Octoberfest

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but in my defense, October was one crazy busy month. So, here we go.

Hello Goodbye
We packed our bags and said goodbye to Seattle. Spokane here we come! Trying to pack up a house and move across the state with two little kids is very hectic. But we did it. I was really sad to leave Seattle for a myriad of reasons, but I won't go into that right now. We decided to move in with Chris's parents to save some money until we could buy a house. I was worried about what it would be like living with them, but so far it has been great. It's nice to have someone to talk to when Chris isn't home. Sam loves his Papa and runs to him every time I try to do something horrible like change his diaper or make him take a nap. Sam and Charlie also have a set of cousins who live here and I'm glad they'll have the opportunity to get to know them. Sam adores his 5-year old cousin Eli or Ili as he would say. Eli has also been very good about taking care of Sam, so it's been fun to watch them bond. I think Sam has done amazingly well with the transition too. He's only hit Charlie a few times and pushed him off the couch twice, so he's making progress. When we moved, we put him into a big-boy bed and took away his pacifier. Those are some pretty huge adjustments for the little guy. Right now, we have to lay in his bed with him until he falls asleep, but we're hoping he'll figure it out soon. And now that he's in a big bed, he will wake up in the middle of the night and crawl into bed with us. It's pretty cute. We also put Charlie into the crib in his room so he's no longer in the Pack N Play in our room. He doesn't really care where he sleeps or where he is. As long as he's fed and has a clean diaper, he's happy. Chris spent the first few days here at home with me helping me get acquainted with the area. We went to Manito Park on the South Hill. It was a beautiful park and Sam loved chasing the ducks.

Sam's Birthday

Sam turned 2 years old on October 13. I just can't believe I have a 2 year old. Where did the time go. He has a cousin exactly one year older, so the weekend we moved our stuff, we had a family birthday party. My sis-in-law made some excavator cakes for the boys which were adorable. The next day, we celebrated his birthday back in Seattle with his Uncle Mike and Aunt Jennie. We went to a pizza place called Snoose Junction in Ballard. It was so much fun and I would highly recommend going if you have a chance. Sam loves hanging out with Mike and Jennie and we are going to miss them a lot.

Halloween Festivities
We decided to take Sam and Charlie to one of the local farms to pick out a pumpkin. I was really excited for Sam to go on the hay ride and pet the baby goats, but all he wanted to do was play on the slide. I realized that I can't expect him to be excited about the things I want him to be excited about. We all still had a lot of fun and that's what counts.

For Halloween, Sam was a skeleton and Charlie was a cowboy. First, we went Trick or Treating at Chris's work. Sam caught on a little too quickly with what was going on. He didn't really want to say trick or treat. He was all about business: get in, get the candy and move on. He did say thank you to most everyone, which was really sweet. However, Sam didn't get a nap that day and had a meltdown towards the end of the trick or treating. Later that night we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. Sam was more interested in looking at all the "scary" costumes than he was in getting candy at that point. We didn't complain. We all had a great time but were very exhausted by the end of the day.

Charlie

Charlie is getting so big. He'll be 3 months old on Saturday and I can't believe how quickly time goes by. He weighs about 16 pounds now and is the cutest little chunk. He's so much fun to have around and I don't think I could have asked for a better baby.

While Daddy's Away

Chris has been in Las Vegas all week, so we've been keeping ourselves busy while he's been away. Here's what we've been up to.

Monday: We made Halloween treats -- pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies and monster cupcakes. We also had dinner with our friends, the Schmidts. They served delicious homemade chili and cornbread. Thanks for a great evening of yummy food and good company!
Tuesday: We went for a walk on the Interurban Trail and picked what was left of the blackberries and ate them all.

Later that evening...

Wednesday: We went with our good friends, the Andersons and the Schmidts (and a group of several other parents,) to the Locks. In the six years I've lived in Seattle, I'd never been there so I was very excited to go. Sam had a good time with all of the other kids running around.

I let Sam play with bubbles in his bath instead of the sink.

Thursday: We went to Bitterlake Park. It was pretty cold outside, so we had the whole park to ourselves. I think Sam's favorite part was going into the bathroom and yelling just so he could hear his voice echo.

Some of this, some of that

I know it's been a while. It's seems like the only time I have to blog is when the kids are sleeping. And when they're asleep, I'm asleep or doing other stuff around the house. But mostly, I sleep. I just thought I'd give some updates on everyone. I don't have any pictures to post unfortunately, since our camera broke and we only just got one this weekend. I promise I will post some soon though.


Charlie:

He is growing crazy fast. I can't believe he's almost 8 weeks old. Where did the time go? He smiles and coos all the time and is generally a very happy baby. Also, he has the cutest little dimple on his left cheek when he smiles. C is a great sleeper. He usually takes a long nap when Sam does, goes to bed only an hour or so after Sam, and wakes up around the same time as Sam. It seems they are pretty much on the same schedule. He's not sleeping through the night yet, but only wakes up once or twice, which I think is pretty great. He started rolling over at 6 weeks. I hope it's not a sign that he's going to be crawling and walking early. He weighs about 14 pounds and is the cutest little chuck I've ever seen. Chris jokes that Charlie is just like his dad because his belly fat hangs over the top of his pants. I still love both of 'em regardless.


Sam:

Sam has three favorite things right now: Wall-E, blackberries and bugs. Chris showed him a clip of Wall-E on the Internet one day and he has been hooked ever since. When he wakes up in the morning, he will point to the computer and say "Wall-E." He wants to watch it all the time. Chris took him to his very first movie a couple of weeks ago...it was Wall-E. Sam was a little freaked out at first, but he eventually loosened up and enjoyed the show. I found a Wall-E toothbrush at the store today, and Sam insisted on taking it to bed with him. I hope this will encourage him to want to brush his teeth more as it is a painful process to do with him.

He has also discovered the joy of blackberries. When we go for walks on the Interurban trail, he will spend a good portion of his time picking and eating them. It is one of his new favorite words to say too, although it sounds more like "blackbees." There are some blackberry bushes in the neighbor's yard that Sam can see out of his bedroom window. He spends a lot of time looking out his window, pointing and saying blackberries. One day he was doing this and Chris said "How cute, Sam thinks there are blackberries outside his window." I told him that Sam wasn't just a weird kid, but that there were in fact blackberries outside his window.

As of late, we have been doing a lot of bug hunting. It's mostly bees, worms and spiders. He loves to look at them but is not at all interested in touching them, especially worms. I think he's a little grossed out by the worms because he gets a disgusted look on his face when I try to get him to hold one. One day we were in the back yard digging up dirt looking for the slimy creatures. I finally found this puny little thing and tried to show Sam. He wasn't really interested and just kept pointing to his shoes which he had taken off. When I went to put his shoes back on him, there was a huge worm inside of one. I have no idea how it got there, but that's what Sam was trying to show me. We went walking one day and I told him to look for the bees. When he couldn't find any, he just kept saying "Bees, where are you?"

He is doing incredibly well with Charlie. He loves to give C hugs and kisses, but he can be a little rough with him sometimes because he doesn't really know any better. He's also talking up a storm these days. Most of it we can't understand, but it's very cute to listen to.


Chris and Amanda:

Chris started his new job at the end of August. He's liking it so far and says he's working with a good group of people. He's actually on a job here in Seattle auditing work papers by employees of KPMG, his old stomping grounds. Weird, huh? He's been having fun working downtown again and enjoying lunch at The Met on occasion.

I'm just trying to survive having two kids. I'm still trying to figure out how to be a mom to two, but it's getting better. Some days are better than others. Getting the kids out every day does wonders for my sanity. Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn too. I don't know if I could live without this miracle invention. There are days when Charlie has spent the majority of his time in it.

We are also getting ready for our big move to Spokane. I've been putting off packing for as long as I can for a few reasons. 1. I'm a procrastinator. 2. I hate packing. 3. It makes me sad and reminds me that we are leaving. Although I have loved living in Seattle for the past 6 years, and I'm sad to say goodbye, I know moving is the right thing. It's a time for fresh starts and new beginnings.

So, I guess that's what's been going with us for the past few weeks.