top 10

The Top 10 of 2010

Being pregnant
Starting this blog to document our new life with J (and B helping to write his first post. This being it.)
B breaking 90 at West Seattle golf course
Breakfasts at Jak's
Going on our babymoon to Maui
Meeting baby Mason, baby Barrett, baby Jillian, and baby Mackenzie
Spending time with family and friends
The Elams moving to Washington
The birth of cousin Sadie
Meeting our sweet girl, Juliet

trumpette

J's new trumpette socks from Grandma are sporty this time around (as opposed to her dressy mary janes). They even have little ties on them, which of course she loves.

bumbo

J got a bumbo for Christmas. She is such a big girl now!

ski

We finally broke out J's Schweitzer sweatshirt for her first ski trip!

uncle jeff

Uncle Jeff and J hung out a lot this holiday.

He must have walked J around the upstairs a 100 times and she loved it! (Although once again you would never be able to tell from her facial expression.)

 J's first piano experience!

 J and uncle Jeff even have matching mad bomber hats.



christmas eve

On Christmas Eve we packed up most of our house and headed to Spokane, but before we left we opened a present from Grandma. Juliet loved the paper on her presents and helped to tear them open.

I cried when we pulled out this book. It was my favorite story as a child. (The author is Tomie dePaola-the same author as Juliet's first Christmas book.) My mom wrote the sweetest little note to Juliet telling her how she used to read this story to me when I was little. I can't wait until we can snuggle in bed and enjoy the story together. J does like her books, but they usually end up in her mouth at this point. 

Once we were on the road, J passed out and slept all the way to Moses Lake! I wasn't sure what to expect because this was our first long drive, but she is definitely a road tripper.



We ate at the lovely El Rodeo in Moses Lake.

J's new favorite game is walking around restaurants with daddy. They make a lot of friends, although El Rodeo was a little empty for lunch. I can't imagine why? I mean they even had stockings hanging from the ceiling. Festive!

El Rodeo was a little shady, but they served us this awesome dessert.

I forgot to take pictures of our arrival, but it was a winter wonderland! For Christmas Eve we had a quiet dinner with Jan, Larry, Jeff and their new puppy, Lucy.



december 23

One year ago today our life took on a whole new meaning when we learned I was pregnant. We were beyond happy, but there was nothing to prepare us for how we feel about our sweet girl today.  I know I will ever never tire of just looking at my baby and kissing her skin.  I don't think I could love her anymore than I do.

Last December 23 we also went to Spiros (random) for dinner, so of course we had to head back there tonight. I think it just became a new December 23 tradition.



more bedhead

J's hair is getting longer! Just look at her bedhead now.

romeo

Today we went to have a playdate with Juliet's Romeo, I mean Mason.

J got to try out Mason's bumbo and loved it, so we will definitely be purchasing one soon.

christmas lights

Last night we packed up J in her pajamas and headed out to look at Christmas lights. The Seattle Times published an article with some addresss of homes with brilliant displays. Luckily for us there were about six homes in West Seattle.

This Charlie Brown display was one of my favorites. They have been doing this for years and I just love it. They also have a 200 foot tree lit up with a star on top, but I didn't get that in the picture. Snoopy is on top of their door (upper left hand corner of picture). Clearly, there is some work to be done on taking picures of lights at night. :(

And of course the Menashe's house. No one even came close to this circus display. It gets me every year!

As we drove around B and I talked about how/what our display will look like on our next house (that can actually be admired from the street). We are going for all white. Big surprise, right.

blue eyed girl

I am still surprised that our girl has blue eyes and I think they are going to stay. So far all the Smith cousins are blue eyed babies!

today

I am still housebound while the jetta is getting some repairs (again), so J and I decided to look at our Christmas cards. She likes to admire the pictures and sneak in a taste when mommy is busy with the camera. She was really getting into Max and Teddy's card-and by getting into I mean she was shrieking at the card for about five minutes straight.

We also are practing sitting up. She is so strong now!

We of course had to play with our feet and mommy's fingers, which are always favorite activities.

yes

We offered our nanny position to someone and this evening she accepted. I don't know whether to burst out crying or breath a sigh of relief.

image from bigpictureclasses.com

j

While we were interviewing a nanny, I mentioned that I am really not looking forward to going back to work, even part time. She told me though that it would make the time with J even more special, but she is wrong. When she said that, I wanted to tell her that I do appreciate every moment with my girl already. I think about that everyday and I don't need to be away from her as a reminder. Even on days like today when I was on my third shirt by 11:00 am due to spitup.

I married a runner

Yesterday, B became a runner! Earlier in the year he made a personal goal to run a 12K in 2010, and he did it! I don't know what is more impressive: the fact that he did what he set out to do or the fact that he did this without training for it. (He could have ran the same race, but in 5K. However, since his goal was 12K, 12K is what he ran). We are so proud of him.

w. seattle

It was such a beautiful day yesterday, so we went down to Alki and hit up Pioneer Coffee. I think they opened this little spot for me and Brian. I don't know any other coffee shop that serves a view of the water, hot cocoa, beer and football on their flatscreen. Again another reason why I heart W. Seattle.

15 weeks

Somehow our girl turned 15 weeks old yesterday. I still think it keeps getting better and better, so that is how I am able to handle this with a smile on my face.

tv

My three month old daughter is addicted to televison. Just kidding, but this is what happens when the TV is on when she is awake which is why we just don't bother anymore. (She is watching the TV upside down in this picture.) For awhile B could get away with watching football on mute, but that trick no longer works. This week she even turned herself 90 degrees on her playmate to watch Miracle on 34th Street.

mouth

Everything is going into the mouth now.

I am looking at buying more organic/nontoxic toys because every time I watch a fur friend or plastic ring go in her mouth I just can't help but wonder about the toxins in them and what they may be doing to her developmentally. I know some people may think it is silly because there is stuff all around us with PBDEs, pesticides, etc, but I am trying really hard to reduce the amount of toxins in our home because every little bit helps. The good news is that you can find organic toys at a much more affordable price than organic clothes.

santa

This morning we jumped on the light rail and headed downtown to meet Santa!

This random girl really wanted to be in the picture with Stella. She was behind us in line and apparently her dad left her with Donny for a while. The father forgot his phone and asked if Donny would watch his little girl while he went back to his car! I guess if you are going to leave your five year old daughter with a strange man, Donny is the guy.

 Again, poor Sadie is not in the picture. We missed our sweet girl. She was home with a fever.

We could not get her to smile while sitting on Santa's lap, but I still love the picture!