March 4, 2012 by Caryn Update on how Katy is doing January 12, 2012 by Caryn Katy's birth story December 15, 2011 by Caryn Emily's 2 year update November 10, 2011 by Hilton Suddenly, siblings! October 14, 2011 by Caryn The Great Wolf Lodge - what an awesome trip! August 22, 2011 by Caryn A sucker for brand names... August 14, 2011 by Caryn A trip to Remlinger Farms results in a truly lovely family day out! August 7, 2011 by Caryn It started off with questions about fossils and ended with questions about death. Oh boy! July 31, 2011 by Caryn Seafair parade weekend and some fun at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens July 25, 2011 by Caryn My wish for you... A list of the important things in life, that I want for my kids. July 24, 2011 by Caryn The secret to enjoying Summer in the Pacific Northwest. July 17, 2011 by Caryn The Lavender Festival in Sequim. May 2, 2011 by Caryn Matthew's 3 year check-up May 1, 2011 by Caryn Weekend News: April 30/May 1 April 24, 2011 by Caryn Lots of fun egg hunting and visiting with friends. Pictures and details here. April 24, 2011 by Caryn As Matthew is about to turn 3, here is an update on how he is doing! April 23, 2011 by Caryn We've had a lovely week of sunshine and have made the most of, spending lots of time outside even though the weather hasn't been particularly warm. Today was our first warm day and we loved it! Some pictures. April 23, 2011 by Caryn An Emily update - 16 months old. April 17, 2011 by Caryn Some photos and news from our weekend and egg hunt at Matthew's soon-to-be preschool. April 12, 2011 by Caryn What worked and didn't work for us on our flights with the kids. April 12, 2011 by Caryn Our trip home to South Africa. (Our photos will follow soon, when our heads have stopped spinning!) February 13, 2011 by Caryn My new routine and the book that inspired me! Being a Steady Mom... January 21, 2011 by Caryn A quick update on the kids. January 2, 2011 by Hilton December 1, 2010 by Caryn Once a month cooking... what I've learnt so far. November 5, 2010 by Caryn Emily's first steps! A belated diary entry about this momentous event. November 5, 2010 by Caryn What does OAMC stand for?... October 17, 2010 by Hilton A visit to EMP, a pumpkin patch and many games make for a busy October weekend. October 14, 2010 by Hilton After a few tentative steps in the last week, Emily finally gets the hang of walking. Mayhem ensues. October 10, 2010by Caryn The leaves are falling, the weather is turning and we are keeping busy indoor and out! October 9, 2010 by Caryn Only 2 more photos to go until Emily's 12 month photo page is done - I can't believe it! October 8, 2010 by Caryn Matthew enjoying a book: Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton October 2, 2010 by Caryn Emily is growing so fast and we are loving watching how she changes each day. Here is just a brief update on what new things she is doing at the moment. October 1, 2010 by Caryn Settling back into routine... September 30, 2010 by Caryn Finally some cruise photos of our amazing trip with all 4 grandparents! And incredible time was had by all. August 22, 2010 by Caryn Two fun weekends have come and gone. Read all about them here: Tea for two. Special time with the kids. August 11, 2010 by Caryn Toe -may- toe, toe-mar-toe... Learning how to speak 'American' English August 10, 2010 by Caryn Emily enjoying her teething biscuit, as with all food! July 28, 2010 by Caryn On Sunday we went on a mini road trip to explore the South West of the Puget sound area. July 24, 2010 by Caryn Updates on how Emily is growing up so fast! July 24, 2010 by Caryn A brief recap of the 4th of July weekend June 27, 2010 by Hilton A wonderful weekend with family, gay pride, Seattle and a breakdancing toddler. by Caryn Local vegetables for summer - yum! June 23, 2010 by Caryn Summer is here! ..... Really? Despite the weather, schools are out and summer camps have started. June 13, 2010 by Hilton Sunshine arrives and we spend the entire weekend outdoors. June 7, 2010 by Caryn Summer is not quite here yet, so we've been keeping busy with trains, planes and finding ways to enjoy the indoors while it rains outside. June 7, 2010 by Caryn We both think we have the best kids in the world, but it's always nice to hear other peoples opinions. May 22, 2010 by Hilton OK, "by Hilton" is a bit of a lie. It's by both of us. But since I'm doing the website update, it gets a "by Hilton" tag today! Just wanted to add 2 recent emails onto the website. An update