Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Almost crawling #2

almost crawling 2 from Emily Knapp on Vimeo.

Oh how I love Air!

Usually I love the heat. I really don't mind being warm and am not one of those people, like someone close to me that will go unmentioned :), who gets cranky when its barely over 104 degrees! However, life has changed for us. 85 degrees inside at 7:30 am is completely unacceptable with a 7 month old baby who definitely takes after the above not-mentioned parent in her tendency for heat causing crankiness.

Thus I wholeheartedly agreed to dip a little into our emergency fund and follow the trail of sweaty people searching all over Portland for an air conditioner. We were one of the lucky ones. After calling 3 places I found one that had a few units and even woke Katey up a little early from her morning nap to run and retrieve it.

Now I'm basking in the coolness of my bedroom with a peacefully-sleeping baby wondering why I was so stubborn and didn't listen to my husband earlier. (But don't tell him.)

Here are some fun pics of our installation process.


Katey was a huge help!

She moves so fast now that she was into EVERYTHING!


So we got creative :)
But that only lasted for a few mins, she so wants to be involved in everything.


Daddy reading the directions


Katey wanted to read them too!


I love the fact that its on my side of the bed,...


but some sacrifices did have to be made.


My hot instalation technician!


Katey has the same idea that I do, lets sit real close, and stare at it!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Don't look Daddy :)

Today was Katey's first time in her brand new highchair. She did so good! Her bumbo is great, but with her proficiency in sitting has also come an increase in back strength that could lead to an easy topple with one swift arch of the back...hence the highchair WITH straps :).


Eating dinner with Mommy & Daddy at the table! We let her chew on a banana in her mesh baggy while we were eating.

And then came the carrots....


We were getting them all over, but that's pretty normal.

Then Daddy decided to get up to put something away and didn't pay real close attention to were the carrots were left. Now maybe I should have erred on the cleanliness side and swipped up the mushy mess before she got to it...but what fun would that be?


"OO I want it!"


"Humm, what to do now?"


"It must eat it!"

"Don't look Daddy, I've got it!"

I just love it! She just gets more and more fun every day!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Now that I can sit....

"Now that I can sit I can do SOOO many more things!"


"Today I rode in the FRONT of the shopping cart for my very first time! I was such a big girl. Mommy kinda had to hold me up a little around the corners 'cause I tended to lean just a little. But Mommy still said I was a VERY big girl!"


"I also get to sit up in the bath tub now! No more laying down for me. And WOW, when you sit up you can splash SOO much better!"


"Hey Mommy! I'm in naked in here!"



"Oh well, I'll just get back to playing with my keys. You never know the 'portant things I'll have to open soon."


"Big girls can eat keys!"


"I can also sit up in my crib and try to put off my bed time."


"I think I'll just sit here and play with my ducky, no sleep needed for BIG GIRLS!"


"Ok, being a big girl and sitting up is A LOT of work! I gatta rest up for all the big girl things tomorrow might require."

Monday, July 20, 2009

Sitting & stuff...

Just another cute video, I'm really getting into these videos :)



She just fell on the soft carpet, but mama had to catch. She is fine :)

Raspberries

Caught the raspberries on video!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Almost Crawling

I've had many friends tell me The Rock (Up on the knees rocking) is the precursor to crawling. So this both excites and scares me. Am I ready for a crawling baby?

Almost crawling from Emily Knapp on Vimeo.


PS. Sorry the video is shaky, still figuring out the video camera. I promise I'll get better :).

Camping!

During our amazing trip to Seaside with our friends the Pietzolds the four of us had discussed our desire to brave ahead and attempt a camping trip with our three young children. I had kinda only half believed it would happen, but when Lisa e-mailed me last week and said "Hey we REALLY want to go camping, wanna go THIS WEEKEND?", I got so excited I could barely contain myself!

DAY ONE

We were concerned about getting a camp site, so Lisa and I decided to take the three kids (Zac almost 2, Katey 7 mo, and Ty 3 mo) up two days ahead of the boys to reserve a site.

We had to take the majority of the gear because we would not only be setting up the camp, but we would be there two days before the boys and had to have EVERYTHING for the kids (any mom know what I mean but EVERYTHING for the kids!).


This is Lisa's van BEFORE we put in another sleeping bag, sleeping pad, baby backpack and bouncer!


The kids were all ready for their morning nap by the time we took off, and were VERY ready to eat by the time we got there...yay the joys of traveling with babies :)


Our first view of our camp ground and Timothy lake!

Now I have to pause a moment here and share with you what a great and amazing blessing it was that we even got a camp site. We pulled into the THIRD camp ground on Timothy lake, after going through the other with no luck and beginning to despair as to whether we even get a site, only to get the LAST site available in that whole campground!

We got their five mins to 12 and the previous tenants had to decide if they were leaving or staying another night by noon. God is SOOO good! We were able to pay the camp hosts immediately and go hang out down at the water until the other tenets were out (2 hours later).
But not only did God provide A camp site, He provided the perfect one! It was next to only the hosts (who were protected by their camper) and day use only sites, so we didn't worry when the babies cried and we didn't have to deal with the late night singing/partying that we could still hear (faintly) from the other end of the camp ground!


