Happy Birthday!

Caley girl turned 2 on Monday! We can't believe it's already been 2 years, the time has gone by so fast. She is so smart and nice (most of the time), and such a joy in our lives. Her language is especially taking off. Lately she's started saying, "Ready, set, go" and "I see blue car" and "Blue doggie night-night." She's also using a lot of describing words in new situations like "slippy" (slippery) when we're outside and it's icy, and "heavy" when she carrying something big.

For her birthday we had a little party with the Gerlach side on Sunday. I made a bee hive cake and the living room was decked out in black and yellow streamers. We all ate chili and cornbread as well. She had lots of fun playing with her many cousins. The guys went to a Sonics game afterward while Bill's sisters, mom, and I stayed home with the kids, ate popcorn and played Scattergories. It was really fun. We love being able to host people at our house, and it shows again how blessed we are to live here! Thanks Mom and Dad Bales!

Caley went to her 2-year well-child appointment and she weighed in at 24 pounds, and overall is in the 20% for her height and weight. So she's starting to level out more against her peers. She got a flu shot and a Hepatitis A immunization (just as a precaution, she's not necessarily at risk for it) and the doctor said she was beautiful and just great! We don't have to go back for another year (although we will visit again when Gerlach #2 arrives).


Speaking of whom, we're almost done with the first trimester and the baby is now about 1.5 inches long and the size of a fig. I can't feel him/her move yet, but my belly is starting to get more round (probably not just from the baby, haha). Next week we get to have another ultrasound so stay tuned.

Caley at playgroup

Every Friday we have playgroup at home with some friends (mostly from church). The kids have tons of fun playing and learning together. Here are some pictures that were just too cute to pass up!

Gerlach 2.0

As many of you may know, we're pregnant! We found out in mid-December and have been waiting until our first doctor appointment to announce it to the world via the blog. Baby #2 is due August 20, 2007 and Addie's 9 weeks along. We got to see a live shot of him/her at the appointment today, and s/he's healthy and normal. The little heart was beating away at a perfect pace. Here's approximately what s/he may look like now.
He/she is about the size of a medium green olive and most of his organs are formed as are his body parts like hands and feet. His eyelids are fused shut and will remain that way until about 30 weeks. Aside from making Mom a bit tired, she's been feeling pretty good. A month ago however, this wasn't the case. Thank goodness that's over! God is an awesome artist and we can't wait to meet our little baby this summer.

Caley's New Faves

Every few months Caley finds a new toy, book, or activity that she loves. Lately she has been infatuated with two stuffed animals, Ernie and Marshall Grover, both ones I used to play with at her age. I wonder why, out of the tons of toys and stuffed animals she has, she loves these two. I'd say because it smells like me, but it doesn't, it smells like 20-year-old toy that's been licked, dropped in the mud, and probably peed on at some point. And because these are plush and not plastic, I'm hesitant to wash in the washing machine, for fear of making it look freakier than it already does. But Caley loves these toys, and rarely doesn't have either of them with her.

She also is really loving her book about Jesus, meaning her Toddler Bible. Every night we read a few stories and she always cries when it's time to put the book away and go to sleep. "Jesus! Jesus!" she yells. Although while we're reading she doesn't usually comment on the people in the stories, but more the animals and picture of fire ("hot" she says). I'm glad that she's at least open to Jesus, it gives me hope that she will come to know Him at an early age.

Indiana Jones and his toy collection

Now that the 4th installment of Indiana Jones is well on its way to "greenlight" status, I couldn't be more thrilled. I grew up watching and re-watching these movies and have always been interested in Kenner's toy line. I decided to try and collect them and just finished recently - a few pieces insanely hard to aquire in worthy condition. Thanks to our friends Spielberg and Lucas and the continuation of the franchise, it could not have come at a better time, investment wise. (ignore the last photos, just need them up for links to other places right now...)

See You Next Year!

It's been a wonderful 2006 for us, God has blessed us in unbelievable ways this year! With the new house, healthy family, finishing school, and so much more, we are very thankful that God has given us another year together.

Tonight we are heading to the Red Hot Bash at Mars Hill: Ballard with our friends John and Colleen. Caley's hanging out at home with Grandma and Grandpa Bales, and Great Grandma Evelyn.


See you in 2007!

What is your emergency?

On Tuesday I called 911 for the first time. The emergency? In a moment of "mommy brain" I locked Caley and my keys in my car while it was running. Thankfully she was not in distress and safely locked in her car seat. I don't think she was even suspicious there was an emergency. So I called 911 and an officer broke into my car for me. Very exciting! Now you can learn from my mistake, if you lock your keys in your car, make sure your kid's in the car too because then you can get it unlocked for free by the cops!

O Christmas Tree

This weekend we also went to the Children's Ministry Christmas party. Caley won in the kid category for most outrageous Christmas outfit. She wore a puffy paint Santa sweatshirt, and Rudolph antlers and a flashing nose. Bill and I wore equally weird Christmas sweaters.

We got our Christmas tree today and decorated it. It's always fun to remember how we got all the ornaments. Caley put a few ornaments on this year, she especially liked the Sesame Street ones from my Grandma Ev. My favorite ornament is my Baby's First Christmas one, it's a buggy with a baby and it says "1981." Grandma also gave us some retro tree lights, you can see them in the pictures, the huge bright ones. I'm sure they're a fire hazard, they get warm and some wire is exposed, but I just love them! It really adds a nostalgic look to our tree. Some people have a themed-tree, ours is just eclectic and random. I think it's the perfect kind of tree, one with lots of history. Enjoy these pictures!