about the kids from the beginning of the week. A little story of how we're slowly transforming into Americans for y'all to read. Also, a brand new photo album of some recent events. Babysitting Larry, Lily's track meet, us and the kids as well as Harrison's first birthday party at Gymboree. Phew! May 16, 2010 by Caryn Matthew learns two new words. Bumpy: When Emily's stroller (pram) goes over a rocky patch, when his trucks drive over Emily's face and when I put some sprinkles on his yogurt for supper as a treat, he declared that his yogurt was 'bumpy'. My: When negotiating with us for a chance to watch dump trucks on YouTube, the phase is 'My turn' repeated over and over again! May 16, 2010 by Caryn This weekend I had a long list of things that we needed to get done in the yard... Only one thing got crossed off the list though! May 11, 2010 by Caryn Our first baseball game = loads of fun! May 8, 2010 by Caryn My Birthday week went has come and gone and it was really wonderful and very busy! The sun came out, the sky was blue and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon outside today with a new toy for Matthew. May 3, 2010 by Hilton Did you know that 9 out of 10 doctors agree that our children are adorable? (I'll have to find that 10th doctor and have words with him) May 1, 2010 by Caryn Emily, Sleep and Dr Ferber A record of Emily's sleeping habits. Probably a very boring read for most people, but I wanted it written down so we could remember how lucky we were in getting such a good sleeper! May 1, 2010 by Caryn The Opening of Boating season in Seattle and Matthew gets to see some boats - what fun! April 30, 2010 by Caryn Some pictures to warm the cockles of your heart. April 30, 2010 by Caryn Matthew and his words. April 28, 2010 by Caryn A quick recap of Matthew's second birthday. April 27, 2010 by Caryn Matthew's 2 year checkup update, as well as a video updating Emily's progress as she approaches 5 months. April 24, 2010 by Caryn The start of Matthew's birthday week, and we begin celebrating with cupcakes in the park. April 19, 2010 by Caryn Warmer weather means more fun outside and lots of green in the garden! See some picture here. But when it rains, the fun doesn't stop! Have a look at what we get up to when it's cold and rainy outside. April 15, 2010 by Caryn Warmer weather + sun + good friends + an awesome family = Perfect Days April 11, 2010 by Caryn Such an amazing time in our lives. I want to remember it forever! The pause button...2 years on See how it grows... April 9, 2010 by Hilton Two small videos for your viewing pleasure. Mommy encourages Emily to repeat her raspberry noise for the camera. Matthew becomes very interested in a family photo. April 4, 2010 (new) by Caryn Easter 2010 March 27, 2010 (new) by Caryn An interesting experience watching the Robotics Regional competition at the Key Arena in Seattle. March 15, 2010 by Hilton The trip to Leavenworth that caused a few upheavals... of the stomach. February 27, 2010 by Caryn The library, mangos and squashed cars! February 19, 2010 by Caryn Matthew's Daddies...  February 18, 2010 by Caryn Goodnight Thumper - Matthew gives Emily some love! February 15, 2010 by Caryn An update on how little Emily is growing and changing. February 14, 2010 by Caryn We had a lovely Valentines weekend. Even though we don't officially 'celebrate' Valentines day, there was plenty of love to go around in our house! February 12, 2010 by Caryn Our gorgeous kiddies! February 7, 2010 by Caryn A year later.... Superbowl 2010 Superbowl 2009  New Orleans Saint's vs the Indianapolis colts. (The Saint's won) February 7, 2010 by Caryn After having to change Matthew's pooey diaper for the third time in a short space of time, I asked him in exasperation, "Matthew, were does all this poo come from?!". He promptly replied, "Elmo!". I think I'll have to have a word with him... February 5, 2 010 by Caryn After a difficult day or two with my darling kids, I felt it necessary to record how loved they are. Despite temper tantrums from Matthew and constant fussiness and the need to be in my arms all day from Emily, we still love them to bits and I hope one day they will be able to read my attempt at poetry and see it for themselves. We love you, Matthew and Emily. February 3, 2010 by Caryn Matthew gets his first plaster today and then proceeds to spend the whole day walking around holding his finger out, looking for sympathy!  