Daddy's first day of work

Ryan went back to Bend yesterday and had his first day of work today. I'm positive he will be the very best employee they've ever had and, clearly, there is no bias at work here! Even if I weren't married to him, I would say he will excel at whatever he chooses to do. I'm yet to see him do poorly at anything, and I've known him 8 years! I'm sure his parents would agree, and they've known him just a bit longer. Kate has been asking where daddy is, but she also has been saying "good luck, daddy" whenever I say he's at his new job. I'm sure he won't need luck but the good wishes of a toddler can't hurt! As for Kate and I, we're still hanging out with Grandma Starla and Grandpa Bob, and I'm not sure I'll ever get Kate to leave. The weather has taken a turn (snow flurries this morning!) but it hasn't stopped Kate from playing out of doors--albeit with a winter hat and coat instead of shorts and boots. I guess that's what we can expect this time of year!

More photos...fun in the Yreka sun!

It's another sunny day, so we are off to take Kate in the stroller and then to the park (if we can lure Kate away from the buckets, that is). In other (fairly gross) news, Hickory had a pretty yucky accident in the house last night. I would not normally share this event with anyone, but it was made funny by Kate, who woke up shortly after it was cleaned up. The smell, however, was lingering quite strongly. I got Kate up and was changing her diaper, when she looked at me and said, "mommy stinks." Aaah, mommies get all the love, don't they?

Photos!

True to my word, I'm now the proud owner of the knowledge it takes to get pictures from the camera to the Mac! Big accomplishment for me....here's Kate at the Children's Museum in Portland. She was fairly shocked to see a huge dig pit, looking at me in awe and saying "dig pit?!" She was too little the last time we were there to remember that Ryan got the idea for Kate's garage dig pit when he saw how much she enjoyed it. She liked it this time, too, and really liked brushing the alligator's (crocodile?) teeth. If only she got that excited about brushing her own teeth!

Yreka!

Well, we've made it to Yreka safe and sound, so the second leg of our move is complete. Somehow, I always become very relaxed (read: lazy) when we're here and have not quite worked up the motivation to figure out putting photos on the computer. I'm gearing up to make tomorrow the day...maybe. :) Pictures or no, we are having a really great time and I am VERY thankful to have done our last 5+ hour drive to see family!! Kate now stays awake the whole time and 5 hours in a confined space with an antsy toddler is about 5 hours too much. She loved being at Grandpa Mac's house, though, and now she is equally as thrilled to be with GaGa (morphing into Gamma) Starla and Gumpa Bob. Ryan and I are becoming increasingly irrelevant, which is just fine with us! The weather has been fantastic the past two days so we have been outside most of the time. Kate's favorite activity is playing in buckets of water and saying "Kate take a big drink" while dumping water all over herself. There's not much better than basking in the sunshine with nothing much else to do! We had a great outside dinner at Uncle Jason and Aunt Cyndi's house tonight, and we're looking forward to more outdoor fun tomorrow. As long as the weather holds, we'll be enjoying it. This feels more like a vacation than a move, but I'll take it!

A (mini) milestone

We've completed the first leg of our move: Kate and I are in Portland enjoying some time at Grandpa Mac's. Poor Ryan, Bob and Starla have spent the last two days packing and cleaning, which makes me feel incredibly guilty, especially when I hear how tired even Ryan sounds by the end of the day! I guess being the pregnant one has its perks, not having to do the moving being one big one. Ryan drove the moving van to Bend today and, hopefully, by the time of this posting, is enjoying a beer (or five). Kate and I are having a much easier time in Portland. Today, she became a bit more of a "big girl" because I took her to the kids' haircut place and she chose to get her haircut sitting in one of their cool cars rather than sitting on my lap. She's never wanted to do this before, and has cried if we tried, but she told me she was going to "be a big kid" today. She made it through the whole cut happily, although she did tell the stylist that the car "didn't work" because it "didn't go." I already think she's growing up too fast sometimes--driving might just put me over the edge. Luckily, I have about 15 years to prepare myself for that milestone. For now, we'll stick to stationary vehicles. :) Photos of all our shenanigans to come when I figure out how to do something other than type on an unfamiliar computer....

Movin' on

The time has come: Kate and I leave P.A. on Sunday. It's hard to believe that it has happened so fast. Kate, Hickory and I will be staying in Portland a few days so that Ryan, Bob and Starla can do the final packing and cleaning without the help of a toddler and a dog. I feel guilty for not helping with that part, but I suppose someone has to corral the child. I think I definitely got the better end of that deal! I'm excited to go, but I'm also a lot more sad to leave than I thought I would be. I suppose the prospect of change is always easier to handle than change itself. All of a sudden, I find myself thinking of so many things I will miss, but I know I have just as many things to look forward to in our new home. I think it's just a bit sad to think that Kate will not remember living here, and all the things she did in her first couple years. I'm glad we'll have this blog as a reminder of everything we did, and I know we'll bring her back to see where she was born. Onward and upward now! I don't know when I'll be posting next, but I know we'll have a lot to share next time I write!

An afternoon at the beach

We took a break from thinking about packing and moving yesterday afternoon, and headed down to the little beach in downtown P.A. It is quite ironically named "Hollywood Beach," but it has sand, water and is only a couple miles from our house so it works for us. Kate wanted to wear her rain boots so she could wade in the ocean and, of course, she ended up getting wet all over and having to ride home without pants. She was eyeing the "big kids" who were wading out far deeper than she could and saying, "mommy, I do that." Mommy said maybe after some swim lessons! Plus, it was only a bit over 60 degrees but kids never seem to mind the frigid water, do they? After digging and wading, we checked out some ships that have docked by the pier, played at the little park (Hollywood Park?) and took a walk on the paved trail that Kate usually sees from the stroller. All in all, a great afternoon which reminded me to appreciate the unique parts of P.A.!

Happy Birthday Katrin (aka Kevin's mommy)!

It's Kevin's mom's birthday today and we went to celebrate with her at a great breakfast restaurant. It might as well have been Kate's birthday, seeing as how the restaurant bestowed upon her a bear shaped pancake, complete with whipped cream. I think she was a bit overwhelmed!! Her favorite book right now is "Curious George makes pancakes" so she kept wanting to know where George was. She did have some whipped cream, but seemed a bit concerned about destroying the bear. Instead, she ate toast and marveled at her bear. It was a great time, and quite enjoyable considering two toddlers were involved!! We will miss Kevin and his mom so much when we leave, but I will never forget that he was Kate's first real friend!

Kate's first photography & Sunday morning conversations

I'm not sure Kate has a photographer's eye just yet, but she did take her first photo this morning. She composed the shot (well, she said, "I want horse and bear") and pushed the button herself. We are going to the Marine Life Center later today for a last visit before we move, and it will be a welcome change from packing boxes and moving details. Kate's been a trooper this last week, being toted to such fun places as the accountant's office and the insurance agent. I forgot what a pain moving can be! Every day also seems to bring a good-bye of some sort, which is sad. I'll be sad to leave friends and I know Kate will miss all the little buddies she's made. I'm sure we'll make wonderful new friends, but I'm also sure we'll keep in contact with some of our fantastic P.A. friends!

You know you're a mom when...

...you almost look forward to a dental appointment because you know it will be an uninterrupted period of sitting! I can't say I'm TOO excited about having my teeth cleaned today, but there is a tiny part of me that will enjoy the quiet. I had an early ultrasound yesterday to be sure of the baby's due date so the c-section can be planned at the right time and, although I really couldn't tell what I was seeing, he/she apparently has all the right parts. It's always a relief to know that! There is nothing like hearing a professional say, "now I see that the face is put together correctly." We don't want to know the sex, so she didn't even look for that, but she did comment that the baby was "very, very active." That sounds familiar!

