Egg hunts, tulips and daffodils, oh my...

Family photo in front of the tulips near La Conner, WA. Karina had about hit her limit. There weren't many smiles until she got her turkey sandwich and tangerine after this picture.

The tulips were beautiful. I can't believe we've lived in Seattle for 6 years and had never been to the Tulip festival before!

Sitting pretty in front of the tulips.

Fields and fields of tulips. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.

Family photo in a daffodil field.

Daddy and Karina in the daffodils.

"I'm in playground jail" :)

PEPS canoe. We are all playing independently, but always have fun together. Well, at least the parents do :)

Karina's first easter egg hunt. Daddy had to help her bend over so she could pick up the eggs, but she made out like a bandit. So many goodies...

Berry with all the kids. Karina doing her own thing.

Dads and the kids. Aww....

18 Months Old

Time certainly seems to have flown by now that Karina is 18 months old.  She is still a giant; she hasn’t had her 18 month appointment, but she’s somewhere around 34+ inches tall.  Her walking skills improve daily and loves to run into her bedroom to look at herself in her mirror.  Her favorite activities include drawing, swinging, digging in the sand, throwing balls, swinging, playing with Legos, dancing, swinging, watching busses, and swinging.  Speaking of watching busses, each time one drives by, she says “bye-bye buts” or “bye-bye Dada”.  Even if Dada is sitting right next to her.  She loves giving hugs and kisses and even offers up long-distance hugs to friends that are out of reach.

Marie and Karina pose in front of the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington.

Karina and Tim in a similar pose.

Karina parades down the hall in her Easter outfit from Ya Ya and Far Far.

Karina loves to cook in her kitchen.  Here she is making tea on Easter Sunday.

Karina is becoming an artist.  Sometimes it’s hard to pick out the right crayon.

Eating dinner at Daddy’s office.

Posing for a photo with a cookoo face.

Karina vs. oatmeal.  Karina wins!

Bucket-head!

It’s Official… She’s Walking!

We’ve decided that Karina takes a bit after her mom and dad in that she waits to try something new until she’s sure she can do it right.  As you can tell by our cheering and Tim’s voice reaching unprecedented octaves, we are a bit excited.

17 months old...almost walking

Karina is finally getting motivated to walk. She is very excited when she is able to stand on her own and waits for our applause :) She is very happy to have Mamma home with her and Mamma is adjusting to the hardest job in the world (but the most fulfilling). Karina continues to be a great eater and is now eating more regularly with a fork and spoon. She will now allow us to feed her yogurt or applesauce anymore. We had some crazy weather today, first snow, then rain, then sun and wind, more snow and more and more rain.















Happy little girl.















Karina loves to color.














She loves to eat Applesauce.















Eating snack at her corner table with a view :)




















Karina loves to talk on the phone, her fake phone that is. We are not able to get her to do this on the real phone.


Karina loves her yogurt.

Photos from our trip to Boston/New Hampshire

We had a great trip to Boston and New Hampshire! Karina was able to meet RP and GG (her great grandparents) and spend time with Ya Ya, Far Far, Aunt Christie, Uncle Bob, Oom Rinus, cousins Daniel and Emilija and friends Lauren and Keith. We even had the opportunity to go to Daniel's 7th birthday party and spend time with old friends there! Karina did not enjoy the first flight, but the second flight was pretty empty so we could lay here out across a couple of seats and sleep. The most exciting news is that Karina took her first steps by herself on Tuesday!!!


Karina and GG getting to know each other.


Karina and Emilija enjoy dinner at Wagamama's in Boston.


Daniel and Karina playing after they finished their dinner.


Happy Birthday Daniel!


Pokeman pinata...luckily neither Tim nor Rinus sustained any injuries :)


Far Far, Karina and Tim pose for a picture.


Karina with her Aunt Christie and Uncle Bob.


Posing with Ya Ya and RP.


Ya Ya, GG, Karina and Tim - 4 generations!

We'll put some video's up soon. Hopefully we'll catch Karina walking on film!

Happy Valentine's Day and 16 months old...

Karina is now 16 months old. She is trying out new consonants regularly. Right now she is saying "ga ga ga" and "da da da." She likes to sing along to the alphabet, "de de de de de de de." Karina is still scooting around on her bum, but loves to walk using Mamma and Daddy's hands. She has found a love for cds, or rather pulling cds off of the shelf. She will sit for a good 20 minutes just opening and closing one cd case. We're lucky she is so easily entertained. She also loves to "read" Mamma's law books, especially Understanding Constitutional Law. A lawyer in the making...We also gave Karina her first haircut. She was relatively cooperative :)


Karina and Daddy playing in her tent. If you ask here where her tent is, she either points to it or goes in. She definitely understands everything we say...we need to be careful now :)


Scaring Mamma when she opened the tent. So much fun!


Enjoying a Valentine cupcake.


Mamma and Karina at the Zoo.


Cookoo Karina!


Awww...So cute!


Reading with Auntie Jodi.


Karina, Nicolas, Lilly, Elias and Zoey. We actually got them all to sit still! For one shot at least :)



Karina is really smart. She gets all the walking kids to push her where she wants to go :)

15 months and counting...

Karina is still entertaining us by scooting around on her behind :) She is becoming more expressive and we know she will definitely be a joker. She still loves to read to herself, play with her blocks, her new princess castle and draw on her magna doodle.


Karina and Clare playing in her new tent.


Karina loves to play with the laundry.


The first time Karina said "cheese" when I pointed the camera at her.


Then wondering why I was still taking pictures.


Reading in her little book nook.


Playing with a box. Its always the free "toys" that are most fun.