Kiddos

Kung Fu

The kids started a while back doing Gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do, affectionately referred to as "Kung Fu". They are loving it! It is so cute, they both try very hard and have so much fun. Baylee is very good at gymnastics, she impresses us with all of her coordination because in real life it is not so much! Jaden is hysterical in Tae Kwon Do. He is the smallest kid in his class, and it is pretty complicated. Sometimes we see him turn the opposite way than the rest of the class (as they are all kicking in-sync in one direction), or we will see him using the wrong hands, or cheating by going under all of the obstacles when he is supposed to be going over/under/over/under. It is so funny, but we have been impressed with his desire to learn, and his respectfulness to his coach. He is very optimistic and attentive and doesn't goof off or try to kick the other kids at all. :) That has been a blessing! I'm sure he will be doing all of the moves in no time, for now it is super cute watching him make it up as he goes.

Cute Things

The posts have been all about the girls lately, but I can't help it. They are so cute! I love the smiley stage. There is nothing better than a 2 month old. :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Welcome Baby Bryan!!!

Bryan Kenzo Banamba made his very dramatic entry into this world one week ago... and although I had been by to see him, this was his first time to come visit us and meet the whole family. :) He is absolutely adorable, and I can not believe I didn't think to get a picture of him with the girls! Oh, I will though. Here is Aubrey with his beloved Suzanne...

We also got to finally meet Bernard, or as Jaden affectionately calls him, "the husband". When Suzy stayed with us last year, Bernard would always be on her computer live, in real time, and when you went in he could see you and you could see him and talk to him. (Yes, I am that far behind in the computer world that this still fascinates me.) So, Jaden would always burst in there and have conversations with "the husband" which always cracked me up because Bernard has a very thick French accent, but Jaden doesn't seem to notice. They made big plans for Jaden to go to Tokyo someday and play with all of Bernards toys (can you tell who came up with the plan??) It was hysterical, because when they met today, Jaden totally remembered all of that from last year and was bringing things up that they had discussed. His little memory amazes me. Anyway, Bernard and Livie hit it off, and we had a wonderful time hanging out with him.

The new mom looking amazing and doing so well. Bryan looks just like her. :)

Apparently, Economics are universal and a financial guy from Bakersfield still has much to talk about with a financial guy from Tokyo. Economics bore me in any language, but I was the odd-girl-out, because Suzy is a "financial gal" too... they all have fun comparing notes. It was so wonderful to spend some time with our dear friends, poor Bernard only has one more week before returning to Japan, and Suzy only has one more week, as Bernard called it, of "vacation". :) You should have seen the look on her face when he said that! No, she is returning to school during the day for one and possibly two more quarters. We will sure miss her when she goes home (Bryan too)!

Brenna Laine

Baby Shower

On Saturday, Anne and Staci threw a baby shower for us. It was such a blessing, I am so thankful for our friends and church family for all of their support with our adoption. Anne has been an extra special blessing, getting us set up before we got home, cooking for us for pretty much the first few weeks, babysitting and endless love and encouragement. Staci was also here with my mom the night we came home, cleaning and preparing our home for us, she has been very encouraging with the whole spiritual side of adoption, spurring us on and reminding us of the purpose of adoption. My mom is of course, always helping us, any way that she can. She has been taking the big kids a lot, giving us some little breaks from life with 5. This picture was taken at the shower, the girls were looking extra adorable with the special bows Randi made for them. :) We are so blessed!

Miscellaneous #2

Suzy is back in town!!! She came over the other night for dinner and played with the kids, Aubrey was very happy to have her back. :)

Baylee is turning into such a big girl, she has been much more interested in "girly" things lately. She found a clip and did her own hair and was so proud of it. She asked me to take a picture. :) Here she is:

She is so cute. I love that little spiral that always falls down over her right eye. I can't believe how fast she is growing.

Jaden loves to hold the girls like this and make silly faces at them. They love it, and it is a great wake time activity because I can actually throw a load of laundry in while most of the kids are being entertained. J is very good with the girls, just a little over confidant about his ability to pick them up and carry them around. (Or maybe I'm underconfident?) Either way, it makes me nervous, so we have a "no standing and holding babies until you are 10" rule.

Miscellaneous...

It seems like the best I can do lately is throw up a few random photos... Well, it might just be that way for awhile! At least until we drop the 11o'clock feeding! :) Here are just a few pictures we have taken lately. Baylee and Livie enjoying some snuggle time. :)

Livie has started smiling now too! Unfortunately, I still don't have a good picture of Brenna smiling, out of pure laziness, she smiles all the time! That is my goal today. I got a few great ones of this little girl though, which was special because she doesn't smile too much yet.

We took the big boys up to Alta Sierra for their second snowboarding trip of the year. They were so cute in their matching hats. :)

I managed to get out for a late night shopping trip the other night and came home to this. Brenna is so spoiled! It is like they say: the squeaky wheel gets the oil. She is much more squeaky than her sister. I try to hold Livie a little extra to make up for the difference. She is just so laid back and happy. Brenna is happy too... as long as she is getting lots of attention! Fortunately, Aubrey is always around to make silly faces at her. :)