Off to Nome

Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be in Nome, Alaska until August 15th! We are visiting Josh's sister Karen and her family. I'm not sure that we'll be able to update the blog while we're gone, with pictures anyway, maybe just some blogging. Otherwise, we'll see you when we get back!!

Prepping for Alaska

Well, if you don't already know, we'll be leaving for Nome, Alaska on Thursday to visit Josh's sister and her family. I have a lot of anxiety over the plane ride there with a 21 month old, especially with her most recent "I'm almost 2" tantrums. I guess anxiety might be putting it lightly. I'm totally freaked out. One of our ideas is to bring Josh's portable DVD player. We bought her some new videos that she's never seen and we'll have those on hand need be. We thought it would be a good idea to practice with the headphones so she would know what the heck they were on the plane. This is Megan watching Elmo. I'm not sure you can get any cuter than that, road rash and all.

That'll leave a mark!

Campbell had his 5th birthday party this weekend. Unfortunately it wasn't ALL fun! After making her way up and down the deck steps, probably ten times, she had a fall. Right down about 2-3 steps onto her head. Of course mommy ran to her, cuddled her and then we tried to clean her up a bit. Of course she didn't want anything to do with that. As soon as we went back outside she grabbed my finger to go down the steps and over to the truck she was after. She just wanted the truck! It's okay Jay, even though she was doing fine until you second guessed her, it's not your fault. You didn't jinx her at all!!!

Washington County Fair

We took Megan to the Washington County Fair this weekend. We got her all dressed in her Carhartts and put her in the car. She got to see lots of animals!! She saw bunnies, chickens, roosters, LOTS of cows, goats, sheep, horses, pigs and guinea pigs. I think one of the best things about being a mom is seeing Megan see things for the first time. Seeing all of those animals up close was so neat to her. She would say their sound as we walked past them. She loved it all but she may have loved the ice cream more!

Aunt Stacy's Visit

Stacy was in town for almost 2 weeks. We got to see a lot of her while she was here. Megan acted as if no time was lost, going immediately to her and actually started saying "Stacy" or "Acy". Last Sunday we went to Saturday Market and then took a walk basically all over Portland. First we walked down the waterfront to the Salmon Springs fountain and then up to Pioneer Square where they were doing 'Sand in the City'. We stayed there for a bit and then decided we'd take the new streetcar up to NW Portland. The pictures below are of Megan on the streetcar. She didn't really want to hold still but I think she thinks it's pretty neat to be moving but not strapped into a seat.

On our way back down to our car parked at 1st and Davis, we were going the Pearl District and spotted Jamison Square. It's a park block in the Pearl around 11th and Johnson with a huge water feature for kids to play in. We jumped off the streetcar really quickly and took Megan to play. She of course was fully dressed but I quickly resigned to knowing that she was going to get soaked and there was nothing I could do about it. Oh well. She had a great time and I can't wait to bring Josh and Megan back there.

Tami's 25th Birthday

Tami's birthday was on Sunday and we had a family dinner on Monday. Unfortunately Kelly is in Italy and couldn't be there but hey, we were at the Olive Garden and she is in Italy.

Such concentration! I love her cute little hand holding the crayon. Yeah, I think everything about her is cute!
One of the few Mommy and Megan pictures!
Megan playing with Grandpa's phone - of course!

The Sisters - Minus One

Girls Day - Shopping!

Stacy is in town and we decided to go shopping one day. Stacy, Tami, Megan and I got to the store and off they went with Megan. (Always nice to shop without entertaining the baby!) Anyway, these are the pictures they got while mommy wasn't looking. Megan with a Starbucks? Just what I needed to explain to Josh! The next time Josh and I got a coffee Megan threw a fit wanting some. She never has before. Thanks a lot!

(Just ice!)

PBJ all over my face!

For some reason I like taking pictures with food all over her face. This is her demolishing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Whatever works...

We've been introducing the potty chair to Megan slowly. Whenever she wants to sit on it, we let her. I think she's taking advantage of the system a little here.

Precious Voice

I love Megan's little voice and hearing all of her new words and animal sounds. I've watched this over and over. My favorite is "Wow!"

Hi Aunt Kelly!

Kelly is in Italy and Tami recorded this video for her. It shows many of Megan's talents!

How Cute Can She Be?

Camping at Millersylvania

Jeff was meeting his family up in Washington for a quick camping trip on Saturday night and invited us along. After thinking about it, wondering if we could do it, we decided to go. We have never taken Megan camping and didn't know how she would behave in such a different environment. And when we say this, we're talking only about her sleeping behavior. Cause if she doesn't sleep, Mommy and Daddy aren't "happy campers." We were so nervous we drove all the way to Tualatin just pick up her Pack n' Play from Grandma and Grandpa's so that she would have something familiar to sleep in. We've never had her sleep with us in a regular bed, let alone an air mattress in a tent. Plus the whole confinement factor is a plus!

Anyway, we met Jeff and Bobbi Jo just past the Oregon/Washington border and followed them up. We went to a campsite called Millersylvania right outside of Olympia. It was a nice place, we didn't really explore it but I think we'd like to go back there someday. The drive up there was not so pleasant given our not so pleasant little traveler. She napped from about Hillsboro to Tualatin and woke up and never went back to sleep. So she was sleep deprived from the day before and now she was really giving it to us in the car. We finally got there and she had a blast playing in the dirt, playing with Hunter, exploring everything. I was just anxious to get to bedtime and see what she would do. Luckily long story short, she fell asleep on me around the campfire and we were able to lay her down in the tent and she slept till about 4:00 in the morning. I had to get her out and put her in bed with us but she went back to sleep and we all slept a few more hours. All in all it was a really nice trip and we enjoyed seeing that side of the family.

This is Megan fighting sleep around the campfire. So cute.

Sunday morning she was up and ready to go. Here she is playing with Emily.

Thinking she is funny keeping her milk in her mouth.
Playing peekaboo with Hunter.

We ate breakfast with Jeff and Bobbi Jo on the way home and they had this old tractor and funny fence outside along with a rooster and chicken.

4th of July Fireworks

We were invited to Jeff and Bobbi Jo's house for fireworks on the 4th. They live really close to a place that sets them off and they have a great park nearby that you can view them from. First though, Jeff BBQ'd some really great ribs and we had dinner. You can see Megan enjoying them below. She is a bbq fan! She also had fun playing with Hunter all night long. At about 8:00 the whole neighborhood starting lighting their own fireworks and it turns out we had quite a show before the real show even started! Lots of people went out of their way to go up to Washington to put on a show for us! :) We wondered what Megan would do but she really liked it, signing, "more" whenever one would finish. She wasn't scared at all and spent the whole time just sitting on our laps enjoying the festivities. She kept saying, "Wow!"

4th Of July Parade

The 4th was a busy day for us. We got up, got ready and headed down to Hillsboro for their annual parade. I thought Megan would enjoy seeing all of the people and of course all of the horses in the parade. She seemed to have a good time - she even got a couple of pieces of candy. Then it was off to work for me. I asked for a day shift since Josh would have the day off and then I could spend the evening enjoying fireworks with my family. I dropped Josh and Megan off at a bus stop and the went "wheels on the bus" home and I went to work for a few hours.

Big Girl Pony Tail

Everyday Megan says something new, does something new or gets better at something old. I can't believe how fast she is growing and how time flies. She is looking more and more like a little girl and not a so much my little baby anymore! I put Megan's hair in a big girl pony tail and it proves my point. Before we know it, she'll be a little taller with a backpack, waiting for the bus to go to school. Time is going by so fast but she will always be my sweet baby girl.