February 3, 2010 by Caryn A bit of news about life at the moment, cold winter days and the promise of spring! January 21, 2010 by Hilton 2 new movies. Quite a big one: Another day in paradise. (27.4MB) And Matthew's bathtime monologue. (7.8MB) January 4, 2010 by Caryn Our first entry for the new year - 7 years of wedded bliss! December 31, 2009 by Caryn A brief look at our 2009 Festive Season. December 18, 2009 by Matthew You thought you'd heard the last of me now that baaaybeee Emily was born, huh? WRONG. I've got my very own big boy update here. Mama also wrote all sorts of interesting things about baaaybeee Emily here. Also, I've uploaded some photos: But wait, that's not all. I've created 3 videos of myself: Enjoy them, I had fun making them. December 13, 2009 by Caryn For those of you interested in such things, I've finally had a chance to write about how Emily was born. So you can read Emily's birth story here. December 11, 2009 by Hilton A little movie of Matthew's reaction to Emily sucking his finger. December 9, 2009 by Hilton We're overwhelmingly thankful that Emily has born healthy and happy. A very easy labour and birth. A quick set of photos from the days around the birth are here. November 29, 2009
by Caryn Our second Thanksgiving here in the States. A lovely 4 day weekend spending time together! November 20, 2009 by Caryn It's been a busy few weeks, but I've finally had some time and energy to write about it! November 8, 2009 by Hilton
November 4, 2009
 by Hilton I wrote an email to Marco and Nicky with some thoughts on fatherhood and Matthew. I thought it would be a good idea to post it here. October 25, 2009
by Caryn Lots of rain and chilly weather sent us looking for some fun indoor activities to keep us busy this week. October 25, 2009 by Hilton Caryn just left the camera rolling while Matthew had loads of fun in the front room.
October 18, 2009
by Caryn We've had a lovely fun, family weekend. Enjoy reading all about it and looking at our pictures of beautiful Fall in the USA. October 15, 2009 by Hilton Matthew discovers something that we all have, but that he's never really noticed before. Can you guess what it is?
October 11, 2009
by Caryn Chilly Fall has arrived and with it comes lots of fun Fall activities! October 1, 2009 by Caryn Reflections on 1 year in the USA. September 29, 2009 by Caryn Finally I've had a chance to catch up on the past 6 weeks of news and pics! Hope you enjoy! The past 6 weeks... September 1, 2009 by Caryn Some photos from the Lange Grandparents visit. More news to follow soon! August 17, 2009 by Hilton
Notes from our move and our fabulous new house.
July 26, 2009
by Caryn The Seafair parade comes to town. And we're hot hot hot! July 20, 2009 by Caryn Some news and photos from our sunny weekend! July 16, 2009 by Caryn Chain saws and lumberjacks! July 6, 2009 by Caryn
Find out all about how we celebrated our first 4th of July here in the USA!
by Hilton
Two obscene videos from our bed and our garden have been added.
June 21, 2009
by Caryn Happy Father's Day to our two very special Dads! We wish we could have celebrated it with you, but our thoughts were with you as we enjoyed a family day out. Read more about it here. June 14, 2009 by Caryn We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... June 10, 2009 by Caryn A detailed update on Matthew June 3, 2009 by Caryn A wave from baby to let everyone know they're on their way!  June 2, 2009
by Hilton An email I sent to a bunch of people who might not follow our updates on the site. May 31, 2009 by Caryn A taste of home! May 31, 2009 by Hilton More new movies! Matthew discovers a naughty new trick during mealtime.
Matthew shows his early prowess as an engineer.
May 16, 2009
by Carynby Caryn Two new movies: Matthew gets his first pair of real shoes, but has difficulty understanding what is on his feet and exactly how he should walk in them! After a lovely sunny afternoon walk and some sips of Gatorade (a sports drink like Powerade), Matthew is on the move! May 11, 2009 by Caryn Matthew's first haircut on Mothers Day! May 11, 2009 by Caryn Belated birthday news :) May 6, 2009 by Matthew Exciting news!  April 26, 2009 A very busy and eventful weekend. April 24, 2009 Some lovely warm Spring weather gets us out into the sun! April 18, 2009 April 13, 2009
All the news from our Springy weekend.
April 4, 2009
by Hilton Finally, after weeks of waiting, Spring has sprung! We've got a photo album from our back and front garden, as well as a lovely spring walk around our neighborhood this morning.
by Hilton
I'm back, and fooling around in April.
