It has been a little over a week since we first began moving our
stuff into our new apartment in Portland and making it a home. We arrived in one piece, and most of our belongings made it in one piece...except for Zac's violin which was hiding out in the seminary. In Holland Michigan. Oops.
Zoë and I were the fortunate ones and were able to
fly to Portland while Zac, Didi (aka Deb- Zac's mom), and Uncle Herm (aka, The Best Uncle in the World) drove for nearly four days to get here.
While I am so grateful that I did not have to deal with the nightmare of 4 days of Zoë in her carseat, that second 3.5 hour flight with a wiggly girl who only wanted to crawl down the isle and was cutting molars wasn't a walk in the park either. But we made it. And then my mom painted Zoë's room while I (who was supposed to be painting) lay on the floor with a migraine and christened our new bathroom. And kitchen sink. And flowers on the sidewalk near our car. And my grandparents kept Zoë out of trouble. My sweet mother then came back later with Aunt Nancy and continued painting when I went to bed with Zoë at 6:30pm. Happy first day in Portland! :s
The good news is that the days since then have been much better. We started moving our things in on Wednesday morning and had it all unloaded and the kitchen unpacked before evening thanks to wonderful help.
Our Apartment is located on the southwestern edge of the Portland city limit, very close to both Tigard and Beaverton. We are directly across the street from a grocery store (that sells mostly organic local produce - wonderful, but expensive!), and within 1-2 blocks of a Starbucks, Dairy Queen AND Baskin Robins, 7-Eleven, Sharis (a restaurant similar to Denny's or Perkins), and the local Library/Recreation Center/Park (which has a very friendly children's librarian with a cool Scottish accent!). While driving around, we discovered we are also very close to a huge mall, Chipotle Grill, Red Lobster and Target. Woot.
While we are in the city and close to a major road, the "Garden Cottage" apartment complex is set up in such a way that we feel like we are pleasantly removed from the city life, with charming rose bushes and lovely trees all around, and our patio overlooks a large private flower and vegetable garden. The manager is a very friendly beautiful redhead, mother of a two-year-old with another on the way and wife to a spunky handyman; her sister lives beneath us, and two young sisters live to our left - the one I met is very, very sweet. We are very grateful to God for helping us discover this very small but very affordable, very comfortable place (on Craigslist!). It already feels like home!
Didi stayed an extra few days to hang out with Zoë while Zac and I put the house together (including a new pantry and bookshelf from IKEA), and we took a break from unpacking on a couple of those days to show Didi some of our favorite Oregonian sights.
We visited Lola (my mom), Uncle Judah and Oma and Opa (my grandparents) in the Dalles and then stopped for a little hike at Multnomah Falls on the way home.
Uncle Judah and Lola
Two proud grandmas
Uncle Corby joined us on an adventure to the Oregon Coast. Though rainy and cold, we enjoyed seeing the ocean at Lincoln City and Newport beach, and Zoë was fascinated by the sea creature petting zoo at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
New Friends
Zoë is blooming into a social butterfly who loves to say "Hai!!" to everyone she meets and waves and blows kisses to every child she sees. She even waves to the cars as they drive by. Thanks to her bubbling personality and adorable smile, I don't think we will have too many problems making new friends. She already helped me make a mommy-friend at the park just a short walk away, and had little girls running up and hugging her on the playground! Zoë also LOVES dogs and squeals every time she sees one and wants to pet (or ride) it. So, I've met some adults that way too. :)
Who can resist such a face? ;)
Precious.
New Shoes
Though she is not quite walking on her own, Zoë is
awfully close. She has the balance and motor skills to walk - she loves to tromp around while holding on to daddy or mommy's finger, do her little Elvis dance while holding onto the coffee table and push her little umbrella stroller (she screams if we put her
in the stroller because she wants to push it), but we think she wants to feel completely secure before she starts letting go and trying it on her own. She will, in her own time. And that is just fine with us! She's hard enough to keep up with as it is...
Oh, and while we do not have stairs inside our apartment, Zoë discovered our two-step ladder and loves to go up-and-down, up-and-down. Soon she will be able to stand on it and help me "wash" dishes and "cook." :)
Here she is hanging out in her new room with her new early-walker shoes (thanks to Didi :)
So, here we are - on a new adventure and following the road God has set before us. We miss our dear friends and the familiar things we've left behind, but we are excited for what God has in store.
Stay tuned for some videos of this growing little girl coming soon! Zoë, you are a delightful 13-month-old, and we love you dearly!
