bathing suit

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day to be this mama and baby. Fussiness, lack of sleep, four (yes, count them -- 4) dirty diapers. After the last especially dirty one, bath time came early. Michaela loves her baths now, so that's not a problem. The problem was with parental focus. Filled the tub... added the toys.. checked the water temp... took off Michaela's diaper and plunked her in... then I decided I should probably take off her socks, too.
Ooops!

Learning to crawl or learning to do the seal dance?

Sayonara Tax Season...Hello Long Weekends

After months of never ending work, it is finally time to play. And what better way to kick off the season than with a four day weekend. We went hiking in the Columbia Gorge, went to the season opening Timbers soccer game, watched a Blazer playoff win, played Wii, and my personal favorite, rolled around on the floor with Michaela.

Enjoying a Saturday hike in the woods. A special thank you to the Magee family for the great child carrier.

A panoramic shot of the view from the top of our hike.

Michaela just hanging out and relaxing.

Oh, the elegance of an eight-month-old

Time to chronicle the developmental excitement of the last month of our lives. Granted, I'm one day late (Michaela's month-a-versary was yesterday) but I've come to accept that much about my life happens more slowly and not on time compared to our pre-baby days.
Michaela is getting to be such a big girl these days! She is interested in the camera, and already strikes a pose when it makes an appearance. As I mentioned in the last post, she may not be crawling yet, but she is working on other things, like waving, clapping (we haven't yet determined if she's got rhythm) and pinching. I have figured out that is where the term "pincer grasp" comes from. She's definitely got one, and practices most of the time on my bare skin!


One of my challenges is to make sure Michaela wears all the cute clothes she has been given by her loving family and friends. With the rate she grows, we try to make sure she gets at least a few wears in something before she outgrows it! The tag in the picture above is from a new pair of Michaela's pants. Really is this necessary? I would hope my child's pants, not to mention my child's leg and entire body, are kept away from fire altogether!

Michaela's added more foods to her diet (carrots, bananas or barley cereal, anyone?) and it seems to be keeping her feisty. Her latest trick when playing on the floor is to roll towards the unsuspecting (oftentimes sleeping) dog and begin to play with her paws. Kenji awakes all afluster and begins licking the closest moving thing. Kenji tries to be good, but I think Michaela enjoys seeing if she can get the dog in trouble.

Stay tuned.. in month nine we are hoping to undertake Michaela's first airplane flight and her first trip to the beach!

He is Risen!

We spent Easter Sunday attending church at Adam's grandparents' church in Rose Valley, and then joining family and more family at their house afterward for a delicious dinner. Michaela really enjoyed her time there, since she was always the center of someone's attention, and she also got to play with her cousin Genevieve. We were hoping Genevieve would teach Michaela to crawl, but it doesn't seem like it rubbed off on her yet. I'm not all that disappointed, really, considering I will be the one spending most of my time running after Michaela the minute she learns to navigate quickly in any direction she chooses.

Michaela "reading" her very first Easter card from Great-Grandpa Carr

hanging out with Aunt Abbey

laughing with Papi

very first shoes! (the white ones)

love the camera! love the camera!

some days...

Michaela gets really wrapped up in her work.

family time

I know it's been a while since we've put up a post on the ol' blog. So hopefully today we can make up for some of that. Over the past several weeks we have been blessed to have family and friends come visit us. It's pretty necessary for them to come to us, because during busy tax season, we really don't go anywhere too far away. [For those of you keeping track, there are less than 3 weeks left of tax season, also meaning you have less than 3 weeks to file your taxes!]

Several weeks ago, we were visited by Abbey and Dave and their little baby-yet-to-be-named. He is also a little-baby-yet-to-be-born, so it's all right that he doesn't have a name yet, I guess. Coinciding with their visit, Michaela was going through a little stage of not wanting to eat any solid food. After mama took a shot at feeding Michaela, Aunt Abbey and Uncle Dave gathered 'round to try their hand. In spite of all the tricks in the book, Michaela would not be fooled into eating her peas... or anything else for that matter.

