircut - it was about time!!

BEFORE:

AFTER: