Friday, December 27, 2013

Go Huskies!

The Huskies are playing tonight in the "2013 Fight Hunger Bowl" against BYU. We're excited to root our team on, and the whole family is decked out in our Husky gear:



Go Dawgs!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from our household to yours! We've had a busy holiday season, enjoying time with family and some quiet time as "just" the three of us. The holidays have taken on a new energy as we experience the wonder and delight of Christmas with a young child.

It strikes me how confusing it must be to see the world transformed with Christmas lights and decorations virtually over night. For example, we put up our Christmas decor -- including our tree -- while Matthew was down for his nap. As he walked out groggily from his nap, he got a look on his face like "why is there a tree where my toys should be?" But then the confusion turned into wonder as he pondered what was under the tree:

If I get on my tippy-toes, will I be able to reach that package?

This is so pretty and colorful, I wonder why it's here!?

To celebrate Christmas, the family got dressed up and went to Christmas Eve services together. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, taking the time to sing carols and praise God. There is just something about slowing down and remembering why we celebrate.


Looking dapper for church! 

"Why yes, I AM pretty cute!"

"C'mon Grammy & Papa, let's go to the church service!"

Christmas Day was relaxed at our house. At first Matthew wasn't sure about the cheerily wrapped boxes. But once he understood how to open a present, he had a great time!
"Here Dad, a gift for you!"

"Do you need some help with that, Papa?"

"Yeah, but Papa, what about THIS package?"

"Here Grammy, this is how you do it!"

New toys are FUN!

My hope for you this holiday season is that you experienced joy and wonder, and that you are richly blessed in 2014!

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Santa Photo 2013

We took Matthew today for his second visit with Santa. Last year's visit went pretty well, with Matthew tugging at Santa's beard and then smiling for the camera.

This year was a little bit of a different story. What you don't see in our Santa photo is the back story -- the skilled photographer caught Matthew just before he started crying because he wanted to be with Daddy (and not this jolly stranger):



Santa recovered (unfortunately after the crying stint and the photo was taken), offering Matthew a candy cane before we left. Matthew got a huge smile on his face and was excited to carry his gift around proudly. He cried again as we tried to put his mittens on, to Lennie smartly tucked the candy cane into his mitten, and he was a happy camper for the rest of the day (despite not knowing what a candy cane is, mind you!).

I'm working on getting Matthew to say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" but we'll see if that comes to fruition this Christmas season. In the meantime, the Christmas spirit is in the air at our house:




Monday, November 25, 2013

2013 Family Photo Session

One of the things that we're not very good at is taking photos to mark our family's time together and our growth and changes over time. I think that this is a trait that has been passed down from my family, as we didn't take the time to get professional family photos taken very often, and we'd go on vacation and take maybe one or two photos over the week. We were busy experiencing life and forgot to document our experiences.

I'm trying to get better at documenting our time, and the advent of cell phone cameras has certainly assisted my efforts. Alas, we recently went and had family photos taken. Twice in ~20 months is not bad, right? :) Here are a few favorites from our quick family photo session:















Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Words

Every child develops at their own rate, and Matthew is no different. For many months, he's been somewhat verbal, saying words like "Mama," "Dada," or "ball," but not necessarily consistently associating them with people or objects. As a typical mother, I worried that my son wouldn't turn the corner and become even more verbal. Most parents that I've talked to told me that their children seemed to flip a switch and suddenly started using more and more words each day and breaking through a communication barrier.

Well, Matthew flipped that switch recently. Literally over night, he went from having a few words to mirroring every word and sound that people made around him. It has been so much fun to watch him learn and grow, and to have him be able to communicate with us about his wants and needs!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween 2013

Today Matthew experienced trick-or-treating for the first time. He dressed up in his Mickey Mouse costume -- perfect for the crisp, damp Fall day. After celebrating the holiday at daycare, we took him to enjoy the festivities downtown. Once again, the streets were packed, but we had a great time stopping by favorite shops, getting Matthew's photo taken at a local photography studio, and visiting the town's children's events.

We then headed home and trick-or-treated at a few of our neighbor's houses. While Matthew didn't necessarily know what was going on, he certainly made the neighbors smile as he knocked on doors and tried to invite himself in to their homes! Towards the end of the night, Matthew even helped hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters. What a fun way to mark the holiday!
Enjoying the festivities downtown.
Cruising around town in style!

Trick or Treat Miss Shelly!
Trick or Treat Miss Shelly! (Isn't this the part where you give me something?)

Matthew as Mickey
Enough pictures Mom! Let's go!

You forgot this candy!
Hey! You forgot this candy!

We hope that you had a great Halloween too!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved our pumpkins in preparation for Halloween. This was the first year that Matthew was able to participate, and he certainly enjoyed working with the pumpkin "guts."




The finished products:



We're all set for Halloween -- bring on the trick-or-treating fun!

Sunday, October 06, 2013

Frolicking in the Pumpkin Fields

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny Saturday in the Seattle area. We decided to make an impromptu trip to the pumpkin patch since you never know when you're going to get another clear, sunny day in this area!

At first, Matthew wasn't really interested in the pumpkins; sometimes he was more interested in his sunglasses....








Eventually he helped us pick out some great pumpkins though:




After walking through the pumpkin patch, we enjoyed some time around the farm, taking a hay ride and climbing on the tractor. What a great way to spend the day as a family!









I love Fall in the Seattle area -- we are so blessed to be able to frolic on the farm and be surrounded by blue skies and green pastures!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Our First Seattle Storm Game

Today we had the opportunity to attend our first Seattle Storm game as a family. The Storm were in the playoffs, and this was their final game against the Minnesota Lynx. None of us had ever been to a Women's NBA game before, and we enjoyed watching the team and socializing with some of Lennie's friends / co-workers.





Matthew charmed all of the people in the stands around us, and he also enjoyed spending some time with his dad. Although the Storm lost the game (it was a close one!), we certainly had a great time!

Future Husky?

We're working on raising our son right, which includes turning him into a University of Washington Huskies fan. Here's our future scholar ready to root on the home team:



Look out ladies, he's sure to be one of the cutest dudes on campus! (Although, I may be a little biased on that...)

Friday, September 20, 2013

18 Month Old "Art"

At our daycare, the kids are often involved in art projects and other crafty activities. Here are a few of the delights that our son has worked on over the last few weeks (he's getting much better at coloring, I must say!): Autumn Tree with a "Foot" Trunk


Flower Stamping


Paint on Paper Plate


Football!


He may not be Picasso yet, but it sure is fun to see our son continually learn and grow!