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.!