Scout's First Trip to the Dentist

Since she is coming up on being 2 1/2, we knew Clara was a little overdue for her first trip to the dentist. We lucked out in that a brand new pediatric dentistry just opened in our neighborhood. It was the perfect environment to have her first check-up and cleaning! The office had lots of great toys and books that Scout dove into right away. Then, the hygienist did a great job of explaining the process and all of the tools to Clara. She got to pick out a video to watch and even got to brush the teeth on this silly puppy!

She took this brushing job pretty seriously!

Learning about Mr. Thirsty!

She was so brave while they cleaned her teeth. The dentist gave her a good report and said that she didn't have any concerns, so being the pregnant sweet-aholic Mommy that I am, I treated our gal to an ice cream cone reward!

(Ice cream really is a treat for Clara, despite her showing up with a cone in just about every post. She just looks so cute with a cone in her hand and ice cream all over her face! Also, we almost always share :-)

Trip to Quincy & Playing Tourist

We spent last weekend in Quincy. On Saturday, Kevin and Murray had plans to play golf with friends and in the evening we attended a wedding. Mommy & Daddy enjoyed a nice evening out with Grandma & Grandpa at the wedding while Clara LOVED being babysat by her cousin Ashley. On Sunday, everyone in Kevin's family ended up having plans so we got on the road early and made a few touristy stops along the way. First off was the Ginkgo Petrified Forest in Vantage. I had been to this state park once in college with a friend and despite it being so close to where Kevin grew up, he had never remembered going there.

Clara got a kick out of running around to all of the different pieces of petrified wood.

The view was amazing on this HOT day!

Mommy posing with her girls - Baby "Gem" is due in seven weeks and seems to be growing quickly! Over the weekend, I swear to have gained another inch and my navel is completely flattened! The baby's kicks have changed into more of a rolling feeling and she gets hiccups several times a day. I get hungry all of the time yet can only eat very small meals before feeling stuffed. We are all getting very excited to meet our new little sweetie pie!


When we drove past this sign we laughed and found it fitting to have "Lil' Gem's" photo taken with it. We found the name "Gem" fitting as a womb name for our little gal for 2 reasons: 1) because Jem is the sibling to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird and 2) there used to be a vendor who sold Gems out of an old hatchback car along side of the road in Bellevue back when we were dating. He was so consistently there on weekends that it became a joke between Kevin & I. He always threatened to buy me these rare Gems, and so the word has become some sort of an ongoing, but sweet joke between the two of us. As we passed the sign we both smirked at one another at the same time which lead to a good belly laugh and Clara asking us, "What are you laughing at?"

A little further down the road, we decided to stop at the Thorp fruit stand to pick up some cherries and peaches. We also indulged our little girl in a little ice cream - doesn't she look so sweet eating it?

Not long after we got back in the car, our kiddo sacked out thus ending our series of fun stops along the way home. She must have been worn out from her weekend of fun because she continued to sleep once we got home!

Caspar Babypants & Grandma Jan

This past week Grandma Jan came up to our house for a visit. She helped Mommy out quite a bit, helping us get caught up on house chores (things have slipped a little around here lately), watching Clara while Mommy took care of some errands and attending some fun activities with us. One of Clara's favorite events of our week was attending the Caspar Babypants (http://babypantsmusic.com/fr_home.cfm) concert at Marina Park in Kirkland. We caught a Caspar show back in March and purchased the cds for Clara and cousin Taylor. Now our whole family knows the songs... "Run Baby, Run" and "Poor Little Broken Truck, Beep, Beep."

Scout rocking out to her favorite songs.

She parked it up next to her friends Gabriel and Ava. We laughed so hard watching her subtly check out their snack selection and mooch snacks off their moms. Somehow this happens every where we go. Unless I am feeding her pure sugar, any snack that any other kiddo has is far more appealing that whatever I bring. Sometimes I worry that other mom's think I starve her - good think she continues to grow like a weed and still has a nice round baby belly!

What a cutie!

Then there is this look which my friend Mona captured...

Gabriel, Ava & Clara after the concert

A fun day and a great week with Grandma Jan!

"BIG GIRL" Room!

We know we are a little late getting this going (less than 8 weeks until "Gem" arrives), but we are finally getting around to putting together Clara's "Big Girl" bedroom. Our sweet little girl is SO excited about her new space. We have tried to let her have as much input as possible - having her help to select her bedding, paint colors (always insisting on pink and adding green because she knows it is Daddy's favorite color), and some essential accessories (lamp, night light and rug). Mommy has been a little picky with the furniture selection and has insisted on particular moldings and our sweet Daddy has been hard at work making my vision come to life.

Grandpa Murray came over and spent a full day helping Kevin get the molding up and getting all the furniture upstairs. We all REALLY appreciate his help!

