jennifer turns 31

my dearest turns 31 years old today. we are going to celebrate the day by ordering food out and bringing it home. cuddling up on the couch with boone and olive. watching a movie. and eating turkish food.

i bought jennifer flowers, a bag of chocolate and candy, and a local hand crafted rug. although i know she would have been happy with just the candy - she deserves so much more as she is the best thing in the whole world to me (no offense olive).

jen... i love you dearly. thank you so much for my life. for everything you do for me. for everything you give me. and for making everything better.

happy birthday.

four out of five olives...

the results are in.   four out of five olives love mom's new short haircut (which is currently also straightened).  i think the only reason jen didn't receive a five out of five vote was because it is now a little harder for olive to grab her hair.  personally... i love it.

valentine's day ball

we swore we would never go back after last year's infamous (over priced, bad food, lack of dancing) valentine's day ball - but we somehow got roped in to it again this year.  the company was much, much better as we ended up going with shane and jennifer, lauren and nelson, dan and irene, and tina maria and dan - pretty much our entire community here.

the food was good.  the beer warm.  the dancing lacking. but being with our friends was great.  so all in all a good time.  we didn't end up taking many photos - so the one's below are from other people.

the highlight of the day was a valentine's day poem that jennifer wrote me and left hanging in pieces in our living room.  i love that woman.


One and a half years ago today,
We said the most important words we'd ever say.
'I do' love you and boy, am I glad,
that you are my husband and Olivia's dad.

I love you, David, you are a true help mate,
No matter what, I look forward to our dates.
With Valentine's Day almost here,
We'll go to dinner, Lovely Dear.

Time has flown by, someone might say,
But we try to make the most of our days.
We gathered together with family and friends,
and promised there would be no end.

Please take my hand and you will lead,
I'm sometimes challenging but I will try to heed.
You are the head of the household (inside joke) and I know,
that with love we'll be fine wherever we go.

Bishkek for teaching or that country or another,
We'll cozy up under the covers!
Your kisses, your meals (always meat and cheese), your humorous sense,
My love for you is ever-so-immense.

Please be my Valentine, my one and only.
If I had to choose another, I'd rather be lonely.
Lots of love and tons of kisses,
I am so glad that I'm your Mrs!

when you look at the photos - notice anything different about jennifer's hair?  and contrary to how stupid i look in many of the photos... i promise i had not been drinking.  i could have used a couple of stiff drinks after losing the game today - but i am completely sober.

mobi wrap

olive has outgrown the baby bjorn carriers that we brought with us from the states but she hasn't outgrown loving to be carried everywhere.  my crafty wife made her own carrier with some fabric she bough from medina bazaar (or maybe it was osh bazaar).  she went there with jane (pronounced zhan na) our russian teacher.  you might remember jane from this time last year when we were taking russian lessons.  well - jen is back at it again (to better communicate with nina the nanny) and one of the things that she is doing with jane is going out to markets and bazaars and working on real world, practical russian.  not that "hello - where is the bathroom" isn't real world. 

anyway - olive is happy again being totted around by jen.

olive gets the giggles

olive is just at that point where she is starting to laugh. it comes at random times and most often when we are least expecting it. tonight before russian lessons jen was with olive in the bedroom picking out an outfit for work tomorrow. she asks our daughter for help and for whatever reason - olive gets the giggles.

it was very endearing. 

baby has got a new hat

on sunday afternoon my wife made olive a hat. she had been working on it since saturday night. completely hand sewn. not sure how she manages to be so crafty and creative. it is one of the things i love about her.

olive might not look too happy in a couple of the photos but i am sure she loves the hat as much as we do.

olive and hats

jen and i are on different sleep schedules.  we try our hardest to go to bed at the same time (meaning i stay up as late as i can stand it) and i always ended up getting up early while the girls are still sleeping.  many times after we go to bed... olive wakes up and jen gets up with her (she is so great about letting me sleep knowing that i have to work the next day.  i feel like a jerk sometimes staying in bed while she is up but after about five seconds of stretching out and hogging the whole bed... i end up being ok with it).

anyway the other night i woke up sometime in the middle of the night to find jen and olive in the middle of a photo shoot (jen and my mom have so much in common).  here are some photos she took of little olive.

my wife is a crafty one

jen didn't come to be until around 300am last night. i woke up at one point around midnight wondering what was going on.  i couldn't quite figure out why she was up so late as i couldn't hear olive crying.  i was so concerned that i decided to spread out and hog the whole bed. 

i woke up this morning to find that jen had made olivia an outfit out of one of her old sweaters.  my wife is a crafty one!

you can read her account on her blog at joy in the journey.