Water Baby

We took Ella to a park with a fountain play area last weekend. It was finally warm enough to bring out the swim suit and hit the water. She had no fear at all! She played in the biggest spraying fountain first thing. There were big rowdy boys running around and she wanted to be in the middle of them. We were worried she'd get run over, but thankfully no major injuries to report. She did trip and got her first skinned knee...the first of many to come. She shook it off though and was in the water again in no time. It's been a bit of a battle getting her to wear a hat while we're outside. She's so fair skinned that even with lots of sunblock it will be easy for her to burn, well we've finally figured out that if we put her hat on and act like goofballs while wearing it for a while she's fine to wear it after us.

She is such a water lover. She hasn't been in the pool yet but we know she'll love it! We haven't done swim lessons yet with her but it's on the must do list. Until then the park's water play will have to do. We can't wait to go play in the fountains again soon!

In dance pose...she was having such a great time!

Getting a face full of water

She found a leaf and didn't want to let it go

Playing amongst the big boys...I was trying to protect her a bit without hovering too much, tough to do!

Thirsty?

I just know I can grab this water if I try hard enough!

Oh me, oh my, that's a house I spy!

One of 2 bedrooms on the main level

Well we've been a bit absent from the blog scene, but for good reason...we've been quite busy. For one thing Jason got hired full-time at the firm he's been working at since February. We were ecstatic, he really loves it there! We've been looking at houses for months now, but with no guarantee of a permanent job we couldn't look seriously at them. Well with the news about Jason's job we were finally set free to search for a new home (new to us I mean!).

We thought it would take going through 100 houses to find the right one, but after seeing 15 we knew a real gem when we found it. We put in an offer 2 weeks ago, and we've been dealing with counter offers, inspections, sewer scoping, repair bids, addendums, more counter offers, and finally a bit of an agreement we think. They still have until June 30 to say they don't like the repair bids, and we still have to deal with an appraisal but if all goes well and according to plan we'll close on our new house Aug 1st.

So here are the stats: Built in 1926. 2600 sqft, 4 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, half the basement is finished, has a large (maybe 2 car) garage, it's on a dead end street, walking distance to a school with a park and playground, can walk to the library and downtown Milwaukie and the farmers market. It's got original hardwoods throughout. Will have a brand new roof, electricity service, and sewer line by the time it's ours! It's a very cute house with lots of character. We are still on pins and needles a bit just trying to ride the wave and hoping everything falls into place like we hope. They accepted the repairs that we asked them to do today, so that made it much more real and we felt like we could share with the world (hope we didn't jinx ourselves!).

So that's what we've been up to, house searching, talking to loan people, insurance people, title people, real estate people, give me a glass of wine people! :) We'll keep you updated on what transpires. Until then keep your fingers crossed for us please!

At the upstairs landing, looking into the half bath and one of the upper 2 bedrooms.
Gas fireplace with built ins surrounding it.

The half of the basement that is finished...complete with a wet bar...more to come on that later. :)

Dancing Ella

Anytime the music plays Ella busts a move.

Wahclella Falls

Inspecting the moss

We went on a hike in the gorge yesterday. It was such a pretty sunny day that we all wanted to be outdoors and get some fresh air. We got the fair skinned baby girl all lathered up in her SPF 60 sunblock and hiked Wahclella Falls near Bonneville Dam. It was a rather short hike, but perfect for Ella's liking (and the length of time she'll sit in a backpack). There were 2 waterfalls on the hike, it was really green and lush and pretty. It was a fun day & we're looking forward to more sunny spring time weather so we can get outside much more!

Waterfall #1...it was SO close to the trail

Wahclella Falls

Look at my two happy loves!

Beach Trip

We went with a group of our friends to Lincoln City yesterday. Dan and Lacey had a family friend that let us use their beach house and it was amazing! It was a huge 6 bedroom place that was just immaculate and beautiful! We went to a light house, ate at Moe's, Ella played like a mad woman on the beach, then we played games and hung out for the evening before heading back to P-town so Ella (and thus Jason and I) could sleep in our own beds. Ella was a trooper all day and seemed to really enjoy herself. She was quite the ham whenever she thought she had an audience. This was the first time she went to the beach and could actually touch the sand, and boy oh boy did she touch it..., and threw it, and laid in it, and dug like a dog in it, and buried her toes in it, and ran in it, and licked it, and basically made sand angels in it. She was one sandy dirty wet mess by the time it was all through but boy oh boy did she have fun. We made her keep her pacifier in her mouth most of the time so she wouldn't eat the rocks and sand, but you could see her smile even around her pacifier. She was happy to be free and running on the beach! What a great day at the coast, thanks to all of our crew for helping with our constantly moving little one!

One Year Appointment

That's a big apple for a little girl!

Last week Ella had her one year Dr. appointment. He said she's doing great, growing like a champ, sleeping and eating well etc. etc. Now it's time to phase out the bottles and use just sippy cups. We can also start phasing out the formula and start giving her milk....but that's a whole other subject for another day. Here are the girl's stats: weight:19lbs 10oz (25%), height: 30.5in (90%), head 44cm (25%). So she didn't quite hit the 20lb mark so that we can turn her car seat around but in another few weeks she'll probably have gained enough to turn it.

An apple a day keeps the Dr. away!

Ella's First Birthday Party

This picture pretty much sums up the day...

one-year-old, pink frilly outfit, all smiles, on the run!

The Birthday Girl!

Our little family! We sure love each other!

Are these all for me? Which one shall I open first?

She was a little unsure of this singing lion at first but the smile quickly came out

Look how loved our Ella is, these are all grandparents, great-grandma's and a great-great-grandma, and 6 are missing!

We celebrated Ella's first birthday yesterday with lots of family and friends. We had her party at a park that had a nice covered area in case of rain, but man did we luck out! It was mostly cloudy but decently warm, a little on the windy side but no rain drops fell on our celebration. Ella was in a wonderful mood, we think that she knew the party was for her, she was like a little butterfly and just bounced all over the place from person to person. She looked perfectly frilly and pretty in pink in her tu-tu as every one-year-old should. She enjoyed opening her gifts...before it was gift time she tore all the tissue paper out of many of them. When it came time for cake she dug right in with her hands. She didn't want to taste any of the cake or frosting - she was having way too much fun mashing it in her fists. She ate a tiny bit off of her hands but really wasn't diggin the sweet cake business too much. She shoved quite a bit of cake down the sides of her high-chair seat (thanks to Daddy and Aunt Sara for cleaning that mess up!) and spread it all over her tray - she really seemed to enjoy herself. She was one exhausted little girl at the end of the day (we were pretty exhausted ourselves!). Thanks so much to everyone that helped with set-up, clean-up, food and the works. You are all amazing! It was a fun and very memorable party!

Cupcakes for all!

Ella's cake pre "baby-attack"

It's so fun to smear around, but not so good to eat apparently!

Finally licking her fingers for a tiny taste.