Gabriel at 4 months!
Let's face it- his 4 moht b-day was just a few days before Christmas, I was still working full time, and the holidays were upon us. I did manage to take a few photos.
the newest member of our family. Yes. **Chloe is a car. Not just any car- a white Toyota Rav4 (2000) with gray trim. Bjorn could tell you more about her specifics, but that is all I know and all I am interested in. Besides the fact that she is cute and small and fun to drive but still feels like she has some power. Mostly, she reminds me of the toyota truck I drove in high school and brings back good memories.
How we came to own Chloe is all due to Bjorn. We both knew we would need a new car when baby came (have you RIDDEN in Bjorn's truck? the death wobble was enough to scare anyone off. Not to mention it didn't have room for a carseat.....) We quickly got a SAAB after selling the truck a week or two before Gabe's birth. Neither of us loved it though. And after it broke down on me twice we were ready to move on.
Car shopping is number 2 of things I absolutely HATE doing in life. So I left it all up to Bjorn. I gave him a list of my criteria (4 doors, at least 25 MPG, fit stroller in back, not hideous color.... that's about it) and off he went. HIS criteria made the search a bit harder (4WD or AWD, and manual transmission a must). I'll skip the boring parts here and sum it up with "5 car dealerships and 10 hours of shopping/looking/negotiating later- Chloe landed in our lap". The best part was that I was only present for 2 hours of this shoppping! While I was at work Bjorn would take little dude, car seat, stroller, diaper bag and all, and drive around to different dealers. He would test drive a car, feed the baby, make an offer, change a diaper, negotiate... I was pretty impressed. We were able to trade in our SAAB, pay a little more cash, and the title was ours!
I love this sporty, trustworthy car already. I didn't know this is what I wanted, but she perfeclty fits my life style and personality. We are happy to have Chloe as part of the family.
**Our Xterra is named Suzi. Bjorn insists all cars all girls. We tried out a few names and settled on Chloe pretty quickly. It's much easier to decide car names than baby names!
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| fell asleep during tummy time |
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| loves his reflection in the mirror! |
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| sly smile |
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| 3 months old! |
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| wearing his Sunday shirt |
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| getting big! he loves to stand up whenever he can! |
Some pictures of Gabriel with his cousins- whom he met for the first time this trip to Washington
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| photographers (AKA parents) having too much fun! |
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| yes, they wore matching outfits on purpose... |
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| Gabriel's first flight. 2 months old. From SLC to SEATAC |
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| at the Museum of Flight with Mollika and Dainen (I am carrying D, not G). This is the "women are awesome and did a lot in the flight industry during WWII exhibit" |
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| The giant ferris wheel- new to the seattle skyline. |
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| I loved the aquarium. It's right on the ocean, so it just feels so real! There were a lot of touch tanks. Even Gabe tried one out! |
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| how many starfish?? |
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| Bjorn being eaten by an octupus |
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| Bjorn and Gabriel sail on an orcas back |
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| lion fish |
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| the sea lions were very very cute! |
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| Our family in rainy Seattle! Just outside the aquarium. It rained just for a few minutes on our walk back to the car- so we could get the full effect of being Seattle Tourists I am sure. |
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| "shoeless Gabe Jackson" |
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| the birthday Chef! Bjorn made me the perfect birthday dinner! |
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| getting ready to snuggle and watch a movie with my favorite boys |
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| flowers delivered to my doorstep (thanks honey!) |
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| Erin was visiting in Utah for the week of my birthday. We went shopping together, and went to aquaiurm with KC. It was fabulous to get to spend time with her. |
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| birthday presents! A new computer (we've been saving up and planning for this for months. It's the best birthday gift ever! I love my new mac! ). I also got a new diaper. I love this style- it suites me well. |
Gabe wanted to dress up as a turtle this year for Halloween. I mean, who wouldn't want to wear a green onesie, green pants, and a green paper plate taped to their front and back? It took some modifications- (good thing we had three Halloween events to attend) but his costume turned out intelligible. (is that right word? meaning- you could tell what it was).
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| baby turtle eating his shell |
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| look what I found! |
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| family photo! |
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| sad baby turtle |
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| done for the day. Yes, Gabe shared his spoils with us :) |
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| this turtle was a little upset when his shell prevented him from rolling over when he wanted |
