Our New Home

Bye-Bye Grandma and Grandpa

We have arrived. The trip was long and boring, but we made it without incident. We left at 9:30pm, drove through the night and arrived at our new apartment at about 1:30pm. We unloaded everything and just kind of crashed. We've been putting everything away through the week and just have a few clothes and odds and ends left. Kelly's parent's, Ross, Lesa, and Nate came up with us. We couldn't have done it without them, they were just awesome.

The view from our side balcony

Looking from our living room toward the kitchen and hallways Grandma and Anni in baby's room Our room and bathroom

Our living room

Lesa in our tiny kitchen

Anni is having a hard time adjusting, but it getting better now. She's finally figured out that she has free run of the house and can go where ever she wants.

We live right next door to a nature preserve, so we go walking there almost every night.

I got the job at the Lowe's in Portland, it's my same position, so I'm really happy about that. I start on Saturday.

Kelly had his orientation on Monday and got his uniforms. He starts class on Monday, he's really excited.

Kelly got me a webcam for my birthday, so we are set up on Skype. Video chats await!

Annika's First Birthday (part 2)

On Saturday we had Annika's birthday party at my parent's. We had lots of family and friends come to see her, it was great.

Anni loves her Uncle Sid.

She was much less excited about the cake this time and mostly just painted her leg with frosting.

She got lots of wonderful gifts, cute clothes and fun toys, plus her forward facing car seat.

She spent most of the night playing with her car seat.

1 Year Pediatrician Visit

Annika is perfectly healthy! She's 29 inches tall and weighs 19.6 pounds. That puts her at the 50th percentile for height and head size and 25th percentile for weight. Our little muffin is just petite, no way around it.

She got her chicken pox vaccine too. I never had chicken pox, so I really hope this helps to keep her from bringing it home and giving it to me when I'm 25.

She's big enough for a forward facing car seat now, which I think she's really gonna like.

She's got so much hair now, and it just has a mind of it's own. It's so cute.

1 Year Old!

It's been a busy day. Anni's first birthday is today and Kelly had to have surgery on his knee. The surgery went well, he's just fine now. He has to use crutches for a few days, so Lesa is here to help with Anni. After we turn in the crutches he'll be hobbling around with a limp for a week or so, then he should be 100% again.

Lesa, Anni, and I visited Grandma Sonia while Kelly was in surgery. She had a birthday cupcake for Annika. She licked at the frosting, but mostly just threw it on the floor.I just can't believe how quickly the year has gone by. She was so tiny and barely filled a corner of her bed, now she's a moose and can almost stretch from one end to the other. She could barely lift her head and now is almost walking. She changes everyday, and we just fall in love with her more and more with every change.

Annika's First Birthday (Part 1)

Annika's first birthday party went very well. She got some new books and lots of love and cuddles.

The cake was a whole new experience. She started off by just poking it, then grabbed a handful of frosting off the top.

After a few minutes of grabbing and sucking on her fingers she decided she didn't need the plate anymore and dumped the cake off of it.

She started grabbing handfuls of cake after that and throwing them as much as eating them.

Everyone close by got hit. I had frosting all down the leg of my jeans. She totally demolished the cake.

Afterwards, I just stripped her down to nothing and dumped her in the sink in the bathroom. Their mirror ended up with frostingy baby fingerprints all over it. She was faster than me.

Grandma Sugar was much more delicate eating her cake.

Oregon or Bust

It's official. We will be moving to Portland, Oregon during the first week of August. There have been a lot of mixed feelings about us leaving among the family, but we really feel like this is the best thing for us. The school offered Kelly a few grants and we got the financing to go, so we are going to jump on the opportunity. The longer we push it back, the less likely we'd be to go at all.

Kelly is so excited, I'm really nervous. I've never lived farther from my parent's than Logan.

It's going to be an adventure and we're ready to get started!

Annika's Birthday Parties

The Official Birthday Invitation to Our Friends and Family:

We're doing 2 birthday parties. One in Logan and one in Ogden.

The one in Logan will be at Casper's Ice Cream at 3pm on Saturday, the 18th of July. That one is also a birthday party for Kelly's Grandma Sugar.

The party in Ogden is at my parent's house on Saturday, the 25th of July. We haven't decided on a time, but it will most likely be at 3 or 4. I'll adjust this post when we make a decision.

Leave me a comment if you need directions or have questions. I hope to see everyone there to help us celebrate the first year of my little angel's life!