14 months old!

Karina is really growing! She is scooting faster and faster around the house. She really understands what we are saying to her and tries to test us :)



We had our first snowfall over the weekend and Karina was not a fan.


Karina in a dinosaur egg at the Woodland Park Zoo. I don't think she was too pleased.


Karina with a book. She loves to read.


A happy girl posing in front of our Christmas tree.


Playing dress up with Mamma's scarf.


Flying through the air with the greatest of ease :)


Cute in pig tails drinking her milk.


Karina enjoying her dinner :)

Thanksgiving

Karina really enjoyed her Thanksgiving dinner! She was even nice enough to take her nap while Rinus, Tim and I ate :)



















Mmmm...turkey leg....















Oom Rinus and Karina reading a book together.




















Karina standing at the table.















Peanut butter and jelly...I think jelly made it mostly on her face and into her hair.















Clare, Karina and Dipsy at the toy box.















Karina and her mirror twin.




















13 months old, can you believe it?!


Karina's favorite pastime.

When you cast your vote on Tuesday, remember this from Seattle's cutest pundit...

Happy Halloween

Karina was a little grumpy on Halloween, but still had fun as Princess Leia.

Family fun in downtown Ballard.

Karina and Alice "trick or treating"

Karina and Clare shaking "paws"

One year old!!!!!

"It's my birthday, I don't have to smile if I don't want to, don't have to smile if I don't want to..."

This is the closest she came to smiling during picture time today :) Pull the camera out and she freezes. Put the real phone up to her and she freezes. Her fake phone on the other hand, if you put that to her ear she will say "hewo."

She has become very inquisitive. Every couple of minutes she points her finger at something (or fingers of both hands in different directions) and says "Whas sat."

Karina also loves to dance. Even the anticipation of music makes her shake her hips and her head :)

She still isn't moving around much, lucky for us, but is starting to show more interest. She scoots on her bum around the floor when she is on the hardwood or the tile in the kitchen. Karina is pulling up using our hands and taking a couple of steps. She will probably just skip crawling and pop up and start walking one day :) She likes to turn in circles.

Here are some fun videos of Karina. We will post some more pictures later and coming up is the "out take blog." Some of the "best" pictures that didn't make it to the blog earlier...


Karina getting down and unfortunately, then taking down her friend.


Karina in pigtails and "talking" up a storm.

11 months old and a real comedian

It is hard to believe it, but she is a month away (less than a month away) from being 1 year old! We have been keeping busy during this last month of summer. Ya Ya had a wonderful visit. She saw quite a change from January :) Karina showed off all of her tricks :) Unfortunately she was here for the only few days of rain that we have had in the last couple of weeks, perpetuating the Seattle stereotype :)


Ya Ya and Karina at Fay State Park on Bainbridge Island. Luckily the rain held off a little on Sunday, so we enjoyed a day exploring. Karina was trying to take Ya Ya's glasses.


Showing off for Ya Ya...


With Tim on her first carousel ride at the Woodland Park Zoo.


Posing so nicely at Golden Gardens Park, near our house.


Karina loves to swing...


and swing some more...she cries when you take her out. Luckily we have a park about a block from our house.


"What are you people doing to me?"


"So big!"


Asleep after a "bowling brunch" with friends.


Karina "reading" a book to herself.

10 Months Old...

Karina in her 10 month old picture in a pretty dress from Ya Ya. It is so hard to believe she is almost a year old! We have been enjoying the summer, taking walks and hanging out with friends. Both Tim and I have been working hard. We took a short trip up to Whistler, BC (Karina's first trip outside the U.S.!) but other than that have been trying to take it easy and when time allows (during Karina's naps) do some work on the house. We also had a great visit from Ouma and Oupa on either end of their Alaskan cruise (celebrating their 40th anniversary!), which conveniently left out of Seattle :)


A nice family picture in front of the Space Needle :)


Tim left Karina in her high chair alone for a minute. When he came back in the room, she had discovered the curtain and posed very nicely for the camera :)


Always smiling :)


Ok, not always smiling :) Tim and Karina posing with our hydrangeas in the front yard. We are very lucky that the woman who lived here before us had a green thumb.


Karina loves to play with her foam mat with numbers and letters.


Karina with Ouma and Oupa with the Seattle skyline behind them. We finally found this park we have been looking for since we moved here with this incredible view!


Oupa and Karina enjoying some great conversation on the couch.


Karina saying something shocking to Ouma.


Oupa and Karina passing the time while we wait for a table at a restaurant.


Karina was full of stories for Ouma and Oupa. She was showing off the whole time they were here :)


Karina is always happy to go for a walk!


We're very lucky that she loves to eat! She is very adventurous and will eat basically anything you give her.


Our trip to Whistler was a great getaway, however we didn't see this view until we were driving out on our last day. It rained the whole time we were there. It was still fun! We got a last minute deal online and had a small condo with a kitchenette 3 nights for the price of 2 at the base of Blackcomb mountain about 5 minutes from Whistler Village, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics.


Karina loves ice cream :)


She even tried snowboarding :)


Tim and Karina at the base of Whistler Mountain.


Karina enjoying herself in her stroller.


Karina's first big girl bath in the bath tub. She had lots of fun!


Here is Karina with her nanny, Shelly, and nanny share mate, Clare. We are so lucky to have such a great childcare situation!


Karina at play! She isn't moving around yet and we are counting our blessings! We know soon that the peace will be over soon and we will never sit down again :)