So while we waited for our site to open we went down and had our lunch and some of us played in the lake!


We had a lot of fun but it is a little overwhelming when you have three kids and two adults. Lisa and I got pretty good at juggling babies, binkies and blankets and taking turns enjoying a few mins in the water.


Zac and Lisa swimming :)

There are not any pictures of the rest of that first afternoon because when we got to our campsite around 2pm we had to then set up the tents, get the babies nursed (a few times), Zac fed and bathed, us dinner and a million other things done (while tired cranky babies that aren't used to their surroundings just wanted to be held). It's a bit of an understatement to say that it was a long afternoon.

But, that night we were pleasantly surprised by our husbands coming up to spend the evening with us even though they had to be up early for work the next day. They arrived around 8 pm and were able to stay until around 11. We really appreciated not being alone in the camp site after dark and by bed time Lisa and I were both so exhausted that we didn't have energy to be afraid :)

DAY TWO

Day two started out crisp and clear but after at least a few hours of sleep, Lisa and I woke up excited about the day and ready for a fun day of camping & playing in the lake!


The Knapp tent


Katey's early morning smile! I love it!


Lisa and Ty coming out of their "little" tent :)


Good morning Pietzolds!


Ty was so cute all swaddled in his blanket in the Bumbo.



Him and Katey kept each other company while Lisa and I got breakfast going.


Zac was very excited about his applesauce!


When I went down by the lake that morning I could hardly breath because of how pretty it was. This picture doesn't do it justice, it was one of the most peaceful, beautiful sites I've ever seen.


After breakfast we decided to attempt a hike/walk.


We had very high hopes...


And were ready for a good long walk...

But with the stroller not doing too well on the path, and some cranky tired babies were were more than ok when Tracy called when we were only about 1/2 mile away and said she was at our camp site. It was a good excuse to turn around, put the babies down for a nap, get some lunch and try again later. This time with 3 adults and 3 1/2 babies (baby Cary was definitely there too).


While Katey napped


Zac did what any 2 year old boy would do...


He LOVED the dirt!


...he also loved to sit in his little tent and read books & play with his toys


He was quite the little helper, making sure that his mommy and I put the tent together correctly.


And getting water. I don't know what we would have done without him :)


We were so excited to have Tracy come up for the day to visit!


We just can't wait till next year when there will be another little boy to play in the dirt with Zac!



Ty's gorgeous smiles :)


After Katey woke up we all went down to the lake for another swim! (Tracy had her camera at this point and took some really great pics that I just have to figure out how to get from her!)



The babies were so cute! Ty was fussy but as soon as I put Katey next to him (she had been swimming so was all wrapped up in her towel), he just sat there and SMILED at her and forgot he was upset :)

That evenign was exciting because finally the boys were there for the long haul. They arrived around 6:45 and we had steak, corn-on-the-cob and pasta salads for dinner!


Being a boy and playing hard resulted in a VERY dirty little Zac so every night he got to sit in the wash basin and get a bath before bed time.


After Dinner was done , the babies were in bed, and it was dark outside Jeremy wanted to go Crawdad fishing and I wanted to go swimming!



It was such a gorgeous night!


I had never seen or eaten crawdads before,


But Jeremy truly loved the ugly little things...


and convinced us they weren't that bad. We boiled them and ate them with Johnny's seasoning salt and butter! Yum! We finally got done with that (and semores) around midnight and fell into bed exhausted from another glorious day of camping!

DAY THREE



Day three (Saturday) was defiantly the funnest day of the whole weekend, mainly because our families were whole (our husbands were there!)


We started out with some early morning swim time (after an awesome pancake and bacon breakfast of course!)


It was fun to be able to swim as a family and trade off baby duty on the beach :).


The Pietzolds lazing in the sun!


And us taking our turn on the shore to watch the babies and bask in the warmth !


Katey just LOVED rolling all over the blankets and would have rolled much farther if we hadn't repositioned her every two mins. She is quite the little mobile Bug now!


After swimming and lunch we decided to try the hiking adventure again, this time with the guys carrying the heavy babies and no strollers :)


Katey and Daddy


Jeremy and Zac


Of course we had to go find some geo-caches!


It was a GORGEOUS hike right along the lake shore in the cool shade of the trees.


A little over half way to the second cache Ty insisted on eating, so Lisa took a seat at the side of the road...


And the five of us continued on to retrieve the prize and return.


Katey just loved the high vantage point she had from the backpack and was wide eyed and curious the whole trip!


The boys and babies after their great discovery! It was an especially hard cache to find but they did it!


The hike was so much fun and we came across this picture perfect moment and had to grab it :)


The Pietzold Family


The Knapp Family

And there the pictures end, but our memories don't. There is just something about camping that puts life in perspective. Maybe its the abundance of God's natural creation, or the simplicity of being away from the fast-pace suburban life, or the lack of distractions. I'm not really sure. But I do know that this weekend will remain with me for a long time and I believe I will look back on it as a highlight of my life. A time where family, friends and God were all very close to me and I was at peace.