What I did last night

Last night, my best friend from high school and my 15 year old niece braved the crowds and the late hour and went to see Eclipse. It was a great experience, although I did have a few of those "I am too old to be doing this" moments like when we pulled up to join the line of waiting Twilight fans. Almost all the people there were a good 10-15 years younger than me. Nothing makes you feel more out of place than going to a teeny-bopper show, in the middle of the night, surrounded by screaming teenage girls texting (before and after, thankfully) and waiting for their favorite eye candy to pop on the screen. It was still fun and the movie was definitely the best one of the bunch so far. Due to a mechanical problem with the movie half way through, we also got a free ticket to come to another movie. That made it all ok. I think it will be my last midnight show for a long while... it might take me that long to catch back up on sleep.

Saturday Adventure

On Saturday, we started our sightseeing at our favorite, Top Pot Donut. Delicious way to start the day. We then headed over to the famous Pike's Market. It was fun because Stephanie have never been there before, also my inlaws hadn't been there in many, many years, so it was all new for them.
After Pike's Market, we headed over to the Space Needle. Amazingly, it was a beautiful day and actually had moments of warmth! That just makes the view even better.This weekend we also had some other visitors swing into town, Travis' Aunt and Yia Yia and Papou. It was great to see them because we haven't seen them in almost a year. After a dinner where all we did was catching up, we headed over to a park to take a few family photos.Unfortunately, Travis' sister left today (Sunday) along with his Aunt, Yia Yia and Papou. So now Travis' parents have all the time to look/play/cottle the baby with no other people to compete with. We still have a few more fun things planned, but I think that we need some time (that we don't have) to recoup from the weekend.

The Meeting

Thea Steph

Papou
Yia Yia

Travis' family came up this weekend to visit Liam for the first time. I will post other pictures of our adventures this weekend.

The final introductions....

This weekend our adventure will be taking us, like a tourist, to all the hot spots of Seattle. The reason is that Travis' family is coming up to meet our little guy. So excited... been cleaning and cooking up a storm for their arrival. So there will be posts when I have something exciting to post about... well more exciting than the cookies I have made, or the floors I have mopped.

Things that go bump in the night

The thing that goes bump would be me. Two nights ago, around 2:00 a.m. I was grabbing my nursing pillow to feed Liam. I apparently didn't remember that I had placed a 568 parenting book on it before I went to bed (I must have been wanting to read up on good parenting skills before bed, but at two in the morning my parenting skills were nonexistent.) It fell and landed right on my second toe. (note: the beautiful scratch and slight bruising across my two toes) (I did say a choice swear word, but I will leave that part out because this is a family blog.)
The fun did not stop there. Last night, again as I was nursing, I noticed one of my dog's started retching. There is no worse noise than a dog about to throw up. It seems like the noise goes on forever, then ends in a horrible mess. Ewwww! As I jumped up to lead my dog to the bathroom, where there is no carpet (easier clean up.), I caught my toe (between my second toe and third toe) on my baby's bouncer chair. So in the middle of the night, I am in pain and my dog is throwing up, my baby is on the bed wondering where the feed bag went, and I am trying to hold it all together. This time, I at least refrained from ending the whole fiasco with my new favorite swear word.
So my poor pedicured toes look a little haggard with my bruised and battered toes... and I thought childbirth was bad. Someone should have warned me about the war-wounds that motherhood entails.

Father's Day Wishes!

I would like to wish the Father's and Grandfather's in our family a happy Father's Day. We love you, guys! And to all those Dad's out there, Happy Father's Day also. Jim and Travis (outside the Sci-fi Museum)
Papou (with Travis and Yia Yia) Me and Moto

Happy Father's Day, Travis!

Today, we celebrated Travis' first Father's day. My husband is the biggest carnivore ever. He would eat only hamburger patties everyday if they were covered in bacon with cheese (of course we don't eat like that so it is a special treat when we go to a great burger joint. I look the other way when he happily orders the largest burger covered with his true love, Bacon.) We had heard many great things about Red Mill Burger on Phinney Ridge. It was a cramped little restaurant, and in my experience the smaller and more crowded the restaurant the better the food is. This was definitely worth the wait and the crowd. This burger joint was featured on the show Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel and ever since Travis has wanted to try it. It was hard to find, but we were happy we went on the adventure.After lunch, we decided to explore a little more. We headed west knowing that we would eventually hit water. Our exploration ended at Golden Garden Park. It was so beautiful, but a little cold for our little one. We went on a short walk, but didn't stay too long. Hopefully, we will be able to go back when it is a nice summer day. (we have yet to see any of those yet). It was another great day of exploring our new hometown! And a great big Happy Father's Day to all those fathers, new and old.

