Happy Birthday to Norah...again

Uncle Dave gave me a cd of pics from Norah's birthday. I just had to post a few!

Cute Daddy............................yay, my cake!

How in the world Dave was able to get Vern to pose with a heart-shaped "I love you" balloon, we may never know. But it turned out so nice, I'm putting a copy in Norah's birthday book!

It looks like Ryan wants to try the cupcakge shirt on...I laughed so hard when I saw this. :-)

Since I put up a goofy pic of Ryan I had to atone by putting up a goofy pic of myself. Notice, Norah inherited this expression...

All dressed up and somewhere to go.

~ After church and then kisses for Kodiak and the monkey~
Kodiak spoke at his church today, so Norah and I decided to go listen. He did such a good job - was well-organized, had a meaningful message, and was a little bit funny as well. Norah kept pointing at him up behind the podium and at one point she caught Kodiak's eye and distracted him from his talk. Fortunatly he came back to sit with us when he was done and then he and Grandma Peggy entertained Norah for the rest of the service.

On an equally spiritual note Norah had an opportunity to wear the beautiful dress Grandma Carmen gave her for her birthday... :-) OK, not spiritual, but lots of fun to dress up!

Too hungry to wait until after she changed! She ran off while I was trying to put her comfy clothes on. I guess she likes the jester look...

Happy Birthday, Uncle Neil!

Neil's birthday is on the 21st and although we weren't able to celebrate with him, we did celelbrate. Norah dressed up in her Utah Aggies shirt and played with her toys, just like Uncle Neil does every day. Well, actually we think he's going to school...but anything could be happening now that he lives in Utah and is married to Dannelle. We know what partiers they are!

Happy Birthday, Neil! I love and miss you very much - and am always so proud of you. Many happy wishes that your 23rd year brings as many blessings as the last. I can't wait to see you this summer.

Storytime, Vet, and Michelle - Oh My!

Wow, its only 2:00 and we've already had a full day!

Grandma Peggy and Uncle Kodiak met us for storytime this morning. Usually just Grandma meets us, but Kodiak was able to weasel out of school due to a power outage. I think by the time he was done singing "Wheels on the Bus" he was wishing that school would open. Afterwards we walked over to starbucks and Grandma Peggy treated us to cider and pumpkin bread - yummy!

After a quick stop at home to pick up Jonesy, we were on our way to his vet for a check up on his ear. It was a longer wait than we expected and Norah was really antsy by the time we left. However she did spend a good ten minutes reading a brochure on puppy pictures... Jonesy ear is looking a bit better, but they added another ear drop treatment. This brings us to 4 eardrop treaments per day, plus an oral pill and an ear wash once a day. Ahhh...what we do for our pets!

We headed towards home with a detour over to Michelle's home to check out her new safari wardrobe. We can't wait to see pictures after the trip! I had no idea that there are clothes that come pre-treated with bug repellent. Where was this when we lived in Alaska? Michelle was a good sport about having her photo taken in her jammies - and Norah managed not to break anything while we were there. Whew :-)

Finally, we headed home for naptime!

Visiting the Seveys!

Norah and I went down to Eugene today to play with Ian and Amariah. Norah was a very good sport about the drive and we had such a fun time when we got there! We played with Ian's MANY cool toys and everyone showed off their new stricks. OK, Ian and Norah showed off their new tricks while Amariah and I admired them. We have such clever children; I am sure its our extremely phenomenal parenting skills. :-)

So cute and lots of fun!

Amariah made me the most beautiful peridot crystal and silver bracelet. The picture doesn't do the weaving pattern justice!

Grandma Peggy saves the day

Norah had a miserable day on Monday - at the time, I wasn't sure exactly what was the matter with her, but now think maybe it as teething. Thankfully Grandma Peggy cancelled any and all activities and we went over to her house. She always seems to know what to do with the little monkey, especially when I am at my wits end! Norah even napped for a while and we had a chance to do some scrapbooking. Ahhh...I really I appreciate my mom even more as a Grandma than I did as a mom. How did our parents get so wise? I could have sworn she was so clueless when I was a teenager...of course, I thought I knew everything when I was a teenager... ;-)

Grandma is SOOO funny.......Reading stories together

Norah S. playing with Norah H.