April 1, 2009
by Rod
March 29, 2009by Hilton We bought Matthew a new toy from IKEA today, and he absolutely loves it. It's like magic, suddenly he can walk! I've made a video of his exploits today with his trolley. The "onboard" videos don't really show just how fast he's going - he covers around 5 meters in each of those shots. Also, after just a few minutes of playing with the trolley, he's suddenly taken a new developmental step. If he's standing and we hold his hand, he'll walk around following us, holding our hand. He never did that before! March 29, 2009 December 29, 2008by Caryn 6 months fly by! And so does 3 weeks, as we say goodbye to Granny and Grandad after their lovely holiday with us. March 28, 2009 by Caryn Matthew turns 11 months old. Only one month to go - yikes! You can see his 11 month picture here. March 19, 2009 by Caryn It's all about Matthew! An update on how our little boy is growing and changing everyday! March 16, 2009 by Caryn With Spring only 2 weeks away, Granny and Grandad arrive for a visit! March 11, 2009 by Caryn A new toy excites Matthew, and perhaps he's learning to fit shapes? March 4, 2009 by Caryn Matthew has been changing and growing so fast, we can hardly keep up with it! Read all about it in The many moods of Matthew. February 22, 2009 by Caryn We're constantly amazed by where we are. February 17, 2009 by Caryn I've added a new Recipe section to the website to share with anyone who is interested. Here are some of the new, delicious recipes that I've discovered since we arrived and I'm sure there will be more to come! I hope you enjoy making and then eating them! February 16, 2009 by Caryn Today we are celebrating 'Presidents' Day'! Well, not actually us, but the rest of the country. Unfortunately, this is one the federal holidays that Hilton doesn't get off, so we're waiting patiently for May when Hilton can enjoy a day off for Memorial day. This week's news Groundhog vs Raccoon can be read here. February 7, 2009 by Caryn A weekend in pajamas! February 2, 2009 by Caryn Another American experience as we watch The Superbowl for the first time! January 28, 2009 by Caryn Matthew turns 9 months today! You can see his new picture here. He also went for his 9 month check-up, you can read about it here. January 26, 2009 by Caryn An eventful week, both around the world and here in Seattle. January 22, 2009 by Hilton A stressful day at work as layoffs are announced. January 20, 2009 by Caryn Inauguration thoughts from a layman's mind. January 18, 2009 by Caryn A sleepy week for all... All the news and pictures from our sleepy week that ended on a high! January 13, 2009 by Caryn I've finished a few more scrapbook pages, if anyone is interested. They're at the end of the Lange Family album and Matthew 4-6 month album. You'll have to page through to find them. Enjoy! January 13, 2009 by Hilton I've been at Microsoft 3 months today! I finally pulled miscellaneous pictures off my iPhone, and have uploaded them for you to see, as well as written a few words of explanation. January 11, 2009 by Caryn Birds, birds and more birds! My week of bird watching and Matthew's week of exploring everything he can get his hands on! January 6, 2009 by Caryn I've finally had some time to continue my scrapbooking, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it! I'm still quite far behind, but I'm catching up slowly! Take a look at the new pages in the Lange Family album here. January 5, 2009 by Caryn 2009 arrives! Find out how the year started out for us. January 2, 2009 by Hilton Our 6 year anniversary! Caryn captured a video of Matthew "falling asleep". by Caryn My last post for 2008! Read all about Matthew's First Christmas. December 29, 2008 by Hilton The Seattle Langes experience an energy crisis. December 25, 2008 (Christmas!) by Hilton We've uploaded lots of photos of snowmen, Christmas Eve, Christmas gifts and new snow! December 22, 2008 by Caryn Spot the difference! A Snow Comparison. This is what we were so excited about last week Sunday:   Now this is what we're SO excited about this week Sunday! What a difference!   December 21, 2008 by Caryn My week as a real Stay-at-home Mom! December 18, 2008 by Hilton Since Matthew first lurched forwards on Saturday, he's spent the last few days making up for lost time! We can't stop him. "Proper" snow this morning, and lots of it. I walked outside to take a video of the incredibly peaceful and silent outdoors, but it turned into something completely different. Also, a few photos from our back garden. December 14, 2008 by Caryn The snow falls and Matthew crawls... Some news and pictures here. December 13, 2008 by Hilton Matthew got tired of not being able to crawl today. With not a lot of fuss, he wandered over to a toy a few feet in front of him. Finally finally finally, we have the house tour of our rented house in Bellevue recorded and online. PLUS I've added the garden section of the house tour. December 11, 2008 by Hilton "Winter storm" and snow warnings at http://weather.gov/seattle - I'll let you know how it goes! December 7, 2008 by Caryn Finally a place to put our feet up, and no cream carpets in sight! December 3, 2008 by Hilton "Goodbye Black Bear, I love you" December 1, 2008 by Caryn November 28, 2008 by Hilton New videos of Matthew's parrot screech, and some shaking, rattling and rolling. Oh, and Push Baby Push in very bad taste, taken while Matthew is "busy". November 24, 2008 by Caryn November starts getting colder... Read more. November 17, 2008 by Caryn Winter starts and game night begins... To read more, click here. November 16, 2008 by Hilton Crime strikes in Marymoor park. November 14, 2008 by Hilton  We've been here for one month! So, what has made impressions on South Africans in America? You can read it in my "blog".