THE BEST YEAR EVER!

This year has been clearly the best of my life. It started out, on the 18th of June, with the best trip ever, where I have so many great memories and happy thoughts of the 18 days I spent with my two great sisters and one crazy mom (who I love lots and lots). It makes me happy just thinking about flying into Paris and all the beautiful art that the city holds. London was great because of all the history and big city feel. And Scotland was the break in the middle that had beautiful landscapes and a crazy car ride through the countryside. I can't wait to one day go back and visit all those wonderful places again, hopefully with both Travis and Liam.
This was also the year that we decided to move to Seattle because we knew our future wasn't along the Wasatch Front in Utah. We have always wanted to live up here and so we bit the bullet and did it. Crazy to start over from scratch, but I think that it will all pay off in the end.
And that would bring me to the greatest part of my year, no scratch that, my life. I know most women don't love being pregnant, but I thought it was great. I loved all the movement from him and all the milestones you reach when you are expecting. And of course, the cherry on the cake was when he was born on the 18th of last month.
Yeah, great year... I don't know how this year can be as wonderful, but I bet it will be filled with many exciting things.

Our Saturday Adventure

We aren't crazy and wild like before (remember the crazy time we went to visit Snoqualmie Falls?!), but today we did venture out to have a little 'date' at the local coffee shop. It was actually a beautiful day here in the Seattle area and so we loaded the little guy into his stroller and headed out. Great day (weather was gorgeous and bright, hence the sunglasses for Liam, which he really liked), great drink, and the best company!

The weekend plans

Netflix just delivered our weekend plans, Gone with the Wind. My husband has never seen this classic movie, while I have probably seen it at least 4 times. My mother instilled in me a love of all things old... 1960's music, black and white movies, musicals, history, and overly dramatic Oscar winning shows like Gone with the Wind. (The other classic Oscar winning movie I LOVE is Greatest Show on Earth starring Jimmy Stewart and Charlton Heston. So corny but it was so classic).
So hopefully, my dear, my husband will give a damn after this weekend.

The reason there will be no more big stuffed animals

Yesterday, as I was preoccupied with the baby, the dogs decided to play tug-of-war with one of the last remaining stuffed animals. It was a tiger that stood about 3 feet tall and was one of Kimi's favorite toys. (this was before Ratchet, who should be known as the destructor of all things stuffed.) At one point during the destruction, Kimi managed to shake the poor stuffed animal so hard that it actually rained down cotton stuffing. Good times for everyone... Kimi and Ratchet running around like mad dogs, me cussing while I pickup an entire garbage bag full of stuffing, and the baby who had a full stomach for the entire event was happy as a clam. I think that the dogs are more work than the baby.

And how are the other family members liking the change?

Kimi likes to stand watch over Liam. I think she is his guardian angel... or the dog character, Nanny on Peter Pan.
Ratchet likes to be a part of whatever is going on. He will just come up and give Liam a few kisses then walk away. I think it is his way of saying, "It is ok, Liam. This is all I can contribute."
Kimi makes sure she is right there with me whenever I do anything.
I think they both love the new addition.

My Baby Starfish

It has been a long 3 weeks... not dealing with my baby, but trying to keep myself occupied. (You know finding things that don't allow me to spend money and blow our budget. In other words, free things.) So imagine my happiness when I realized that the little fleece that used to be my neices, way back when works perfectly for Liam in his snugli carrier. Today was the first day that I was able to take my poor neglected dogs out for a walk with the baby. I have been trying to take it easy and not go crazy (so that my incision heals quicker), but it is going to be hard to do that when I can now go and explore the area and take walks. Before our walkAfter our walks, I think he was totally content to get out too. (with his little legs and arms in the fleece I think he looks like a starfish.)

I am one of THOSE people!

My baby with my niece, the self-proclaimed "Baby Whisperer"

At just two weeks, the little man looks so awake!

The first picture of my parents seeing my baby!

I love the fact that I am his world.... I know it will change but right now I am completely content to play this role.
I hope that I start to have more "adventures" again otherwise I am sure my 3 readers will get tired of my endless postings about the CUTEST baby in the WORLD!