Professional Pictures

Mandy and I decided to get the girls pictures taken together professionally. It was quite an interesting experience as both girls were in rare form, and did not want to cooperate. Tori was quite clingy at the beginning, and then both decided it was more fun to run out of the room being chased by mom. Surprsingly we did get some good pictures. Enjoy...

Random Pictures

Here are some cute pictures from the last few weeks...

Finally...

Wow, it's been a long time. Lots of things happening over the last few weeks, and the next several to come. Tori is fast approaching her second birthday (hard to believe it's only a month away) and continues to capture our hearts every day. She is talking more and has started using 'sentences' as her vocabulary increases. "No" has entered the picture now as well, though I'm noticing that she uses in most when she's tired. It's hard not to chuckle as she says it because of the cute inflection she uses but we're trying to limit her use of it.

A couple weekends ago, Mandy and I took the girls out for a play date at a kid-friendly cafe in Sherwood. They had such a good time playing with all the toys, and Mandy and I were able to enjoy a break from chasing after them.

We spent last week traveling around the greater Seattle are with Ej's job. We finally headed out of town around 11am on Tuesday, a couple hours later than scheduled due to a late night ER visit and early morning doctor visit for Tori. Don't be alarmed; she's perfectly fine. We were just dealing with our first case of hives, for which we have no idea the cause. After being assured it was alright for her to travel, we headed out of town, armed with benadryl. Aside from looking horrible, she had a great week.

Tuesday night we had dinner with my good friend from high school, Kim. We got reconnected a couple months ago and thought it would be great to meet for dinner since we were in her neck of the woods. We had great time. Tori was a little hesitant and stand-off-ish throughout dinner but her true colors shined afterwards. We were in a mall, so we decided to just walk around a bit and chat. Tori, of course, loved the freedom of being able to walk (and run). She developed a game in which she would run ahead of Kim and I and then stop and call out "Kimmie, Kimmie". It was the most adorable thing! She was really quite taken with Kim, and of course I was thrilled. It was a great evening, and I'm looking forward to the next time we are able to get together.

Wednesday evening we decided to drive into Seattle and do the touristy thing. We drove forever along the waterfront, but didn't want to pay to park, and had a hard time finding a spot under the viaduct so we decided to head back to the Space Needle area. Ended up paying to park there, but we were able to get out and walk around a bit, admire the space needle, and again let Tori run free for a while. She was especially interested in all the beautiful flowers and had to take the time to smell the rhodies. That has been our adventure the last couple weeks. We have a couple more days at home before traveling once again. We will be at Mom's next week while Ej's working in Eugene, and the following week we head back up north to Whidbey Island for our last big travel trip, at least for the time being.

New Obsessions

Three new obsessions have appeared... Hats, Sunglasses, and a stuffed cat

Fun with Crayons

Tori is loving coloring these days. She asks throughout the day to color. She sits at the kitchen table and occupies herself for quite a long time. I was able to take this video the other day before she knew I was watching her.

Last week Tori and I spent a day in McMinnville with my Aunt Roxie and my Grandma, who was visiting from out of town, and had a great time. They have a dog and two cats and during the car ride, Tori was constantly repeating the names of all three animals. Once we arrived she was on a mission to find all of them. While there, we spent some time outside playing with the dog, Smokey. Here are a couple pictures of Tori's newly acquired skill...

Such Concentration

Pure Joy and Excitement

Since this day spent hitting the ball for Smokey, Tori now tells us stories of her day with the dog. She repeats "Smokey" "Ball"(while moving her hands as if to throw a ball) "Racket"(swinging arms back and forth). Her words are coming more freely now, and in sequence. She has several two word phrases she repeats -- bubble bath, garbage truck, Easter Bunny -- the funniest to me being 'more Tori'. She loves to look at pictures, whether they be on the computer or in albums. At the end of any particular viewing session she will ask "More Tori" repeatedly until we find more pictures to look at. She has also formed a sentence, much to my shock. While we were spending time with Roxie, they were playing with Tori's shoes and laces. Tori apparently wasn't through playing and out of the blue said "Roxie, tie, shoe"

It is fun to hear her vocabulary grow, and watch her interests change and grow too. She loves to color, in books and in the bathtub (Crayola Tadoodles for the tub), is nearly obsessed with Cinderella, wants to pick out her shoes and coat when it's time to leave the house, still loves her books, and loves to play 'horsey' with Daddy -- sitting on his back and riding through the living room -- her favorite part being falling off. She is quite a ham sometimes and she definitely keeps us amused and entertained.

Finished Project

Easter weekend was quite a busy one for us. Between hanging out with friends and family, hunting easter eggs, and attending church, we found time to paint our bedroom. A couple weeks ago we finally purchased the paint, Fudgesicle is the color, and just had to wait until we had the time. Ej didn't have to work Saturday so we decided to plug ahead and get it done.

I absolutely love the finished product; it's exactly what I've been picturing. The only thing left to do is add some accessories to the walls.