Its been so long since i last posted anything so i thought I would share a little about our life this past month....
At the beginning of June, we moved into a new house in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle. We are really close to the zoo and loving the area so far. There is a farmer's market i can walk to as well as a great park so this has already come in handy. I love taking a toddler to a market because you just strap them in the stroller and bribe them with wholesome food to "quiet" them. There is usually music and lots of other people. They get a fun outing and you get a little shopping/snacking done....perfect.:)

In the middle of June I took a trip (alone) out to CA to visit some family. My Uncle Jay passed away and I was luckily able to be there for support to my family and to remember a wonderful person. I was able to see my 5 month old nephew Jack, who is so adorable. I was so excited to be able to babysit him while Nate and Natalie went to a movie. He is such a good baby.... maybe I'll have one of those....:)

The last couple of weeks we have been spending so much time outside. There are a ton of wading pools to choose from as well as beaches and this has been filling our time! All of our pictures seem to include Kaija in a swimsuit. She is loving the sunshine and our wading pool out front.

Kaija is astounding me with her knowledge of the world these days. I definitely feel as though 2 1/2 has been really tough so far... She has a stubborn, determined, whiny, intense streak and will immediately switch to being the sweetest, humorous, and most independent little girl. She loves fairies and says she wants to be one when she grows up.. She also spends time putting her babies to sleep and practicing saying the things we say to her. She is scared of her new room at night and scared of the dark, light, shadows, and everything else her imagination takes her. We are trying to be consistent in our consequences but its been so hard!

Emily, Annika, and Lori came out for a visit at the end of May.

Em and I went and got Morroccan food and found a troll under the bridge. You can barely see her on the bottom left.
We also went to the beach and the girls just stripped down and played in the rocks and water.

It was a great visit:)

ben and kaija built these castles and we just played in the sandy rocks for hours. I lost one of Kaija's coats which is why she is wearing my coat and hat. She looks like a little homeless woman.

We found a perfect spot in the National Park by this lake. We were the only ones there. It started off as a cold morning but then the sun came out and it was just beautiful.

Mothers Day we took the ferry and drove out to Port Angeles. We stayed in a hotel went swimming and ate good food. It was super fun, my perfect Mothers Day:)

Potty training is well on its way! We're in the thick of it now and its exhausting....
Kaija is the youngest in her "Chickadee" classroom so she definitely picked it right up at school. Now if we could just get her to do the same at home......

This second pic is of Kaija and our dog, Thor, waiting for Ben to get home from work. So cute.

Finally.....!

Hey all you friends and Fam! We've finally got on the ball and started a blog. This is so we can keep you posted with who, what, and where our family is doing at ALL HOURS of the day! Well, maybe not that frequently.... but when we can:) Hope you enjoy!