Giveaway Craze

Yep, posting again! Just came across another awesome giveaway from Mommy and Me Giveaways that I had to share! Also, blogging about it gets me a few extra entries, so I blog about the ones that I really want. Who doesn't want awesome free stuff?!?! So this is a diaper bag (big whoop) but it sounds awesome! Great amount of space, with a insulated compartment for storing cold breastmilk or just cold milk or juice, and it also has lots of padding so if we wanted/needed to use it on a trip where we also had our computer, it would be well protected. AWESOME!! So, hoping I win this one too, but will be happy (and probably slightly jealous) of whoever does win it :)

More Giveaway Fun

Well, here I am again trying to get as many entries as possible for an awesome giveaway. Let me first say that Mommy and Me Giveaways is awesome!! The last thing I blogged about trying to win was Microsoft Office Suite and I won! I was so excited I had to call my parents and tell them immediately. I actually cheered out loud which I rarely do for anything!! So, this giveaway which seems like something that would be wonderful and helpful in the not too distant future is a portable DVD player from Radio Shack! I'm thinking some possible long trips to CA to see family with a Toddler---a DVD player might not be such a bad idea. So, here's to hoping and we'll see in a few days if I'm still as lucky!! :)

18 Months

I know I say this almost every time, but I can hardly believe we've hit the 18 month mark! Where has the time gone?!?! We are absolutely loving this age! We're having so much fun with Makaela and all her talking and decoding some of her language :) We just had her well-baby check up and got all her stats! She's had several growth spurts in the last few months (for her height, at least).

Weight--22 pounds 7 ounces--around the 25th percentile

Head--47cm--also around the 25th percentile

She seems to hang out around these percentiles for these two categories :)

Length--32 inches--around the 57th percentile! What?!?! Where did that come from? What I realize is that now she is finally hitting an "average" height but it seems so big compared to her 18th percentile and 22nd percentile from before :) The doctor said if she continues to grow at that rate she will probably be about 5'5". I told Makaela that's not allowed because then she'll be taller than mommy :)

Other things that are new are:

Extended Nap Time--this is mommy's favorite! She goes down between 12:30 and 1:30 and is usually in her bed until between 3:30 and 4:30. Wonderful time for mommy to have uninterrupted productivity!!! yay!

Her talking/words have really just blossomed in the last 3 months. I think around 15 months she had about 3-5 words down and now she says more than we can count--she is above average in that category :) She talks all the time and she is hilarious! She doesn't talk in sentences yet, she will occasionally babble out the sound of a sentence, but otherwise she doesn't speak in sentences. But the girl can talk and repeat anything and everything she hears!!

She has started to recognize and remember people which has been super fun! She talks about our friends Travis and Rosie Larsen ALL THE TIME! She also talks about our youth pastors kids as we see them almost every day for a walk. They have 3 boys, and she knows all of them by name. She is also recognizing grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and cousins in pictures and saying their names.

She currently counts from 1-10 by herself followed by "yay" after she says ten :)

She also can do almost all of the abc's skipping just a few here and there. I'd say she gets about 20 of the 26 letters.

She sings parts of twinkle twinkle little star--with a distinguishable "how I wonder what you are"

I think that's most of the update on her. She is going to be so disappointed when the weather turns yucky and we can't go on a walk like we do nearly every day right now!! But she loves being outside. We're having tons of fun with her right now and are so thankful for the ability to communicate relatively easily with her. We're also just so thankful for her!! She continues to be a joy and blessing in our lives and we can't thank the Lord enough for blessing and entrusting her to us! We're praying for her to come to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from an early age as we strive to train her in the ways of the Lord. Such a huge responsibility we've been given and we are thankful for the Lord for his graciousness and lovingkindness to us as we learn how to parent :)

Only by His Grace..........................

Ocean Shores

A few weeks back we headed over to the coast for the day. Still enjoying nice weather here and taking advantage of the sunshine!! We had a lovely day enjoying the beach and the warm weather! Much to my surprise, at Ocean Shores, you just drive onto the beach and park!!! That seemed a bit crazy to me, but normal to everyone else, I'm sure :)

Makaela adjusted well to the sand this time around--she actually loved it! She had so much fun wandering around and she even had fun playing in the water! We had heard it was supposed to be a little on the cool side, but still pleasant, so we didn't take our suits, but I bet Makaela wished we had! She ended up pretty much all wet anyway and she had a blast in the water with Dada!

We also found a fun little park to play at for a little bit and Makaela enjoyed swinging and playing on the playground set and going down the slide! Such big girl things she can do now!!! Here are our pictures from the day. We've really treasured these family times together and are looking forward to many more!!

Adventures in Washington

We live in such a fun place! It's not often that when we drive around we don't mention how thankful we are to be here living in this wonderful place!! God has packed this place full of His beautiful creation and we get to enjoy it all the time! How wonderful!!!

A few weeks back, we headed to Seattle for the day. My dearest friend and roommate from college, Emily, was visiting and so we thought it was a great excuse to head to the city for the day. Of course, even after I had talked about it, I still forgot the camera so we don't really have any pictures from the day accept what we got on our phones. But we had a great time! It's so fun to live just a quick ferry ride away--it eliminates the hassle of a car and parking and all that. It doesn't eliminate the tired feet at the end of the day, but its worth it and so much fun!! Makaela had a blast and she even took a nap in her stroller! This was a huge blessing to us and made the whole day much more enjoyable and endurable :)

Last weekend, Nathan, Makaela and I headed up to Sequim to take in the sight of the Dungeness Spit. The weather has been beautiful and we've wanted to take advantage of all the fun and relatively close things to do before we get into the busy fall. It was such a fun and wonderful day!! I found myself basking in the blessings God has showered on me and us. Despite me being completely unworthy of all of these, my God is still so gracious to me and blesses beyond description. What an awesome God I/we serve!!!

Makaela had a great time riding on dada's back in a carrier and checking out the seaweed. She didn't so much enjoy the sand on her hands, but she got used to it eventually--nothing a little brush of the hands wouldn't fix :) Here are a few pictures from our adventure. Tomorrow we're headed to Ocean Shores which I hear is beautiful!!