Things we LOVE about our 2-yr-old

1. She says "Goodness sakes!"
2. Whenever we mention people she loves (especially Kayt and Ella) she gets all excited and says, "Coming soon!". (Meaning she really wants to see them soon)

3. She says "Rodot" instead of "Robot"

4. She says "Dink of wata"

5. She's started singing actual songs like "I love to see the temple" and "Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere"

6. She not only likes baby dolls and dress-up, but she also loves cars, blocks, and dirt

7. She likes to help me cook and clean in the kitchen

8. She'll bring Brad his ukulele and say "play" so she can "hula"
9. She still likes to snuggle once in a while
10. She loves books and likes to read to us
11. Her hair is getting longer and curlier
12. Whenever I get her dressed for the day she looks in the mirror, inspects herself, and says "Cute!"
13. She kneels down, folds her arms, and says her prayers every night

14. She's the cutest, most fun, entertaining, and sweet little two-year-old her parents could have dreamed of!

Happy Birthday Lainy! We love you!

Seattle

We finally got our internet hooked up, so we can spread the news: We made it to Seattle! After a very busy and extremely fun summer (more details later), we made the move to the big city. We got here about two weeks ago and we're loving it already.

Moving was, well, moving. Not fun. This move was complicated by all three of us being sick (Brad and Lainy had strep throat), and me being four-months pregnant. Without a lot of people helping us, I don't know what we would have done! (Thanks everybody!)

We love our apartment. It's about ten minutes from downtown Seattle, wedged between the University of Washington and a wealthy residential area. Brad just has about a five minute bike ride to the University Hospital where his classes will be held. We're so lucky we got this apartment!

Since getting here we've been busy unpacking and exploring some things the city has to offer. We've gone canoeing on Lake Washington and played in some pretty awesome parks. We also bought a pass that gets us into the zoo and a kids museum. Brad got us tickets to the Seattle Symphony, and to Wicked (both in October). We're pretty excited about doing some fun things that just aren't available in small towns.

Taking a break from packing in Moscow (Brad took his Nintendo 64 from his parents whenwe left)

Fresh flowers brought to me by a sweet husband who felt bad that I was sick :)

Rock-climbing wall found by Brad the morning after arriving in Seattle. He was pretty excited

Brad rowing our boat in Lake Washington
Lainy in the boat

Husky Stadium from the lake

Lainy and Brad with a drawbridge in the background

So there's our update! We'll post more about our summer and new home later.

That's right! We're expecting Baby #2 January 11, 2010.

At our doctor's appointment yesterday we learned that the baby has a nice strong heartbeat and looks good developmentally. Besides a little fatigue I'm feeling really good too (I'm so lucky).

The doctor was even able to do an ultrasound. Lainy watched the screen very closely and when the baby started wiggling around, she yelled "Baby dance!" We took that as a good sign that she's excited too.

So there's our big news!

P.S. We're headed to Rexburg for the rest of the summer, then moving to Seattle, so don't expect much blogging for the next couple of months. See you in the Fall!!

Kamiak Butte

I'm sorry for the blogging hiatus. We've been busy preparing to move and enjoying our last couple of weeks here in Moscow.

Saturday evening we went to a place called Kamiak Butte. It has picnic areas, camping sites, and a hiking trail up to the top of the butte. Apparently the top offers some gorgeous views of the valley.

We left a little later than we'd hoped, so we ended up just making tinfoil dinners and not hiking. The dinners were delicious! It felt so good to be outside! Now that we know what it's like, we're planning on going again to camp and do the hike. Brad got a sweet 4-man tent for Father's Day, so we need to put it to good use!!

Here are a few pictures:

Our neighbors let us borrow this cute little camping chair. Lainy loved it - can you tell?

Lainy kept walking around the camp site saying: "Hike". This picture was taken a few moments before she totally biffed it. She must have had her mouth open when she fell, because she came up with a mouth full of dirt. Yum!

Brad and Lainy by the fire. She was a little too helpful with the fire. I had to stop her from throwing her sippy cup in a couple of times.

View from our vantage point on the butte. The top must be gorgeous!

Nice dirty face at the end of the night! Isn't it fun to be outside?!

Frustrations

Here is what our little girl looks like after spending most of the morning either throwing tantrums or on the naughty mat. . .

Completely exhausted!

I'm sure if I'd gotten a picture of me on this particular day, I would have looked very similar.

It's got to be frustrating to be an almost-two-year-old who can understand everything she's told, but can't quite communicate as well as she would like.

It's also sometimes frustrating to be the mother of the said almost-two-year-old, who hates to put her little girl on the naughty mat, but has to be consistent with the rules, knowing it's better to do this now than end up with an hornery, whiney, disrespectful kid later on.

On the other hand, it's really pretty awesome to be the mother if this little almost-two-year-old most of the time. Especially when she's a sweetheart and wants to cuddle. Or when she gets really, super excited about little things like dancing or going on a walk outside. Or when she wakes up saying "Mommy" in her sweet little voice. Or when she gives me hugs and kisses and says "Wov you".

Yes, it's pretty awesome to be her mother then.