The Last Hurrah

I was going through pictures this week and found some from before Teddy was born that I never posted. It's amazing how life has changed since then. Humor me while we take a small trip down memory lane.

JANUARY

Nayeli went through a phase when she was constantly taking her socks off and putting them on her hands. She only does it occasionally now, but it cracks me up when she does.

Speaking of socks, one day we got home from church and Nayeli was able to sign / tell me that she wanted her tights on her head. She then proceeded to look at herself in the mirror and giggle. Sometimes her cuteness kills me.

"Why, no mom, I didn't touch the colored pencils. Why do you ask?"

FEBRUARY

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ben made this car from a diaper box. There are major perks from having married a right-brained person.

When your dad is a skier, this is sometimes how you dress up. We are taking her skiing when we go to Utah for Christmas. She is SO excited. It goes without saying that Ben is excited too.

Nayeli went through a phase that she was OBSESSED with dogs. These are just a few that were gifts from family and friends. Can you just see the look of elation on her face as she hugs them?

Speaking of dogs, we went on a walk and she spotted one in the distance. This is the next shot we got of her. I believe she shouted, "Doggy!" as she ran away.

For a long time she was a great eater. She would eat anything I put in front of her, even soap. Ha ha, of course I didn't put the soap in front of her, fate did. But she didn't seem to mind. Needless to say, I don't think this will be an effective form of punishment in the future.

 MARCH

Nayeli is really into "hiding"- usually in places where I can see almost all of her.

We live right by the Willamette River (the river that runs through Portland). When the weather is nice we often take walks down to the dock by our home.

At a riverside park in West Linn. Another dog that she loves to haul around.

On the dock

See that growing baby bump? I was about 36 weeks here.

Our favorite park is Memorial Park and it's right by our house. The wildflowers were breathtaking.

All growing up my dad took us kids on "date night" about once a month. It was a night for him to do something with each child individually, and we could do almost anything we wanted to do. I loved it. This is a picture from Nayeli's first date night with Ben. They went to REI and played in the tents, then bought chocolate and ate it while watching fountains. Ben is the greatest dad. Really, I couldn't imagine a better father for my children.

APRIL

On a walk one day- Nayeli was playing near a pond and before I knew it, "Splash!" I just had to laugh. She didn't think it was as funny as I did.

Some of the amazing sisters in my ward threw me a shower- Kellena Collier and Kristi Park as well as so many others. It was at Kellena's house and was in an orange and blue theme. It was so cute! So many woman came and gave me such nice things. I love this ward so much and have met some of the most Christian people of my life here.

Ben painting Nayeli's toenails. She insisted he do it since when I did it tickled too much. Unfortunately she was ticklish no matter who was doing the painting :)

We went to the Portland temple grounds one Sunday before I delivered.

Easter egg dying!

Happy Easter from our family! This was taken 8 days before Teddy was born.

Taken 3 days before his birth. I felt so big. I really could hardly breathe toward the end.

One of my favorite pictures ever. Ben is my best friend and this just captures what we do- cuddle on the couch and chat about life. This was also three days before Teddy's birth.

Well thanks for humoring me! I have had so much catching up to do with the blog, but I'm getting there. I just don't want to miss anything since I now print our blog into a book every year. It's like our family journal. So if nothing else, thanks for looking at our last hurrah as a family of three.