HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAPPY!

October 5th, marked the first of a month of birthdays and celebrations. Pappy, Grandma and Pop-Pop came over for dinner and a cake (made by chef Livija). Happy Birthday, Pappy! We hope all your birthday wishes came true!

UPDATE!!

Kalvis is doing really great. He is in the 100% for height. This explains why he eats like a horse but doesn't seem to gain weight. it's all in his height. He isn't saying too much, but he is babbling a lot. I think there will be a big word explosion any day now. We're not worried about this, considering he had Korean for 9 months and now has both English and Latvian in the home. He's sorting it out. He definitely understands everything we say and follows all directions we give him (in both English and Latvian).
Right now he says
Mama
Papa
Ball
He also knows a lot of animal sounds
dogs say "Woof"
Cows say "Moo"
Monkeys say "Oo Ooo Ooo" while pounding his chest Tarzan style
Sheep say "Baaa"
Lions say the cutest "RAAR" you ever did hear.

But the absolute best is when I said "What does Kalvis say?" Without missing a beat he smiles and says, "Mama". Yes, he is indeed a Mama's boy.

THE CHRISTENING

It was a beautiful day. Kalvis was surrounded by friends and family which filled my entire yard with love and support for our little man as he was welcomed into the Lutheran Church.





Kalvis and his Godmother, Sarma


Kalvis with his Godfather, Scott


Kalvis with his other Godfather (a Liepins family tradition), Brock


Kalvis and his Godparents

Summer is coming to an end...

... so I guess it's time to share what has kept me so busy I haven't been a good blogger.
I'm trying to catch up though. This past July we went on our first vacation as a family of four. It was awesome. We introduced Kalvis to Latvian camp. Nothing like a week in the mountains with good friends. Livija joined her third year with the "ikskisi" group. This is a camp for the little ones that is chock full of activities ran by the parents of our littlest campers. Kalvis loved every minute of it. He swam, ran, danced, played, caught frogs, and danced some more. Kalvis and LIvija's 4 cousins joined us for the week, along with many other friends, both new and old. If you have a minute, sit back and enjoy our week. It kind of makes me sad that summer is coming to a close. I'll be working hard in updating the blog to the rest of our summer. We've been swimming, playing, celebrating Kalvis' Christening and even threw in a trip to Disney World to end the summer. All these wonderful things is why I'm a little backlogged. I hope you all enjoyed your summer as much as we did.

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SWIMMING IN BLACK AND WHITE

WELCOME TO THE JERSEY SHORE

At some point I will rewind and post our vacation pictures. I'm realizing that I am getting so far behind, I'll just have to start from where we're at and backtrack with a slideshow a little later...In the meantime here is our latest day trip to the Jersey Shore.

During the application process we were asked our favorite childhood memory. Mine, hands down, is the Jersey Shore. Every year we went. My parents, My aunt and uncle, and my Grandmother all lived together for one week. Days on the beach. Nights on the boardwalk. I would be so excited to go, I couldn't sleep the night before. Livija loves it. And now it's time to introduce Kalvis to the beach.
I think the pictures speak for themselves....







I even got some rare pictures of me with the kids!

It's been a LONG time since I last blogged

Certainly it isn't for lack of things to say or a lack of photos. It's been so long that I really don't know where to begin!! A summer with two kids is busy and wonderful. We've had family reunions, vacations, outings and many firsts. Kalvis' first time swimming at Gramma's, first time swimming in a lake, first time sleeping away from home, first time at Latvian camp with the family.... Too many pictures to post so I'm working on a slideshow to fit it all in. Until then, here's the happy family.