She's so fly...

This morning Norah, Jones and I walked down to Starbucks to pick up coffee and scones for Ryan and hot chocolate for the rest of us. We took Norah's new wagon for a spin, which she really enjoys. The bumps are the most fun! Today she rediscovered her sunglasses collection and has insisted on wearing them as much as possible. She looked so funny all bundled up for the cold weather - but wearing her sunglasses. :-)

Aunt Lynne gave her the pink glasses and Grandma Peggy gave her the yellow. We thought it was good timing, seeing as she is sporting her princess track suit from Mari Lou. This little monkey is all ready for summer!

Where are my feet?

Yesterday Norah and I went shopping with Aunt Laurie at Washington Square. Norah didn't know what to do with the super shiny black tiles - she was afraid to walk on them - I think because they were reflective. After a while she got up the nerve to crawl across them!

The bottom step is Norah's newest fave place to hang out. I've begun placing the baby gate one step up, so she can lounge on the step. This morning she decided to hang out there in her PJs and comb her hair.

We visited Great Grandma and Great Grandpa this week. Norah is a little unsure about Grandpa (aren't we all!) but she runs right up to Grandma. They have a small stool thats just the right size for Norah to climb up on and read her books. We mosied down to their restaurant for lunch - Misty and Grandma Peggy joined us - and met LOTS of older folks, fascinated with Norah. Fortunatly she's not very shy and was happy to entertain!

Norah and Daddy, after we picked Daddy up at the bus stop (isn't that where everyone picks up their daddies?). It was wet!

Wow....a Guestbook!

I just added a guestbook to our site - very fancy blogging we're doing now-a-days. Look...its there, on your right... My, how easy to use!

Norah and Norah

Uncle Kodiak has a new hamster...named Norah. :-) Norah's (the hamster) hair color reminded him of Norah's (the Skogen) hair - and thus, Hamster Norah. Henceforth known as Norah H... Norah S. was very fascinated by the little critter.

Norah really likes climbing up on Grandma's lap to see whatever she is doing - in this instance they were looking at pictures together on Norah's blog.
Grandma had her antique riding pony out...I don't think Norah will be able to ride on that for much longer!

Hello Corvallis!

We spent Sunday in Corvallis with Gramma and Grandpa Skogen! Norah had so much fun playing with her grandparents and their big lab, Strider.

Gramma Joyce was all ready for baby visits, with books, toys, stuffed animals and a NEAT bouncy chair.

Gramma and Grandpa watched Norah while Ryan and I had lunch out on the town - all by ourselves. Fun for everyone!

Peek-a-boo

The other day Norah discovered that she could sneak behind the sofa. I heard crazy giggling and couldn't figure out where she was. When I finally peeked over the sofa she just cracked up -its not easy being that funny! :-)

Tea Party

Before...


After...
]
Cheerios and water everywhere!

Cute Monkey

Norah's cute Christmas outfit from Gramma Joyce















Playing with Aunt Kaye

Now we're REALLY out and about

Norah and I attempted another outing today. We are both feeling much better, but Ryan is still miserably ill. I think he enjoyed spending quiet time with us gone for the day. Jonesy took good care of him.

Mom let us hang out at her house and Norah was especially snuggly. Its so dear when she climbs up and rests her head on your shoulder. Uncle Kodiak spent lots of time making her laungh. We're pretty sure she said Kodiak several times - her version sounds like "Dyadka". Hehehe, I don't know how its possible for me to think my child is the cutest I've every met. :-) Mom's dog, Timberline, has become a great source of fascination for Norah. He is HUGE - a St. Bernard and Great Pyrennese mix.

In my New Years quest to get our house together (hey, its only been 7 months in our new place), I have been working on window treatments for all the rooms. Finished up Norah's today and will hang the office tomorrow. Next up is the Living Room - I am looking forward to trying somethign modern/fun/different. Which may just end up weird. :-)

Happy New Year!

It was an evening of fesitivity and fun at the Skogen home last night, as we welcomed in the New Year. OK, who are we kidding. Still sick, we were all just happy to sleep. Ryan may have been the only one awake at the strike of midnight!

Hope you all enjoyed your celebrations - many happy wishes for the New Year!