Seattle Heat Wave

We can now say that we survived the hottest day ever recored in Seattle! The previous hottest record was 100 degrees on July 20th, 1994 and yesterday it got to 103 degrees! These are recorded at SeaTac International Airport as the "official" temperature, but it did get even hotter in other areas around Seattle. I heard on the news that there were only 2 major cities in the US that did not have a recorded temperature higher than 100 degrees; Miami and Seattle. Now it's only Miami. This week has just been blistering hot and of course most houses here don't have air conditioning because we would only need it for a few days during the summer.

Here is proof of the heat - Tim took these on his drive to and from work yesterday, hence the quality since they were taken with his BlackBerry.

Taken at 4:30 AM!

Taken around 2:00 PM!

This week has just been blistering hot and of course most houses here don't have air conditioning because we would only need it for a few days during the summer. I feel like I'm in Arizona!

Luckily my mom brought over their portable air conditioner so that Karsen and I can try to keep cool during the day. We've been holed up in our office/tv room all week with the a/c going non-stop! We've even been sleeping in the room on the pull out couch just to keep cool! At least today is supposed to be the last day in the 90's and tomorrow is supposed to be "cooler" in the 80's - haha!

Love, Michaela

Karsen is Cute as a Button

I got the pictures from the photographer at the Cute as a Button consignment sale!! (Read about it here.)

She sent me the first 3 originally and then sent the last 4 the next day. Let me know what you think!

Picture 1 - I love his facial expression in this one! Picture 2 - Tim thinks Karsen looks proud that I'm holding him in this one:

Picture 3 - Look at those cute feet!

Picture 4 - Love this one in black and white:

Picture 5 - He's winking at the camera!

Picture 6 - I think this was when he was filling his pants during the shoot:

Picture 7 - I guess we can't both look at the camera at the same time, haha!

I think the pictures turned out great! And the photographer must have really liked them too because she even posted the first 3 on her blog!

I still haven't made and sent out birth announcements for Karsen yet (it's on the to-do list) but I guess it's acceptable to send them out up to a year after the birth, although I plan to send them out in the next week or two. Anyway, I was thinking about using some of these pictures for the announcements and I need everyone's help picking which ones so vote for your favorite(s) by leaving a comment!

Love, Michaela

Daddy's Smiley Boy

On Friday when Tim got home from work, Karsen was in an exceptionally happy mood! It was so cute that I pulled out the camera and thought I would share.

Having a funny conversation with Daddy:

Nothing but smiles all around:

Daddy must have said something funny:

Such a happy boy!
So cute!

Can't wait until he starts giggling!

Love, Michaela

Trip to Ikea

On Thursday Karsen turned 7 weeks old! He's getting so big! It's fun to see pictures of him when he was born and compare them to now because he looks so different! Well at least to me he does.

Also on Thursday we went to down to Tukwila (or is it Kent?) to Ikea with my mom and my sister Dani. It wasn't anything too exciting but I of course had to get pictures of Karsen visiting Ikea for the first time.

Luckily Karsen was a good boy for the trip since it's a bit of a drive to get there (not to mention we got caught in some traffic). He slept the whole way there and also almost the whole time we were inside Ikea. He then slept the whole way back to my parents' house too! It must have been all the movement from the car ride and stroller.

On the way back, Karsen fell asleep like this - love the hand under his chin!

At Ikea we bought Karsen a few things. We found these really cute finger puppets in ocean animal and jungle animal shapes. I also thought that this alligator was really cool too and decided that Karsen would enjoy it too...ok maybe he will eventually! For fun I took pictures of Karsen with his new stuffed animal that is bigger than him. The funny thing is he's sleeping, even after he had slept all day at Ikea!

Thanks to my mom and Dani for letting us tag along on their trip!

Love, Michaela

Crab and Bees

Wednesday was my sister Dani's 23rd birthday and to celebrate we went to my parents' house for a crab and steak dinner. Karsen was even dressed for the occasion with a crab on his shirt, bib and socks...hehe.

What a crab!

My sisters having fun with Karsen and crab claws:

After dinner Dani opened her presents. The best part was when she opened the present from my brother Brandon, my cousin Blake and my aunt Deb because the boys spent quite a bit of time wrapping it.

The box underneath the Christmas wrapping paper:

Inside the big box....another box!

More to unwrap in the second box:

Still unwrapping:

Finally getting to the present - a giftcard to Target (and Tic Tacs):

I love how it was such a huge box at the beginning for a giftcard! Haha! Thank you to Auntie Em for getting the pictures for me!