Scout is thrilled to see this room that we have been discussing with her for weeks FINALLY come about. Now that the bed is assembled and has a mattress, she will often bring books into her new space, climb up into the bed and read away. It is so sweet!Currently Scout is still sleeping downstairs in the nursery, in her crib. Having only climbed out once (which really scared her) we have enjoyed this sense of security. While her excitement about the new room is high, we are still a little skeptical about how the transition will go. With railings, will she do okay in a big bed? And how will it be to have her upstairs?

I'll be sure to post photos of the completed room and provide updates about how the transition goes!

Birthday Party Fun

Miss Scout had a wonderful time attending a fairy themed birthday party for her friend Acacia. The party was held at the Orange Blossom Society in Redmond, which was a great venue for kiddos. Clara had a blast with the activities and being around all of her pals from the Issy Mom's Group.

Check out our gal eyeing Acacia's beautiful birthday cake!

Here she is modeling the beautiful crown that she made at the beginning of the party.

Enjoying the fun outdoor activities with the rest of the group.

Digging for "magic stones" in the sand

Showing off the "magic stones" that she found in the garden

Singing and Dancing with all of the adorable kiddos!

Just a cute shot of her in the garden.

And enjoying MORE treats! What a fun party!

Issaquah Mom's Group Summer Picnic

Last Saturday was the Issaquah Mom's Group Summer Picnic. This year the group was much smaller which ended up being a good thing for Clara. She was a lot less timid approaching some of the fun activities. Last year at this time she would screech in terror at the sight of a bounce house and this year, she ran right over and climbed inside - WOW!

She also enjoyed this water slide although it was her preference to hang out in the pool part instead of going down the big slides like some of the other fearless kiddos.

Clara & Daddy enjoying the picnic dinner

which included WATERMELON - YUM!!

Here is sweet photo of Clara having a BLAST jumping in the bounce house

The other big hit was Beep Beep the clown. She came and presented a magic show complete with all sorts of great balloon animals. Clara, who has not made her dislike of balloons hidden through different stages of her development, really seemed to enjoy watching Beep Beep make her creations. She wasn't even phased when one of the balloons popped - PROGRESS!! Woo Hoo!

Scout displays her beautiful balloon butterfly! Daddy was also called up as Beep Beep made him this wonderful dolphin hat which he wore proudly!!

Backyard Fun!

Between the crummy weather, our travel schedule, Kevin being swamped at work and my reduced motivation due to the pregnancy, our back yard and lots of other household chores had been neglected so far this season. This past weekend, our Daddy worked his tail end off around the house getting the yard in decent shape, getting ready for the instillation of our new heat pump (AWWW) and starting in on Clara's "Big Girl" room! We celebrated with an impromptu shrimp boil and dinner on the patio! Clara likes to help out whenever she can too - above she is helping shuck the corn.

Then she enjoyed playing on her slides, including the new one from Anthony and Samantha (below). It has a cute little clubhouse door and so she got in it, shut the door behind her and said, "I am an animal and this is my cage."

Soon she was on to some artwork on her easil...

And before long, the shrimp boil was ready to eat! A little rustic in presentation, but it sure hit the spot!

Eating corn on the cob was the hit of the night with our gal!

Summer FINALLY arrived...well, maybe just visited!

Clara and Davis making the most of the warm day by playing outside. We set them up with a big tub of water and a even got out Clara's sprinkler mat - the one that she was terrified of last year. They both had so much fun splashing and playing!

Later that day, we attended a BBQ at one of Kevin's co-workers. Clara is the youngest kiddo in this group and it took her several hours of watching the kids play in order for her to want to get in the pool, but once she did, she got right in there with the splashing and silliness! We were a little shocked, but so proud - what a difference a year makes when it comes to her interest in being in the pool, especially an inflatable-ish one with lots of kid commotion!

I asked them to pose for a silly photo - it was the only way I could get close enough to take a picture without getting soaked!

4th of July in Manzanita!

The Michael clan on the 4th of July

Clara and Mommy waiting for the parade to begin

Once it started Clara LOVED watching all the kids and floats. While she had been to the Winlock Egg Day parade a few weeks back with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens and caught on to the whole candy deal, she was a little slow to run to get any this time. It was all the better and we just encouraged her to run after a few lollipops (her favorite). I think she ended up with about 8 of them!

It had been since before we were married that we had spent the 4th of July in Manzanita and were astonished by how much bigger the festivities have become. Before, it was more of a kid & bicycle parade and now has grown into a 40 minute production with floats and horses! A delight for lil' Scout!

Out on the beach enjoying all of the fireworks. This year we didn't even do a sparkler and we were just as content watching everyone else light there's off. There is just something so terrifying about the kid/fire combination and as parents, the 4th of July festivities will take on some new worries that we have yet to have to experience.

Mommy and the rest of the kids we very happy with the S'mores - a first for Clara and to no surprise, they were a hit!