They do look alike!

Evelyne at 5 months




I pulled a photo from when Evelyne was 5 months old and you can see how much she and Gilbert look alike! Evelyne is the black & white photo and Gilbert is in color.

I can do it myself!

Independence; we both love it and at times struggle with it. Toddler independence is definitely a struggle, however, we've learned sometimes you just let it go...dressing and selecting clothing is something i've decided to just let go. As long as we're home, I don't care what she wears as long as it's appropriate for the weather. If we go out, I'm trying to keep the same mindset and let her just wear things she selects as long as it is not inside out and backwards. We've been strangely styled these days with one green and one blue sock here, dress over jeans and tennis shoes there, every once in a while a perfectly matched outfit comes through but usually inside out or backwards...here's a photo of one such outfit...oh and shoes on the wrong feet.

St. Patrick's Day

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the Hovde's and Peppmeiers and all the kids at McMennamin's Kennedy School in NE Portland and what a great spot for a celebration! The kids got to run around the long hallways, and parents were able to chug a few drinks in between chasing and keeping the peace. Here they are on the bench (Evelyne, Jack P., Will P., and Luke H.) I'm holding Gilbert who's almost 5 months now. It was great fun for us all and is always bittersweet as we know we're losing our dear friends, the Peppmeiers, very soon to Montana! Here are some photos of all the kids and our little dancing queen, Evelyne, a blue blur, who after everyone left wanted to party on with the band....
Ironically, Sunday morning we awoke to Evelyne's face being incredibly swelled up. One eye was almost swollen shut and she had blisters on her nose and nostrils, and forehead. She was miserable and very scarry looking. We took her to urgent care and apparently she has a bad staff (sp.?) infection in the tissue on her face. The urgent care Dr. said we were almost to the point of hospitilization but wanted us to go ahead and try treatments at home first. So scarry. She is doing much better now and is on two mega doses of antibiotics and antibiotic creams. It was so strange because the night before she was fine, nothing out of the ordinary and we woke up to such a rapid change. It's common in kids who have eczema which she does so parents watch out!

Gilbert Happenings

So, despite all else that happenend during last week, Gilbert got two new teeth, had a bad bout of eczema on his head, and seemed to grow right out of all of his pants in the length. Here are some recent photos from playing with his favorite bunny toy, his favorite sister, and his first painting venture in the baby bjorn...as you can see evelyne helped out, too.

A new house

After a time of searching and trying to figure out where we want to live, we decided to have a new home built at Villebois in Wilsonville. Thanks to both of our parents for helping us narrow the search and sending us numerous home options. Our home won't be completed until September, so that gives us some extra time to get ours in shape and on the market. We spent the whole of Nathan's vacation last week house searching and redoing our bedroom; took out the old carpet shined up the wood floors, painted trim and walls, and got new bedding, rugs, and window coverings. Why is it that your bedroom is always nearly the last thing to get done? Anyway, it looks great. Next we tackle the kitchen and clean up the yard and we're about ready to sell. We're excited for the move coming soon and excited to have a home in the villebois community. There aren't any floorplans posted online, but if you're interested the website describing the community is www.villebois.net and if you go to site photos our house will be like the one in the center top with the courtyard in the front.