No thank you sand and grass

Every now and then mom breaks down and buys these things.

After Disneyland, our family went to Laguna Beach. And I must say, that place is gorgeous. I only watched one episode of "The Hills" (which was more than enough), but now I can really see why people live there...if you happen to have a minimum of $2 million for a home.

We learned a few things about Ruth:

-she doesn't like sand

-she doesn't like grass

-she doesn't like the ocean

-she loves blended strawberry lemonades

-she loves to share (for now)

I am sure all of these things will change but clearly the Pacific was not warm enough and that sand and grass...well, she has met other textures that she welcomes much more. 

But it was hilarious! She would immediately go to her tippy-toes and beg dad to get her off of the lawn. And on the sand she would just crunch up her legs while dad was holding her so she wasn't touching it.

I am thankful for living in Oregon but oh I can see how people like sunshine (consistently) and "beaches" versus our "coast." HUGE difference if you have never been to the coast...

Off to go to Ikea-some of our sweet friends just gave us their beautiful yellow couch and our bright green rug seems to not match. I will post a pic soon!  And also, we have to go buy another crib...so amazing! Ruth and this little one (we find out next Thursday) will be too close for Ruth to have a toddler bed so we thought Ikea's cribs looked great AND were the right price.

Enough rambling.

Love, Anna

Much happier in the air than on the ground.

Those teeth, that grin, that suit.

She doesn't seem to want anything to do with actually "sliding."

The magic puffs.

Someone thinks their daddy is funny...

Disneyland...dreamland

First off, advice for anyone out there who might be considering going to Disneyland at spring break, don't go. It is just even better with a tens of thousands fewer people. There, that is the last I will say about that.

We had a lovely time with both of our families (we missed the Casadys, Kate and Meggie) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for us Oregonians-high 60s to low 70s.

Highlights:

1) Ruth's expression when she saw Minnie. It was pure joy and shock at the same time.  Life size Minnie!?!?  She wasn't so sure when it came time to get a picture with her.

2) Eating dinner at Naples Pizzeria with both of our families. It was actually quite hard to connect both groups given we were staying on opposite ends of the park and we were working around Ruth's schedule so the two dinners we had were amazing!


3) Cars ride!!!!  Seriously, the fast pass line (just to get a pass) was a 45 minute wait and they were all gone by 9am...crazy. But it was amazing!!!! And it was the only "no preggo" ride that my OB said I could ride :)  I just stared at Screamin' and dreamt of a time I will be able to go on it again (I LOVE rollercoasters).

4) I had nice a conversation with a cast member named Johnnie about his little boy and before you know it, he gave us a 12 person pass to the front of ANY line!  We used it on Nemo (which actually wasn't super exciting).  Still, so awesome and we were so grateful!

5) Matt and I's date night: I have been so desperate for more time with my husband.  Having a kid (and a delightful one) is such a blessing but it definitely alters your marriage. My parents took Ruth one night and we got to eat dinner at the Park, eat ice cream-two scoops for me, get a Disney shirt, watch Fantasmic, and 8 minutes of Dreams Come True (high winds ended it early).  It was so amazing.

 

 

 

 

Pardon the dust...

I am attempting to re-do my blog...the operative word being "attempting."  SEriously-what in the world is "html???" And I never knew all of the shift buttons meant so much (and altered things so greatly).  So please, stand-by. The likelihood rests high in the fact that I will call in professional reinforcements.

In the mean time, please enjoy these few pictures from Ruthie's first trip to the zoo. She was rather unimpressed but at least she almost stayed in her stroller (well for 15 minutes) and seemed to enjoy all of the scenery-although not all that impressed with the animals. One day, baby girl!

PS: How handsome is my husband? I think he is quite.
PPS: Please ignore my momentary lapse of judgement with the brunette hair in the last pic. My senses came to me and after a month I went back to blonde.

Upcoming features will be: a house tour (before/after), nursery budgets and design, and our trip to Disneyland!

Wee-fall is here!

Um...yeah. So I don't blog "well" so here are a 1.5 months of updates. Life has been beautiful and crazy.  And I might have learned one of the most essential of all life lessons as well.  Will write about it soon. Let's just say it has to do with joy and choosing.

The Normans...

1) Went to the coast, twice. Once for a church retreat and once to celebrate my amazing mother's 60th birthday. (photos to come) It was 75 degrees...

2) Celebrated Handsome's 36th birthday with our first night away from our punkie bean as well as little soiree with awesome friends (complete with American Dream Pizza)

3) Went to Washington DC to visit Matt's amazing sister for 6 days*

4) One of my bestest of besties got engaged and they surprised me in DC (she lives in NYC) and I started crying.  And her ring...wowsers, Pat.  I mean it's soooo gorgeous.  I told her it was like one of those rings you would see on the classiest 80 year old lady at airport and then hope you got to be the heir :) (Well I didn't tell her I would hope to be the heir but...)

5) Had a dinner party to get-to-know another of my besties' new boyfriends. Did I mention I cried when I found out he officially asked to date her?  Well I did. Another tear shed for love.

6) Dinners with amazing friends (Cecils: we love you and are in awe of your family and your hearts). Morgan-you delight my soul

About the crying thing: I LOVE my friends.  They are salt of the earth sort of people and to be honest, I barely think anyone is worthy of them.  Hallelujah many of them have met insanely awesome men and thus, I cry when I find out their good news.

*And in case you are wondering how 7 hours on a plane with a baby was...here is my advice: 1) don't do it if you don't have to. 2) Try not to fly with a constipated baby (sooooo sad-we are ditching "real" food for now and sticking to what she loves, milk). 3) If you can, fly first class (for real. We had miles so we used those. Let's just say it left us desiring to always fly first with a baby. I don't think the fancy pants business people liked it as much). 4) Again, try not to. Of course Ruth doesn't like her car seat so road trips are out of the question for us for now but it is a great option.

Here you go!!!

Gracie's Brunch.  Ridic. If you live in Portland, you MUST go and get the bread pudding french toast. Yep. I couldn't stop smiling.

Us returning home :)

She was rubbing her top teeth against her bottom and her faces because of it were epic.

 

Matt's birthday at home with my hottie girlfriends.

And the handsome boys (and a dancing Alomae) 

Dinner with the incredible Cecils (Emma is Ruth's bestie)

DC first lunch with Aunt Kate! 

Natural History Museum.  I barely stopped smiling here to..you'll see why below.

It's a fox, like daddy's tattoo! 

Here's why! YOu could hold bugs! I LOVE bugs! And you could hang out with hundreds of butterflies!

And this my dear friends, is a madagascar hissing cockroach.  Yeah! 

Pure joy.  Hopefully you saw our instagram pic of Ruthie flying 

I asked how much it would cost to get married in here on my 8th grade trip: it was $25000 then (without anything but the space)

The engaged beauty!!! 

Highly recommend the Bike the Sites tours!  Ruthie might not...

Future Uncle Pat! 

xoxo, Anna N