Searching for Home

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I took our big trip out west. We are looking for a place to "settle down" after Dave finishes school. We really have no ties and no idea where we're headed. (Any suggestions?) Somehow the idea of living in Portland or Seattle has been really appealing to us. It has the greenery that we love, the ocean and that great city planning thing unlike most places out east. So since we go home to New York all time, we decided to use our summer trip to do some future home scouting. Dave's parents also came along for the adventure and despite some serious traffic, crying and being squished in a car together for days, we managed to have a pretty awesome time. And for bragging purposes I just have to say how amazing Oakley was. On the Airplane, in the hotels, at friends houses, and in the car, she is just a sweet little angel! Now for the pictures...

Mount St. Helen's



Seattle (And No, I didn't wear the same shirt two days in a row, we really did it all in one day!)



The Pringles- not us, Dave's parents



Seattle Temple- again same really long day!



The Japanese Gardens in Portland- my favorite part of the trip!



Japanese Gardens again, which by the way are not stroller friendly, we found that out the hard way!



Dave's dad taking a picture at Cannon beach. I guess this rock is in the movie "Goonies" which I admit I've never seen. I know, I was a deprived child!


Fort Stevens- and the kid in the red coat would not get out of the picture so I got impatient and just took it!



This was at a restaurant. Oakley fell asleep in my arms pulling her little hat down like this, so stinking cute!!




And the verdict was.... 1- Portland 1- East Coast. I really loved it, every bit of it and I could totally picture myself living there. Dave was almost sold until we got to the beach. He was soooo disappointed that the ocean was freezing cold and pretty much unswimable. I admit east coast beaches are a lot more fun but west coast beaches are so beautiful. Anyway I had told him many times that the ocean was cold out west but he thought I was just being a wimp. And he made the comment "I don't understand what all those people from California are bragging about, west coast beaches stink!". I thought that was pretty funny since most of the people I know from California are always talking up the beaches. No hard feelings west coasters but our beaches here win by a landslide!

Big Moves, Baby-haters and Birthday Wishes

Oakley is getting so big! At her 2 month Dr.'s appointment she was 11 lbs 10 oz and 24 1/4 in long. She's super tall (who would've thought that would happen?!), she's in the 95% for height and already in 6 months PJ's. And here's the big news in her life..... she's rolling over! (Tummy to back only) Crazy but she did it for the first time a few days after her 2 month appointment. She performs her little trick about once a day but gets frustrated when I put her back on her tummy after all her hard work. I'm still trying to capture it in video so you can all see her little trick. As you can see she's holding her head up really well now.



As for me and Dave things are going really well. Dave just started clinic and is working on real patients. So far its been quite an experience! I'm just loving being a mom which if you know me is a little surprising. Recently some friends have keyed me into just how awkward I was around babies. For example, there was the time I visited my friend and her newborn baby in the hospital and hardly paid any attention to the baby much less asked to hold him! Or the time I went to visit another friend who just had a baby and held the poor little boy like a rotten potato about a foot away from my body for like a 1/2 hour! What can I say, I only wanted to have a baby to stay home and hang out with my friends. I assure you I'm a much different person now. I absolutely think babies are the cutest and love their little smiles. Well I just ran into another baby-phobic friend and had good a look in the baby-hater mirror. We stayed with some old college friends in Portland (Portland blog soon to be posted) and our friend Andrea shared the same dislike for kids I used to have. At first I was totally confused as to why she didn't ask to hold my baby and didn't tell me how absolutely adorable Oakley is. Then it clicked... baby-phobia! I saw exactly how I must've been around other peoples babies. So I want to send out a big apology for my pre-baby behavior. Its not that I didn't think your babies were cute and adorable, I just wasn't interested in babies at all. And if you share that same baby-phobia I used to have, don't worry it goes away about 2 seconds after you have your own. I sure love this little girl and can't picture my life without her. If you remember any of my awkward pre-baby moments please share, its funny to me now!






I want to send out birthday wishes to my mom. Her birthday was like two weeks ago but we all know what a procrastinator I am. I just have to tell what an awesome mom I have, she's the best! We're complete opposites in many ways but still best friends. We talk about 1 to 3 times a day on the phone and she's always willing to listen to me whine about whatever. Thanks for staying with me for 2 weeks after Oakley was born and waiting on my every whim! Anyway, happy 60th mom! You don't look a day over 40!



Mom- can we consider this your Birthday Card? I'll be on the ball next year, I promise!

Untitled

Untitled because I'm leaving it up to you to come up with a good title for this picture. All I have to say is... we all knew this would happen. At least Oakley seems perfectly content to lay with her daddy while he plays X-box...for now.