Auntie Em caught me and Karsen watching Dani open her gifts:

Karsen wasn't such a happy boy for part of the night, even after feeding him. It may have been too warm for him or maybe he was just too overwhelmed with all the people and everything going on.

Karsen being fussy while Blake held him - but I love his face!

Being fussy for me and refusing his pacifier:

The highlight of the night was the fiasco with the bees. A bees hive was discovered right outside one of the kichen windows, under the eave. My dad sprayed the bees and they started coming into the house, which is when the entertainment began.

The bees started coming into the house thru the light closest to the window, so my mom and Auntie Em covered that light. The bees then just came thru other lights, haha:

My dad pulled out the vacuum to get rid of the bees that came into the house and Brandon and Blake tested their quick moves to catch the bees - which was very entertaining!

Brandon getting prepared for battle:

Brandon's face was very animated while he chased the bees. The bee is in the top left corner; and yes he got it!

Blake took his turn at capturing the bees and also succeeded:

Blake proud of his achievement:

They must have sucked up about 7 or so bees with the vacuum while we were there. After Tim, Karsen and I left to go home, my mom told me they caught 8 to 10 more!

What a memorable birthday celebration for my sister!

Happy Birthday Dani! I love you!

Love, Michaela

Dancing in the Grass

On Tuesday Karsen and I were invited over to my best friend LeAnn's house for dinner so that her mom Connie could meet Karsen (and so LeAnn could see him again too). We decided to eat outside since it was so nice out and because Karsen calmed down when we were out there (he's such a boy). They have really nice grass in their backyard and I wanted to see how Karsen would react to being on the grass. We thought he wouldn't probably like it because it can be itchy, but after awhile he didn't seem to mind it at all.

Freaking out a little bit at first:

Still not quite sure about it:

Starting to calm down:
Not minding the grass at all:

Karsen was kicking his legs and punching his arms all over the place while he was laying on the grass (I like to say he's dancing when he does that). LeAnn decided that she was going to join in the fun! :-)

Monkey see, monkey do:

Thank you LeAnn and Connie for having us over! Can't wait to see you again!

Love, Michaela

Walker's Birthday

Monday night we went out to dinner for our friend Walker's birthday. It was nice to go somewhere with air conditioning because it's been so warm out and our house feels like a sauna.

This was the first time Walker held Karsen:

Of course Kai was there too and his parents and all 4 of his grandparents each took turns chasing him around the place. At one point his Mamma B (Linda) was carrying him while I was rocking Karsen - it was the child carrying section haha!

Kai loves to give Karsen kisses and it looks like Karsen it trying to kiss back:

After dinner we went back to the Brooks' house for dessert. At one point during dinner we had put Karsen in his carseat without buckling him in and when he got to the Brooks' house we discovered that we had forgotten to actually buckle him in before putting him in the car! Eeeek! I swear we aren't bad parents! That's a mistake we will never make again....hopefully!

Happy Birthday Walker!

Love, Michaela

Faces

When Karsen and I woke up on Monday morning I propped him up on my pillow to play with him and he was being a chatterbox and smiling at me. His smiles were so cute but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but at least I had my phone and was able to take some pictures. The quality isn't great (they're grainy) because they were taken with my BlackBerry.

Talking to me:

Such a happy boy:

The cutest toothless grin:

This one is the background on my phone - so cute:

Later that morning he started smiling and talking to me again and this time I had my camera - but of course by the time I got the camera out and ready to go, he wasn't smiling like he was before. I did take a bunch of pictures of all the different facial expressions that he was making though. Get ready for picture overload! (The pictures are smaller since there are so many but you can click on them to enlarge.)

Telling a story:

Trying to make a fishy face:

His silly face: Sticking out the tongue: Thinking about smiling: Distracted by something: His modeling shot:
Kinda winking:
Focusing on his hands:
Ok Mom, are you done yet?
I think I'm done now Mom:
I think he's trying to tell me to stop:
What's over there?
About to start another story:
Look of concern: A blank stare: Looking at his feet:
Playing with his hands:
Big yawn: Trying to avoid the camera:
Mom is it time to eat now?

Karsen has such an animated face - I love it! Too bad there isn't the sound of him chattering while I was taking these pictures. I do have video from another day this week of him talking but I still haven't figured out the camera to computer connection yet. One day I will, it's on the to-do list.

Love, Michaela