OK, So I'm not so good at this blogging thing.

Hello from the far off reaches of Virginia!
I'm beginning to think I'll never be a daily, or even weekly, blogger. Still, I refuse to give up.
Much has happened in the last six months. Most importantly we are all healthy and happy.
Connor is in the ninth grade and doing well. He plays center on the school's basketball team. At 6'3"+ he's the tallest boy on the team. He and Chris continue to be active in Boy Scouts. Chris is the Scout master again, and Connor is now a Life Scout which means the next step is Eagle Scout.
Glen is in the third grade and, like Connor, has proven himself to be brilliant. My non-biased opinion, of course. Anyway, Glen is homeschooled again for this semester and will rejoin his class at Grace in the fall. He is almost five feet tall (4'11" to be exact) and taller than most of his peers. He has a new dog named Sushi....really, he calls her Sushi. She keeps him busy and he loves her very much.
Olivia has gotten so big. She turned two in December and is 35 inches tall. The pediatrician estimates her adult height will be about 5'10"! Like her brothers, she's a genius. She has a great vocabulary and keeps us on our toes. She's a happy well-adjusted little girl.
Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Pigtails

I'm so excited! I was able to put little, and I do mean little, pigtails in Olivia's hair. The guys didn't like them - said she looked like a martian - but I don't care. I'm thrilled that I can put pigtails in my daughter's hair!

What do you think? Too cute, right?!

So Much For Weekly Updates...

Is it just me, or does time just fly by these days?! Obviously I've not updated in the last two weeks. Sorry, Taylor.
I'm here now though so here goes....
The kids are well. Connor and Chris are preparing for Boy Scout Summer Camp. They'll spend next week in the Shenandoah Valley. Lucky ducks!!
Olivia, Glen and I will hang out here and get some work done. We'll also have some fun going to the pool and playing games. We may even have a bike ride or two.
Glen is ready for school to begin. He misses seeing his friends and he's looking forward to being a third-grader!!
Olivia has been active and sassy, as usual. She's constantly moving and "talking." Her newest word is, "Miiiiinne!" Said with a frown on her pretty little face. She is not shy about telling us what she wants. Fortunately she recovers quickly when she is told, "No!" ;-)
Chris' Mom, sisters, and step-dad visited us last month so I'm including some pics from their visit. We really enjoyed having them here. Maybe it can become a tradition. Hmmm.
Food for thought, Debbie. :-)

Can you belive it's been over four months?!

That's right, it's been four months, two weeks, and six days since Olivia was first placed in our arms! Time has really flown by and Olivia has changed so much. She's grown bigger

and she has more hair now. Kim is loving the hair bows!

She's full of personality and she's actually quite strong-willed.
She is now a confident walker (and runner), she's eating almost anything placed on her highchair, and she's learning new words and communicating effectively most of the time.

She LOVES to squeal loudly. Glen will tell you that's not much fun for the rest of us. :-) She loves her brothers and the feeling is mutual. She's pretty attached to all of us and doesn't always feel comfortable with others holding her. She is, however, a social butterfly from a distance. She likes to wave and say, "HI!" to people, even if we don't know them.

I will make an effort to update this blog at least weekly. It seems some of you (Hi Taylor! ;-) enjoy looking at it and feel a little disappointed when there are no new pictures posted.

That's it for now. Enjoy the pictures

In Him,

The Buchanans

Just a Quick Update...

Hello all. We are very busy and doing well at the Buchanan house. Olivia continues to adjust to her new family/life. Our main difficulty is sleeping. She wakes up several times a night and really dislikes taking a nap. She feels afraid and needs a little reassurance and then she goes back to sleep usually.

The boys adore her. I am often found de-escalating arguments over who should hold her or feed her. Strangely, they never fight over diaper duty...they leave that to Mom and Dad. :-)

My mom is in town this week. She was excited to get to met her granddaughter. Olivia has charmed her and they have become fast friends.

Mark and Kay, my brother and sister-in-law, will be arriving this evening. This is their first visit and we're excited for them to meet Olivia. I'm sure she will love Uncle Mark and Aunt Kay as much as Connor and Glen love them.

Chris has been on a couple of job interviews. Our plan is for him to get out of the Marine Corp in September but actually begin a new job in August. We know that God will open the appropriate doors and close the others. He has been so good to us and we know we can trust him with everything, including this. We'll share with you His plans for us as soon as He reveals them to us.

I'm including pictures of our three beautiful kids. Connor enjoyed holding Olivia while she slept. Glen was watching TV while wearing his Chinese outfit. The pic of Olivia and me was taken on the first day she went to church. The other pictures were taken while she was trying on some new clothes...little girl clothes are addictive!!

Take care and God Bless.

Olivia Walking

I remember 3 weeks ago when she could barely walk the two feet between the beds in the hotel room. I guess all those laps in the hotel are paying off.

Mommy and Olivia enjoying some time