November 10, 2008
by Caryn One of the things that is guaranteed to make Matthew laugh is being thrown up in the air, usually by Dad who had stronger arms than Mom! Take a look at Matthew "flying". These pictures also show how long Matthew's hair has gotten! Matthew is turning out to be just like his Dad...interested in any gadget or electronic device. If you have a camera, cell phone, television remote in your hand...Matthew wants it. These pictures were taken as Matthew was trying to decide how best to get close enough to me to get the camera! November 6, 2008
by Hilton Videos, videos, videos! Matthew's crawling attempts continue. Matthew has some happy time! Matthew tries to put a lion in his mouth, but it won't go in. Matthew tries butternut, but tires of it quickly. November 2, 2008 by Caryn This week's news is here. October 31, 2008 - Halloween! by Caryn Read all about our First Halloween and see some pictures here. October 30, 2008 by Hilton I've put up 2 new videos on the site. Matthew showing signs of wanting to crawl, and some clips from Matthew's solid feed in the evening. Enjoy them! October 28, 2008 by Caryn Matthew's 6 month birthday (check out how much he's grown here) and both Hilton and I passed our Drivers Knowledge test with only 2 wrong answers! October 27, 2008 by Caryn Our web albums are now up and running. You can see all of our Australia pictures and some cute ones of Matthew. Click on the link above to view them all. October 27, 2008
by Caryn
A brief account of our first "normal" week here in Seattle. We're feeling more and more settled as time goes on.  October 23, 2008by Caryn Finally I've had a chance to write my diary entry for when we first arrived in Seattle. If you're interested, check it out at, Our first 3 days in Seattle: Thoughts from a jetlagged mind October 16, 2008 by Hilton I've uploaded a bunch of photos from our packing, through Aus, all the way to here.
Plus, some more information from Microsoft... Also, a brief house tour video!
28 September 2008 by Hilton Some thoughts on the day before we get packed up, my last entry from South Africa! 27 September 2008 by Hilton Our last few days in our home, and things are getting a little bit chaotic. But that doesn't stop Matthew from still discovering and exploring new things. He's taking a real liking to his books, you can click here to see him enjoying one with GrannyB and Grandpa. Of all the developmental steps to anticipate, "wet razzing" wasn't exactly top of my list to be excited about. However, when Matthew discovered it and started copying us, he's pretty much kept me laughing all day. Video here. 23 September 2008 by Caryn Matthew went for his 5 month check-up today. If you are interested in all the details, you can read more here. 18 September 2008
by Hilton  Matthew had his first taste of solids today. Well, not solid by my standards. One teaspoon of rice cereal mixed in with a little bit of milk. He managed to clean his plate, so I guess he's allowed dessert. We took a little video, you can watch him here!
12 September 2008
by Caryn  10 September 2008 by Caryn  Heat Wave! The past couple of days, we've been having a heat wave, with temperatures above 30°C. So this is the first time since Matthew was born that he's worn shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt. I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to change my mindset and start dressing him cooler. All I've ever known is Matthew bundled up in long sleve vests, socks, long sleeve baby gros and jackets. So I just had to take some pictures to remember this day because its going to be a long time since we see summer again as we're off to Seattle for the start of Winter. Take a look at the cute photos, it was a mission to try and get his hands out of his mouth long enough to see his smile! (By the way, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them and then use the arrow at the top to move to the next one. Or you can click on the word 'slide show' at the top left of the page, to see them that way.) 7 September 2008 by Caryn
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