Play date & too much information

Kate had a play date with her buddy, Kevin, today at the Olympic National Park visitors' center. It's a fun place to take them when the weather isn't cooperating because there are lots of activities and--best of all--lots of large, stuffed (real) animals. Kate loves the elk, but staunchly refuses to call it anything but a goat. There's also an enormous lawn in front where we let Kate and Kevin loose once the sun peeked out. They love running and spinning, and Katrin and I love it because it wears them out. While we were out there, Kate proved to me that toddlers will repeat anything and everything they see and hear you do. She kept running up to the edge of the grass, where it turned into weeds and bushes, and squatting down. After a few seconds, she'd pop back up, move a few feet and do it again. When I went to see what she was doing, I could hear her saying, in a very sing-songy voice, "mommy pees in bushes." Hmmm...yes. As anyone who has been pregnant knows, you're bladder becomes measurably smaller, so when I'm out running with Kate I sometimes have to stop at "unofficial" stops. I've told her what I'm doing because she asks and because, well, it's obvious anyway. But now I know that soon most everyone she sees in any proximity to a bush will know too! Ah, the joys of having a verbal child are just beginning.

Big news!!

As if having a second baby (which, incidentally, seems to be growing at such a rate that I'm wondering if we are going to have an enormous child!) wasn't enough big news for the year, we now have more: WE'RE MOVING. Yes, it became official on Friday when Ryan signed the contract for his new job with the Warm Springs Indian tribe. It is a wonderful opportunity for him and it means that we will be moving back to Central Oregon. We are so excited to be moving closer to family, and are so lucky that we have Bob & Starla coming to help us move and Bill & Connie hosting us while we look for a new house. It's a bit mind-boggling to think how fast it is happening because we are moving in just 2 weeks!! It is definitely what we want in the long run, so we are happy. Of course, that happiness is also mixed with some sadness at leaving the place that has become our home. There are quite a few things I really will miss about P.A., especially the friends I've made, and it will always be a special place to us because it is where we had Kate. We have a lot to look forward to, though, and we can't wait to see what new adventures await us!

Happy Easter!

After days of Kate asking to "hunt eggs," the big day finally arrived. I'm fairly certain she had no real concept of what "hunting eggs" actually entailed, but she knew it was happening on Sunday. I tried to explain that the Easter Bunny would come when she was sleeping and hide them, but when I asked her who would be hiding the eggs, she replied with about a 50/50 split of "Easter Bunny" and "Curious George." I suppose a monkey hiding eggs is about as logical as a bunny, so I'll give her that. I hid a few (11 to be precise) plastic eggs at home, and once she found 10 I seriously could not remember where the last one was. WHY is there always one left? I remember the same thing happening when I was younger. At least the plastic kind won't stink up the house...I suppose I'll have to start writing down the locations once we make the leap to real eggs. The home egg hunt was preparation for a little party we were going to in the afternoon, where there was a big egg hunt. It was actually geared more toward adults so the eggs were filled with all sorts of things (I learned to check when Kate pulled out a small firecracker out of one of them!!), but Kate loved the hunting itself. She was the first one to the door, saying "HUNT EGGS" as if it were a matter of life and death. She got so excited each time she found one, and was very angry when we had to leave. She got to join in, though, and I think she is showing some promise in the egg-locating arena. At home, she was happy to hide her plastic eggs again and is perfectly content making them into egg-shakers filled with Cheerios and dry pasta. She'll have many years of candy, I'm sure, so I'm glad that she's not interested yet. A sugar-highed Kate is not high on my list of things I need to see soon!!

What's old is new again

Today Kate wore a dress that was mine when I was little. I thought she looked just smashing in it, so I guess it's true that trends really do come full circle--either that, or just that little girl clothes are ALWAYS cute.

Have boots, will get VERY wet

Kate is now the proud owner of rain boots! Buying them was a surprising experience to me because it was the first "girly" thing I've really seen Kate do--she loved trying on shoes! She was definitive in the ones she wanted, and I tried a couple different sizes on her. When I put the smaller size on, she told me, "take off. Don't fit." When we got the right size, she refused to take them off and proudly wore them out of the store. We went straight from the store to the puddles, and she wasted no time in getting extremely wet. There was quite a bit of water inside her boots by the time we were done, but it's still better than wading with her other shoes!