Drumroll please . . .

Kari is the winner of the "What Did we do to Our Daughter?" contest! Because she was the first (and only) person to guess the correct answer, she wins an all expense paid movie premier! (See movie below.) Congratulations Kari! (Also, Renae would like to add onto this post so please see her post below the short video.)

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Ok. Let me tell you what happened here. Mommy and Daddy (more Mommy than Daddy I think) decided that I should be more culturally appropriate. Apparently Renae is a boy's name in Spanish and lots of baby girls from other cultures get their ears pierced as infants. So . . . my loving parents took me to this bright and colorful place and set me on a fun purple chair.

Here I am before the horrible ordeal. I'm thinking I'm going to get some cheerios or something.

Well, you've seen the video. You know what REALLY happened! I was NOT cool with that and I made sure I let Mommy and Daddy know. (Along with anyone else walking by . . .)

But honestly, I kind of forgot about it soon after I got my bottle. By the time we got back in Nana's car, I was smiling. I have a short memory . . .

Daddy cleans my ears about 4 times a day and I kind of like the cool stuff on my ears. Overall, I'm not to mad at Mommy and Daddy. I guess being culturally appropriate is ok but I sure hope I don't have to get anything else pierced to fit in!!!

And I just wanted to put in this picture to show you how happy I am. In the background is all of our stuff. Now it's all packed up and ready to go. I don't have to ride in one of those crates though-thankfully I get to ride in the airplane in my own seat!

So Pretty . . .

Mom and I got our nails done!




Before . . .




After!

But our nails aren't the only thing that's changed. I got my hair cut (nothing major), Jesse now has MUCH shorter hair, and Renae also has a change. Anyone care to take a guess?

Good-bye Party #1

We said good-bye to lots of Jesse's family last weekend. It was so good to see everyone and we will miss them so much!


Lori is soooo glad I'm there!


Mmm . . . finger food.


More cool family members . . .


Parents in training . . . they look great!


And this is the infamous centerfold pose. Oh my . . .

The Beginning of Lasts

We had our last date night Tuesday night. Not last as in we'll never go on a date again! Don't worry-we already have a plan for how often we will be going on dates and believe you me-we WILL have date nights. :) We just have to find some new baby-sitters . . . .


Our last date night ordering food in English and understanding what's going on.



I'm drunk off the yummy pizza.



And here is monkey boy. Let's hope it's the last of that . . .

Our favorite coffee shop! Being able to read and understand the menu is so nice.

Chocolate from Belgium and Gelatto from Italy-not a last!




And last date night for Renae to be baby-sat by Nana and Grandpy. Not a fun thought.





Last but not least, here is a video of Renae doing her latest thing. She has started shaking her head as if to say no. And this morning, I was asking her questions to which she would respond by shaking her head back and forth. We think Renae is already working on being argumentative like Mommy. Poor Jesse . . . 2 women in the house will be working on that character flaw!!

Seriously?

Snow on Veisha? It's April!!!



Mario!!!




Tyler and his huge bag of candy.



Addy and I watching the parade. She was nervous that canon would blast again.



At the International Food Fair. Good food!

Renae's Ramblings-Part 7

Mommy and Daddy took me to see lots of Grandparents and even some Great Grandparents last week! They gave me lots of new foods to try.


Papa Masson gave me some mash potatoes and peas and I really liked eating with my hands-all by myself! I wasn't too fond of the peas but I didn't want to be rude so I just kept them in my cheeks and when I had too many in my mouth I spit them out at once.


But a few peas I kept hidden under here.


Then Papa took Mommy and Daddy and me to Hu-Hot and I tried rice! It was kind of tricky to eat because they stuck to my fingers.


Here Mommy and Daddy gave me a lemon to suck on.


And this is what I really thought about it!!!



I watched the people make Daddy and Papa's meals! It was neat.



Look at my Daddy try and eat with chop sticks!



And look at how little food Mommy can get on hers . . . Daddy laughs at her sometimes.



We also went out to eat with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma loves to hold me while she's forced to listen to boring stories from Mommy and Daddy. Good thing it's normal for a baby to not pay attention when someone is speaking!

Renae makes her 7month debut

That's right-Renae has lots of mad skills to show off and she debuted them to our family who hadn't seen her in two months! I forgot to take pictures for the first 5 days we were home, but got it out again when we visited Jesse's family. Here she is showing us her stuff!



Army crawling over Daddy.



Holding her own bottle! (And already a multi-tasker-can YOU hold your foot up that high and drink?)



She can eat solids! Rice cereal, fruit and veggies. Oh so yummy.



She can think and ponder life's mysteries.



And this is perhaps the funniest thing she can do-she makes this funny face and then breathes in and out. See video below to watch her in action.



And this is one of my new "skills." I got henna done while I was gone, and my parents Indian neighbor went and bought me some! So I'm trying . . . Here I'm attempting to give my mom a henna tattoo. It ended up not looking so great.

Backstreet's Back . . . Alright!

Ok, so WE are back . . . but you get the point.


We arrived home Thursday evening after being delayed for an hour and a half in Atlanta. Lucky for us, Renae decided to puke for the first time 10 minutes before we boarded our 1st plane. She totally ruined her outfit that I'd picked out so carefully. I smelled sour milk on my jeans and in her neck the rest of the day. Yummy. We just had to laugh.


We are here for a few more weeks so we get to spend lots of time with family! Renae will see her cousins on Saturday as we go to a parade and walk around the Iowa State campus. I'm so excited I get to go to this one last time!


I realized today that I haven't taken any pictures so insead, I'm posting a random video someone showed us a few weeks ago and it's pretty funny. Sorry for the randomness of posts lately. Until we get settled, it may be like this for awhile.