It's your day of all days, it's the best of the best!

The title of the post is from one of Hadley's favorite books...the Dr. Seuss Birthday Book (we still read this at least twice a day, I don't have the heart to tell her it's not her birthday for another 9 months).  It captures perfectly the day I am having today.  The sun surprised all of us (the forecast was rain rain and more rain)and instead, it is gorgeous out. I can't wait for Hadley to wake up and to get outside!  I riffled through my closet and found the only pair of "shorts" I can squeeze into, which alerted me to the fact that I am positively bursting out of my maternity clothes in a pretty awesome way :)  Wait, it gets better.  Hadley surprised me by taking not a 2 hour, but a 3 hour nap so not only did I get to take a nap, I got to take a bath AND dry my hair (a rarity these days) and post this blog. Today is one of those days where no matter how many strangers stare at me (or rudely interrupt our play time to ask me 20 not-so-super-friendly questions regarding the age difference between my kiddos...this happens A LOT) I am not going to let them ruin my mood! Can't rain on this girl's parade, not today.

Happy Thursday!

And this, my friends, is what 37 weeks looks like.

West Seattle Condo = FOR SALE!

Click here to check out our listing!

Know anyone looking for a great place in West Seattle?  It's treated us well...two kids later I think we've officially grown out of it :)  Pass the word!

Recent Cuteness

I can't get enough of this kiddo! She changes so fast, I wish I had a button to slow it all down...though I am really appreciating some of her new skills - she is turning into a little girl right before our very eyes. Hadley we love you!!

14 Months: A Hadley Update

It occurred to me that first children probably get a lot more documented about them than second children do.  I myself being an only child, never got to experience this phenomenon firsthand.  Poor little boy Block will probably get about half the blog postings / baby booking that Hadley did...but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles :)

Without further ado, here is an update on what the little munchkin is up to these days.  I decided to do this now since she's changed so much over the past couple of months...and I might not have time @ 15 months when the baby finally gets here!

April 12, 2010 - 14 months old

Height & Weight: 20+ lbs at her last appointment, but she was fully clothed...

Latest words (in order of frequency used): Dada, Mama, Hi, NO, Bobo, Fish, Car (also says Vroom when you ask what the car says), Nana (banana), Ball, Book, Duck, Uh-Oh, Moo, Meow, Woof, Ow...and her latest, "Hi Dada"! First time she has put two words together. (Some of these are obviously up to parental interpretation, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.)

Favorite Things: Books, exploring, climbing, swinging at the park, being outside, throwing food on the floor...

Favorite Foods: PEAS, Greenbeans, PB&J, Mac & Cheese, Strawberries, Goldfish crackers

Dislikes: Runny noses, which seem to be a constant around here!

Accomplishments: Feeds herself with a spoon (did this for the first time the other day), drinks from a straw, colors with crayons (sometimes on the table), will play ball with you, tells you how old she is (holds up 1 finger every time she even hears the word "old" even if the question is not directed at her), points to her nose/mouth/eyes/ears/head/tummy when asked, points to and waves at "little brother" when asked, kisses & hugs on command (most of the time...but it's better when she just decides to come give you a big hug without asking!). 

Highlight of the month: The impending arrival of baby brother! (See photo - this is her idea of "Hadley kiss your baby"...)

Happy Birthday Luke!

Hadleys' little buddy Lucas (son of my dear friend of 17 years, Alice) had his second birthday party this past weekend and we had a ball celebrating on a beautiful sunny Seattle day!  Thanks guys, great party!

Hadley enjoying her cupcake way too much

35 weeks vs. 35 weeks

35 weeks with Hadley:

35 weeks with Baby Dos:

Woodinville Wino Weekend

This weekend we joined friends Evan & Petra to celebrate Pet's 28th birthday in Woodinville wine country.  Woodinville being my old stomping grounds (no pun intended) my Dad & Allison were close by and took Hadley for the day.  Thus we were able to enjoy quite the wine tasting extravaganza without busy toddler in tow.  It is fabulous how much more effectively one can wine taste when not actually consuming (hardly) any of it...I was picking out flavors & aromas left and right rather than our usual "Hmmm, I'm getting red.  Is it a red wine?" (Joke...joke...) We had a great time, capped the night off with dinner at Purple Cafe (divine) and were home and in bed by 10pm.

Oh -- and that is my new Wine Cellar sign in photo #2.  I told Andy, that's what happens when you take the pregnant girl wine tasting...she inevitably starts to "browse" the gift shop while all the winos imbibe.

Thank you Miss Paulina!

Thanks to Hadley's super smart friend Miss Paulina Salinas Cervantes...Hadley now says "MAMA"!  Such a sweet sound :)  Nevermind that she mostly says it when she's upset/whining/crying and saves "DADA" for when she's happy.  I'll take it!  She also picked up "NO" somewhere along the line, which she pairs with a very effective little head shake.  Still in the cute stage for us though!  I'm sure a coupla years (months maybe...ok weeks) down the road it won't be quite so cute. Come to think of it, there might have been a moment today when it wasn't so cute.  We were in the grocery store and I was letting her play with my wallet...after picking out my linguine I notice that Hadley not only has my wallet open, but has whipped out the black Alaska Airlines visa and is politely handing it to a complete stranger.  When I took my wallet from her and said "no more playing" she actually yelled at me "no no no no" and threw a FIT with a capital T right there in the store.  I must've missed where she turned two....Ahhhh, adventures in parenting.  Gotta love it!

Easter Bunny

I loved these pictures of Hadley so much (taken on Easter) that I had to post them. 

What a difference a year makes, I can't believe the peanut has already celebrated two Easters...

La Familia Salinas-Rivas-Cervantes-Hernandez

This past week we were very happy to have Andy's good friend Fernando, his wife Cyndi and their 18 month old daughter Paulina as our guests in Seattle!  Ten years ago, Fernando came to the US without speaking a work of English.  He wound up staying and enrolling in the community college in Walla Walla, then WSU to get his degree in Engineering.  In the mean time, he became fluent in English and scored Andy as his doubles partner on the WWCC tennis team.  They have been friends ever since!   In 2005 Andy & I travelled to Mexico City (their home) to see Fernando & Cyndi get married and in 2007 they came to WW to see us get married...This time, it was so fun to get our daughters together.  They could not have been more opposite, but they loved each other!  Paulina was so much fun to have around, she talks up a storm and listens to everything her mommy & daddy tell her to do - we're hoping some of this will rub off on our busy little lady.  They had a blast playing together and we loved having their family with us.  Over Easter weekend we mini-vanned (in a borrowed rig) up to La Conner to see the annual tulip festival, which despite being cold and windy turned out to be very beautiful and lots of fun.  Thank you to the Salinas-Rivas-Cervantes-Hernandez family for being such gracious guests and bringing Hadley a little playmate for the week - we miss you already!

 

 

The town so nice they named it twice

{That's fabulous Walla Walla, Washington}

We have talked long and hard about moving to Andy's hometown of Walla Walla.  I guess you could say we are taking it in stages.  It's a big leap from Zurich's cobbled streets to Seattle's busy-ness to WW's expansive wheat fields and quaint little mainstreet...but we are excited to take this next step towards a more "family style" life.  As I like to stay, we'll be raising the kids free range style on the farm.  Well, we won't be living on a farm, but in farm country.  (Or wine country..yes that is better!).  Walla Walla is a beautiful place - calm and beautiful and best of all - hot and sunny in the summer!  We've been here all week house hunting, and though we don't have any big news to report (I'm not going to jinx it), we are that much closer to the big move.  Cross your fingers (and toes) for us.  More later :)