Raising a Rockstar

Sometimes, the cuteness rises to a whole new level.



Reading to Kenji. What you can't see is Kenji's expression when Michaela just crawled up next to her on the dog bed.



As promised... our Rockstar getting her ride ready to go.

So proud to be standing on her own.
(PS, have we mentioned she's walking now?!)

Happy Birthday Kenji!

Our lovable labrador turns 3 today. It's hard to believe it's been that long since we watched (via a webcam mounted in the breeder's living room) the little newborn puppies wriggling around next to their mommy. We got to visit Kenji before she came home with us, and hold her as just a little thing. In the years since, Adam and I have compared a new puppy to a newborn, and frankly, the newborn just might be easier to care for.

1) You put the newborn down in one location and they are still there when you return.

2) Babies wear diapers.

3) Newborns don't have teeth.

4) Newborn humans are supposed to consume all of your time, puppies aren't necessarily supposed to.

My food bowl is bigger than I am! (And this food bowl was later chewed to pieces.)

I love my bed! And I still sleep in this position!

But all in all, Kenji is a good girl. She loves to play fetch and swim, she lives to go for walks. We accidentally didn't close our fence gate all the way and she got out. When we returned, she was waiting for us on our front porch. We're glad she's part of our family!

Going for a car ride - first Christmas?

Where is that cat?!

Summer Funning

Out for a ride in the Bob stroller with her cool parents.
We love being able to walk to Bridgeport Village from our house!

At the Tualatin Crawfish Festival. I hadn't had a crawfish before, so we bought one but couldn't figure out how (or what) to eat on it. Good for a photo op, though.





Michaela is rather unfazed by Daddy's attempts to scare her with the crawfish. She prefers munching on the graham cracker.



The beach! Surf's up!

 

Digging a hole in the sand, and then testing its depth. I later fell in that same hole while holding Michaela. Not my proudest mommy moment - screaming and traumatized baby, shellshocked adult audience, nowhere near home... What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?





Nothing says "I love macaroni and cheese" like wearing it in your eyebrow.

 





My family, relaxed and watching the game on a Sunday afternoon. Finally Adam has a fellow fan (although like her mother, with a very short attention span for football).



Today the Zoo...

...Tomorrow the World!

While I have been significantly slacking on the blog front and have many events to catch up on, right now I'll just start with today. Michaela and I went on an adventure to the Zoo with our friends Sarah and Lily. Sarah and I were quite proud of ourselves for arriving early in the morning so that parking was not an issue (until the end of the day, when we were trying to leave and for the life of me I could not remember where I parked my car... the little "emergency/panic" button was not at all helpful, either... only silence.)

Just after entering the zoo, we posed for a "before" picture with the girls in their strollers and the mountain goats in the background. Notice Michaela is holding tightly to her ticket stub. So glad for free baby admission! I had hoped to make a coffee stop (since I'd run out of time for that before leaving the house) but decided to go caffeine-free after seeing the zoo cafe charged $5.25 for a small mocha. Really, is coffee with a view that much better?

In the next photo, Michaela enjoys the sea lion or polar bear exhibit (I can't remember which one). I figured out that Michaela really doesn't realize things are animals yet unless they are moving. But the animals in action she really got excited about. The polar bear was swimming, and Michaela yelled and pointed and kicked her feet. I think she thought that the other spectators weren't properly appreciating God's creation, or else maybe they hadn't noticed the giant white bear in the pool of water right next to them?

Next is another shot of the girls enjoying the zoo - I believe this is by the giraffes, but in order to get both the girls and the giraffes in the same pictures, I had to zoom out too much to see the kids, and frankly, I am hoping that most of you would rather see the girls. My apologies to the giraffe-lovers. This is post-snack and diaper-changing stop.

Sarah and Lily really enjoyed the tiger exhibit.

We were hoping to get "end of the day" pictures, but as I dropped Sarah and Lily off at their house, both girls began crying loudly that the car had stopped moving and we decided hustle would win out over not-so-cute pictures (crying red eyes and runny nose, anyone?) But all in all, it was a great adventure and we look forward to doing it again.