I mean, really, look at that face - nothing's going to get by her!

During this spring break week, my cousin Chari came to visit from the east coast, and a variety of female cousins and aunts got together for a fun afternoon and evening. One of the highlights of the day was watching Nadine and Chari herd sheep. The dog Chari was using to assist in herding I swear had to weigh as much as she did. (Below: Nadine, Chari, Michaela, Brook, Elise, Janae, Karen)

What you won't see from the pictures is that they live on a kind of farm, complete with a flock of sheep and newly born lambs. I am a little embarrassed to admit I had never (in recent memory, at least) held or petted an actual lamb. With Chari's help corralling the poor defenseless creatures, I got to do both. They are really adorable, if a little bit smelly. A little tangent about the mama sheep - it seemed at least 3/4 of the sheep had no mothering instincts at all! Those little lambs we corralled and held? No mama came looking for them, or baaahed for them. In fact, when we got several all stuck in a corner of the fence, the ewes jumped over their young to get away from us scary people, and left the babies to fend for themselves. The social worker in me really wanted to have a sit down conversation with these mothers and develop a plan for better parenting!

When we weren't with family, Michaela and I also hung out with friends. Michaela is checking out her friend Lily's cool blanket. At this age I think she appreciates it much more than Lily does. Thanks for sharing, Lily!

And lastly, what is our favorite family activity on a nice spring day? Going for a walk wearing a cute sun hat, of course! We took this photo to document for Grammy, who purchased the hat for Michaela quite some time ago.

Happy Friday All!!!

Seven is the perfect number

As Michaela turns 7 months old today, I am nearly too tired to write this. As perfect as the number 7 is referenced in the Bible, Michaela finds herself in more of a perfect storm - teething, becoming increasingly mobile (no, not crawling yet, but she does roll into the walls - no matter how far away they are originally), and the dirty diapers that accompany the onset of solid foods.

Every day is an adventure, and we're loving it. She is sitting up on her own (and tumbling over on her own), saying "dadadada," and sports a little tooth nub on her bottom gum. We've added a couple more foods to her diet, and Adam is proud that she ate an entire baby-size serving the first time she tried applesauce. He's the one who fed her, and assumes he now holds a household record. Showing true maturity, Michaela now also enjoys a good bath, splashing around and gamely trying to eat the washcloth. Lastly, Kenji and Michaela are starting to play together (a bit more than I'd like, honestly). While Michaela plays on the floor, Kenji licks her toes, legs, hands, and gets in a good face-lick, too, usually before I can scold her. Michaela laughs hilariously. It's going to be great watching them grow up together.

sunny days

With this being busy season for Adam at work, we try to take advantage of the time we do get to spend together. We were blessed this last weekend with some absolutely gorgeous, sunny days that are rather elusive this time of year. On Saturday afternoon we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the wildlife refuge just down the road, I think it's technically in Tualatin. If we were real "birders" I'm sure I'd be able to tell you what kinds of birds we saw. Unfortunately, to me they are merely big birds, little birds, big-beaked birds, etc. Kenji was sad that she couldn't come, as she definitely would have disturbed the wildlife.

On Sunday, we took an excursion that Kenji was also allowed to come along on. (In case you were wondering, the cat never comes on trips - she hates the car. She also prefers having the house to herself, we're pretty sure.) We explored Lee Falls, apparently an infrequently trafficked attraction, considering there were no signs anywhere and we had to rely on an older guide book and some locals to point us in the right direction. But it was a great day and was worth the trip. Credit for the beautiful photos goes to my talented husband.

Food, glorious food!

We continue this adventure that is food. We've told Michaela that if she's her mother's daughter, she will love to eat. I think the jury is still out on this. As of today, she has now tasted rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and avocado. I think her favorite is sweet potato, for now.

How come it's not polite for us to look like this when we eat?