Toddler Mischief

What happens when your toddler finds the Vaseline during naptime?? Hmmm, just so happens I have personal experience with this. It happened today! Caley was crying at her door so I went to check on her, and noticed she was covered in something. At first I thought it was vomit, but it didn't smell. Instead it was all greasy. Apparently she'd found the jar of Vaseline, opened it, and started smearing herself with it. Maybe she needed some chapstick? Oh well, this will be a funny story to tell her (and her boyfriend(s) ), and at least this time it wasn't poop.

Check out our new pics

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures on our Shutterfly site. Enjoy!

Turkey Days & Snow Days

It snowed on Sunday and we got to play outside. Caley was a little freaked out by the white stuff all around and she spent most of the time in the playhouse while we made a snowman.

































We had Thanksgiving a little early with Addie's parents, brother and Grandma Harriet and Grandpa Floyd. It was a fantastic spread with lots of leftovers!














We spent Thanksgiving Day at the Gerlach's in Lynden. The whole family was there, 25 people including the kids. Caley got to sit at the kids table with her cousins and tried stealing turkey off Autumn's plate while Ethan and Teija laughed at each other.



























We brought cider and soda, yummy! Pass me some more yams!




















We are thankful for our families and for the blessings God has given us this past year! Thank you Jesus!

Ode to the Peugeot

We've been driving my parent's 1984 Peugeot 604 Turbo Diesel for the past few weeks because the Jeep is having problems. This car was my first and driving it around has been like traveling through time back to high school. Except I'm not driving my friends to soccer practice, I'm ferrying Caley around town. This car is pretty nice, considering it's age. However, there isn't a handle on the stick shift (just duct tape, which works well), the left passenger door doesn't open, it smokes up the entire block when it starts in the morning, and oh, the odometer says it has 511,000 miles on it. Bill and I were talking about getting a new car and he said he wants something with like 15K miles on it, because once a car gets past 150 or so, it starts to go downhill. I was a little confused and said, "But the Peugeot has 511K on it and it's running fine!" No, he said, that's just a glitch on the odometer. Shows you how much I know about cars...

It's been fun driving the Peugeot though! Let me know if you ever need a ride.

Capers

Caley's new favorite snack isn't a normal one for toddlers, she's recently become obsessed with capers, yes, those little vinegar-y pea-like garnishes in gourmet food. She calls them "peas" and always gets them out of the fridge and says, "Peas please". Actually it sounds more like "Peas peas" because her articulation is still developing. Capers are described as, "Capers are the unopened green flower buds of the Capparis spinosa (Capparidaceae - caper family - closely related to the cabbage family), a wild and cultivated bush that is grown mainly in Mediterranean countries (southern France, Italy, and Algeria) and also in California...The taste is slightly astringent and pungent, and they can lend piquancy to many sauces and condiments; they can also be used as a garnish for meat and vegetable dishes."

Funny how our daughter sometimes refuses "normal" snacks like peanut butter, but adores the gourmet dish. :)

Addie's getting old...

My birthday was on Monday this week and I'm starting to feel old. I think it's less about the age I am, and more about how old Caley is. I'm the "mom" this year, not a college student or a new mom, I'm "the mom." I had a good birthday though, very relaxing and special. My husband is pretty nice too. God has blessed me immensely this past year, with the new house, Caley staying healthy, finishing school, and providing for us when we thought things might get scary. Yes, God is good. I'm thankful that he's given me 25 years and hope he gives me many more!

Where's the Ball?

Last night I played a new game with Caley in which I hide a ball around the house and she finds it. Of course I hid it in really easy places and she basically was watching me hide it and then she "found" it. After hiding the ball I said, "where's the ball?" and she imitated me! It was the first time I'd heard her say a full sentence and we were pretty excited. Actually it was more like "Where tha ball?" and she put her hands out like asking a question. She also was hiding her eyes while I was hiding the ball and getting the hang of it. It's fun that we can play together now.

We also went to the pumpkin patch today with Caley's playgroup. It was so fun! Caley chose her own pumpkin. Enjoy these pics!

Update and Caley on a swing

Bill stayed home on Wednesday and got some more work done on the house. We also played outside with Caley and got some pictures of her on the swing. She loves the swing set and is really confident sitting by herself. I think learning to swing herself will take a little more practice. :)
We really like living in Mukilteo. Last night we went for a walk and found a pickle ball court really close to our house! Bill was so excited. We love how Mukilteo is a small town on the water with gorgeous views but that it's still close to the city. It reminds me of Astoria a lot because of the fog horns and beautiful sunsets. As I write this the fog is rolling around in the yard and it's very mysterious. God has blessed us immensly these past few months!

Caley's Bedtime Social Story

My name is Caley.

These are my toys.

I'm a big girl, so I sleep in a big girl bed!

Sometimes Ernie and Grover lay with me.

After reading my book, singing a song and talking to Jesus,

I get my binky,

my blankie,

Kiss Mommy,

And I sleep in my bed.

When I wake up at night, I go back to sleep by myself.

In the morning I get to see Mommy and Daddy!

I’m a big girl!