Maybe

she does understand... a couple nights ago I was changing the background on our blog and Kara climbed up in my lap. She saw the (almost 2 year old) picture of our family and said, " Mommy, Daddy", and then "baby". And when I told her yes, that was her as a baby she pointed at me and said, "tummy".

Birthday weekend

Last Friday was Jeff's birthday and we started the weekend with dinner at Red Robin Thursday night for Jeff's free birthday club burger. Red Robin is pretty much Jeff's favorite restaurant, and Kara is such a carnivore, it will probably be hers soon too. The Red robin bird was making rounds though the restaurant, and Kara watched him with fascination, but didn't seem to want him too close, because she clung to me and hid her face when he came to our table.


Friday Jeff had taken the day off from work and we headed to Alki beach. The sun was out, and the the view of Seattle was amazing. My little point and shoot camera really shows its limitations at times like this. Jeff built a sandcastle, and Kara sat and watched. Since the sand on the beach isn't naturally occurring, it doesn't go all the way to the coastline. So to make the sand workable we had to carry water up to the very, very dry sand. Since all we had was Kara's tiny bucket this required a lot of trips back and forth. Jeff offered several times to be the one to carry the water, but it was such a tiny bucket it wasn't the least bit heavy. After I insisted several times that I would rather be out in the cool water then sitting in the hot sand building the sand castle he finally believed me.










Saturday we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Amy had offered to watch Kara for us, and Andrew and their kids took us out to the movie.It was sucha warm summer night that we decided to take a walk wround the pond down the hill.





Sunday we went out to visit Jeff's dad and brother in Port Orchard. We ate yummy BBQ and Kara played with her cousin, Andre. The garden gnomes looked to her like 3 of the 7 dwarfs and kept saying "Dopey, Dopey, Dopey".

We decided to try taking the Southworth ferry back instead of dealing with the bridge this time. Since we didn't have to pay the toll, or drive as much it was about the same price and way more fun. Since the 9:15 ferry goes straight across instead of stopping at Vashon it was almost as fast (except for the time spent at the dock enjoying the amazing view). We have decided to go home this way more often!

The Mr. Potatohead problem

For me being "crafty" is a talent that is definitely under construction. I'm a much better starter of projects then I am a finisher, but I keep working on it because I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that comes with the end result. Also, doing something that stays done is therapeutic. An added bonus for this project was a very inexpensive solution to a problem, the problem of keeping Mr. Potatohead from being everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I'm especially pleased that I manged to finish it within a week of buying the material, with no pattern, and only second-hand verbal instructions.

Gearing up for a baby brother

Getting ready to have two little ones I decided that something I would need was a double stroller. After reading a lot of reviews, comparing models, talking to other mothers of two(or more), and considering the many, many stroller options I decided on a Phil and Teds with a doubles kit. I love that it fits through doorways, in public restrooms, and around people on paths...

it folds flat without having to remove any wheels...

fits easily on the top shelf in the back of my car...

and its a great single stroller for times when I won't need a double.

The main seat also reclines completely flat and the second seat can be attached in front to accommodate a newborn and toddler.

Christmas in July?

This little snowman adorns our mantle all year round. Because he got missed when we were putting away the Christmas decorations? In our house, could be but no. We really love to snowboard? No again, neither of us have ever been snowboarding. Although I'd like to try someday when I'm not pregnant or recovering from being pregnant, or nursing a newborn. One of Jeff's younger brothers, Andrew was an avid snowboarder and we gave it to him as a Christmas present one year. Now it sits on the mantle as a reminder of Andrew. Andrew was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 25. He was headed north on I-5 when he ran into a pedestrian who was running from police and attempted to flee cross the freeway.

Early September we are expecting a baby boy who we plan to name Andrew Soule Fernandez. Soule is also my dad's middle name. His mother, Marian Soule Leonard was a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger George Soule.

Zoo

Earlier this month we went with our friends the Arnolds and Billy and Alisha and their boys to the zoo. Kara loves animals and animals names make up a big part of her vocabulary right now, so I was excited for her to get to see so many new real life animals. Not just the dogs, birds and ducks that we can see here in the city. We tried to explain to her where we were going and listed off many of the animals she would get to see. She smiled as we listed off animal names for her but it didn't really seem to be sinking in that she would actually get to SEE these animals. The first stop was the penguins, which she called ducks. Because all birds that swim are ducks, right? Still not grasping that we would be seeing many different animals, she cried when we moved on from the "ducks", but quickly perked up when she saw the next animal. After a couple times, moving on and seeing a new animal, she ran excitedly from spot to spot when we would say lets go see the next animal. The gorillas put on quite the show and seemed to be all the kids favorite. After 4 hours we decided to end our zoo trip with a ride on the carousel. We only saw about half the animals, but we were worn out!

portraits

End of January I had taken Kara to get pictures taken as her valentine present for her daddy, and I'm finally getting around to getting them posted(floral dress). The second set (gold and white dress) were taken at the end of May. I had decided to get her pictures taken again for two reasons. One, as I watched her play and then looked up at the pictures on the mantle she looked taller and her hair was much longer. Also, I wanted to get a picture in her gold dress so I could let her start wearing it without worrying about her getting anything on it. She loves to eat, play and even sleep in her dresses. Well I'm glad I decided to do it. She was in the best mood for pictures and I couldn't be happier with how well they turned out! I know I'm her mother and totally biased, but I love love LOVE the gold dress with her blond hair and blue eyes! What really shocked me was looking at the pictures side by side as I was changing the pictures in the frames and realizing how much she changed in only 4 months!