Soooooooooo.......

Some of you may have been wondering what the heck we've been up to the last few weeks. I am sorry to report that my faithful blogger tool, my laptop, has taken it's final breath (the actual cause of death was a "fried motherboard", but I think this sounds so much nicer). Not to mention that my camera charger was MIA for about 2 weeks, so not much blogging going on with a dead computer and a dead camera! Luckily I found the camera charger, but Kyle and I are still trying to figure out what we want to do about a computer. I've been working on a laptop for about 10 years, and now I'm itching to finally get a real "big girl" computer. Not just any computer either. I was really hoping to make my next purchase an iMac, since my iPhone has got me pretty much obsessed with Apple technology. Kyle and I just made a big purchase though, we bought a new sectional couch for our living room (no more sitting on lawn chairs for our guests, yipee!), so we're trying to decide how much money we really want to spend... anyway though, I was able to upload some of my pictures on my mom's mini laptop to show you guys! I can't edit them though, so no cropping or red eye removal... you guys probably don't care though :)

This weekend we went to the aquarium in Newport with our good friends the Boases. Matt is Kyle's co-worker (he's an english teacher at the high school), and he's head coach of the girls basketball team that Kyle is helping. They have a little girl named Summer, and we've really enjoyed hanging out and spending time with them!

Look at all the fishies!

Checking it all out



The girls!

One of my faves :)



The Boases!

It was a very fun day trip, and we topped it off with a trip to Mo's. Kyle loves their clam chowder that comes in a bread bowl, and they make a mean grilled cheese!

Payton is so BIG, it's hard to believe her birthday will be here again in just two short weeks. She is speaking in sentences, she seems to be spouting off at least one new word everyday. We've been told that she's a really great talker for her age, it seems like she is always chatting about something! We enrolled her in a gymnastics class for toddlers at a gym in Corvallis, which has lots of fun activities for her to do with kids her age. She's pretty shy at first, but once she opens up she has so much fun! Kyle and I think it's a really good confidence booster for her, and encourages her to get out there and try new things. I think it's just as beneficial for her emotionally as it is physically. Plus she's perfecting her forward front roll! :)

Payton's favorite things at the moment are her babies and Elmo. She is OBSESSED with Elmo right now! She asks to watch him from the moment she wakes up until we tell her it's time for her bath. We really don't want her to just veg and watch Elmo all day, so we've been having to get creative about playing with her to keep her interested in other things too. I will admit though, Elmo definitely has it's perks... Kyle and I got a portable DVD player for the car, and yesterday on our trip to Newport (about an hour and a half each way) we put on Elmo and it was the most peaceful car ride ever! Totally worth it! We only bring it out for road trips, so it seems like a special treat to her. She likes the music one the best, she loves singing songs. Baa baa black sheep and the alphabet are her favorites at the moment. She has two bottom teeth coming in right now, the last of her baby teeth. She's still sleeping great though, thank goodness. She is a great sleeper at night, we are very lucky!

We've had a few recent experiences with the "terrible twos" lately. Tonight she wanted me to lay down on the floor so she could put a blanket on me and pat my back (I guess she picked that up at daycare). She told me "mommy down! mommy get DOWN!" I guess I didn't move fast enough, and she burst into tears, still yelling "mommy down!" She started getting hysterical, so I just removed her from the situation and took her to her room, where she eventually calmed down. It was like she flipped an emotional switch! Kyle and I joke about how she's going to do with a sibling because she's pretty possessive of us. One time Summer was sitting on Kyle's lap and when Payton saw that she started crying and saying "my daddy!" We laugh about it, but I think it will be a pretty big adjustment for her when it happens. She'll probably look at US and say "my baby!" :)

These are a few pictures I recently took in our backyard. I wanted to do a fun photo shoot with an umbrella, but Payton wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Pretty cute though!





"Cheeeeeeeeese" :)