Water Baby

In April I was so excited to buy Carolyn a swimsuit. I think her suit is the cutest one out there. Anyway, Portland has been having blazing temperatures. It's been 80 degrees. I'm a wimp, but I can't wait to move to my AC. We went down to the pool today to cool off.

Carolyn enjoyed it so much. That is, until we were kicked out! Some dumb (not even real--I looked it up) law about swim diapers in pools. Carolyn protested when I took her out. We'll see if we can't get back in the pool soon though.

Homeowners at last! Well, almost.

I took a few weeks off from blogging because things here have been crazy! We have been looking for a home we could purchase for awhile, but we got serious about it in February. We finally found one that works for us. It isn't overpriced--it isn't going to foreclosure before we can get it (that was a heartbreaker)--they even accepted our offer. So far things are looking good. We are very excited. If everything goes well, we will close on the house May 31. Then we will move our stuff in the first full week of June. Just in time to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary and Carolyn's first birthday!!

It is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhome located west of Portland. It is actually less than a mile from my brother Gordon's house. That is a nice perk. My favorite part of the whole house is the kitchen. It has an island and 2 pantries! Hallelujah. I will no longer feel so confined. It has a small yard (but pretty good size for the area and year of construction) that we will seed come fall. Then next summer Carolyn will have somewhere to play. But let me tell you the absolute best part--it has air conditioning! Who knew it would be so hard to find AC in Portland? Last summer was miserable with over 100 degree temperatures. We won't have to worry about that anymore.

Well, here are a few pictures of our soon-to-be new home. Jeremy hates the exterior appearance, and I can't say I love it, but, hey, it's our home.

I'm a girl! (who likes football)

Last week I opened Carolyn's dresser drawer and let her pull out the onesie she wanted to wear. She reached for her Brian Westbrook Eagles jersey (it wasn't even the closest one to her). Papa was so proud. I got her dressed and then left the house to run our errands. Understandably, I was complimented on my very handsome boy. So when we got home, I decided to fix that. This is Carolyn's very first hairdo. It stayed in for the rest of the day, and in the future when she wears this jersey, I will have to find a pretty green ribbon or something for her hair.

Pancakes!

Carolyn has the biggest appetite I have ever seen for such a small baby. We have really only established one food that she doesn't like--bananas. All the others are fair game, including lasagna, tomatoes, zucchini, tacos, mango, etc. A few weeks ago, Jeremy decided to make a Mickey Mouse pancake for Carolyn, but apparently he ran out of batter for the ears. This was her first food that we hadn't torn into bites for her. She devoured it. (She has since had Mickey Mouse pancakes with properly sized ears).

Jumping 3-12

EDIT: I have removed all the videos because no matter what I do, YouTube does not cooperate and let me post these for real. I think I will keep looking for new ways to share the videos, but for now it won't work. Thanks for looking anyway!

Tupperware is multi-functional

Yesterday, Carolyn learned a very important skill for her future: accessorizing her outfit.

Tulip Festival

Isn't this beautiful? This takes me back to wanting tulips in June in Alaska for our wedding. That didn't happen. But this did. The field is so large and has so many different kinds of tulips growing together. There are also sections where they were separated at least by color. I don't know about different petal shapes or anything because we didn't get over there. It was nice when we were there, but it had been raining right before. I went with Rachel and the boys. They all got a little muddy. But it sure was fun. Carolyn trotted around with me in the Baby Bjorn until it was picture time. And we palled around together at the festival. She loved the slide and swings. More giggles out of her for those two things then I had heard in awhile.

Easter Morning

There's stuff inside?!

So yummy!

We had so much fun watching Carolyn enjoy her first Easter Basket. The Cheerios were a big hit. Maybe we will just continue that tradition for years to come. If we are being honest though, her favorite part was the "grass" in her basket.

Easter Egg Hunt

The Wildes invited us over (along with a LOT of other people) for an Easter Egg Hunt this morning. Yesterday, the weather was beautiful. 80 degrees. Today? Pouring rain. But that didn't stop us! We had a lot of fun taking Carolyn around. We had to protect the eggs she was reaching for from quicker egg hunters, but it was great. She ended up with four. One had her very first nickel! That's going in her piggy bank.

Swings!

Carolyn enjoyed the park in Boise. This was her first time in a swing besides the baby swing at home. She greatly preferred this one.

Boise Zoo

Carolyn and I spent the first week of April visiting the VanOrden family in Boise, Idaho. It was beautiful and so much fun. We were able to see a bunch of animals up close, and Carolyn enjoyed this trip more than the one we took in August.

Our own mighty Aphrodite

Brynne, Carolyn, Liam

Peek a boo 2

Carolyn wanted to demonstrate her superior peek-a-boo skills for everybody. She enjoys playing this game with anyone who looks at her. If she doesn't have a blanket or coat to cover her face, that doesn't stop her. Her little hands go flying up to her forehead (without covering any part of her face) and then they come flying down. She always has a big grin on her face for this.

Wiggle Worm

This has become a favorite part of Carolyn's sleep time routine. She even made it up all by herself!

Round and Round and Round We Go

Jantzen Beach in Portland has a carousel from 1921 in operating condition. It was restored in 1995 and looks so pretty. Yesterday, Rachel and I took the kids to have a ride. Carolyn has to be accompanied by an adult. But first, we stuck her on this little row of baby horses that were so adorable. Of course, my pictures don't show that. They really were though. Carolyn enjoyed the ride well enough, but was nothing like her cousin (11 months old) who clapped and squealed the whole time. Overall, it was a lot of fun and it sure did get me out of the house and saved my sanity. Carolyn decided yesterday to only nap for an hour total all day!

Park Day

We took advantage of the wacky weather Portland had Friday (70 degrees!) and went to the park. It was Carolyn's first time. She loved it. The slide was her favorite.

Getting ready to play!

Ready to slide with my friend Scott.

We had a great time, but because it was so hot, we had to leave after only 45 minutes. We will definitely be doing the park thing this summer!