Seattle-June 09

It's taken us forever to get these pics up. We've been so busy since I went back to work and these kids make us exhausted every day so by the end of the day we crash in bed. Jordan finally got these edited the other night and I have time this morning to finally get these posted.

We left the evening of June 13th. I had great plans to be actually ahead of the game and not packing at the last minute but got very sick for 4 days right before our trip (and right after Isabelle's blessing/Matthew's birthday) and even woke up really dizzy the morning of our flight. I stayed in bed as long as I could and finally got up finished packing and made it through the flight ok.

My brother and his wife picked us up from the airport in both of their cars as we were going to rent a van a few days later and I felt like we were a circus getting all of our bags, the kids and carseats loaded in their cars. That night was pretty mellow. Even though it was about 9 pm when we ate dinner, Matthew was still wired and thought he didn't need to go to bed because it was still light out.


One of the few pics of Isabelle awake. She did so great on this trip until the end when she pretty much refused to sleep or breastfeed. We switched pretty much to formula after this trip and upped her to 6 oz. and it has been much better. Isabelle also has lost almost all of her hair now, but new growth has started so I'm hoping to see more hair soon.


Playing in the park Sunday afternoon after church. It was a cute little park at the end of their development.

Monday night we went and ate down by the ocean at scuttlebutts and then went for a walk on the pier. It was pretty chilly and both kids were well wrapped up.

Tuesday morning Jordan and my brother got up and went and picked up our rental van. It's crazy how much a few extra days and picking up/returning to different locations can add to your cost. We didn't feel like $300 was worth it so we were grateful that my brother/sister-in-law picked us up from the airport and that my brother took Jordan to the airport on Tuesday (we ended up picking it up/returning to the airport since it was cheaper). Incidentally having a van on this trip pretty much sold us on getting a van (I have been resisting). It's just so convienient to have so I can sit back with the kids and there is plenty of room in the back for all our crapola!

We were off that morning to do the typical downtown Seattle things. There were places we didn't get to like the Children's museum, science center that we'll have to do with the kids next time.


While waiting for Jordan to get tickets to the space needle. One of the rare pictures of myself that I actually like. Matthew even smiled really good.

My brother and sister-in-law stayed behind to watch Isabelle since they didn't want to go up the Space Needle again (understandable with the visitors they've had).

Matthew is always picking up rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. This one stayed with us for awhile.

At the top of the Space Needle.

The leaf hadn't left yet.

It's not as high as you would think, but still really cool.

Of course we had to do Pike's Market. Jordan thought I was a little nuts wanting to get a double stroller, but it came in handy several times on this trip and a few times since. Both kids were sacked out by this time and Matthew pretty much slept all the way home too. We ate lots of yummy food here-Perogies, baby doughnuts, and other treats.

Wednesday we headed to Deception Pass while my brother was at work. Jordan took Matthew exploring and it was pretty windy so I stayed in the car with a sleeping Isabelle.

Matthew had so much fun throwing rocks into the water. The water was pretty chilly but what little kid really cares about that? His pants and socks/shoes got all wet.

Later in the day, more park time. Matthew really loved this park. It was perfect for him.

Hiding because he hates always getting his picture taken.

Thursday we headed to Tacoma to the zoo/aquarium. It's so cute and it was fun going to a different zoo. Matthew of course loved it, but Isabelle wasn't sleeping so great. I can't wait for it to cool off so we can start going back to the Phoenix zoo again.

We stayed in the shark area for awhile. Matthew loved that.

We all tried sleeping in the same room the first couple of nights, but between Isabelle waking up to feed (she was only 2 months old) and Matthew moving all around I wasn't getting any sleep and was very cranky. Jordan ended up going into their other spare bedroom and crashed in there with Matthew on a blow up mattress. Inevitably Matthew would be somewhat like this every morning and Jordan would be somewhere on the floor too. I got half way decent sleep once they moved in there. Poor Jordan pretty much slept on the floor for 10 days.

Friday-Monday were pretty mellow as my brother was getting sick and it was rainy. We went to lots of yummy places to eat, the outlet mall and Jordan went with my sister-in-law and Matthew on a walk one day. Matthew of course had a great time picking up sticks and stones. I stayed behind with Isabelle.

Monday morning we got up and packed and headed off to the airport to hopefully catch an earlier flight home. It was full and they wouldn't let us switch so we hung out in the aiport for awhile. They have a big beautiful waiting that is all glass. It was the perfect area for us to be in as Matthew could be noisy and messy as he wanted and it didn't bother anyone since there was a lot of noise going on in that area.

I think this is in Vegas when we switched planes.

After we got into Phoenix I took the kids to the baggage area and waited with our bags while Jordan went and got the car. They both fell asleep in the double stroller (once again great to have) and slept all the way home since it was after midnight once we were loaded and off to home.

All in all a great trip. Great for us to go while I was on maternity leave and it was fun to go see my brother and his wife in Seattle. I have been a couple of times in the past, but Jordan hadn't ever been. It was also really nice to get out of the heat for 10 days. It definitely gets chilly there and it was a nice break from the weather but I'm a heat lover and would rather deal with our hot summer and have a really warm winter than cooler/rainy weather all the time. The kids did pretty well and it was a fun trip. Now to tackle scrapbooking it all! :)

Convention & Potty Training

I returned last week from Convention and am so glad it is over. I knew that coming off of maternity leave and jumping back into crazy work was going to be hard but it was more exhausting than ever and 6 days away from the family was harder than it's ever been. Mostly because I knew Isabelle wasn't sleeping well while I was gone and I just missed being home.

I left on Wednesday the 5th and my parents flew in on Thursday afternoon to help out. I came back on Tuesday the 11th and met Jordan/kids and my parents at the airport. We had lunch together and then they flew back to Utah. They work at the Temple on Wednesdays and needed to be there both weeks. Jordan said it was great having them here to help out with the kids. It was weird for me to have my parents visiting while I was away but we all know that really only the grandkids matter right?

I committed to myself and Jordan that right after Convention we would start in on the Potty training hard. 3 yr old poopies is disgusting and I'm sick of changing them. We started Saturday and have set a timer every 30 min. to take Matthew to the potty. He's really only had accidents while he's playing computer games because he's too lazy to get down and go so he's banished from those for awhile. He even went poop once yesterday and it was huge so I'm glad it was there instead of in his underwear.

Matthew is a very smart kid but just lazy in wanting to stop his activities to go. He'd rather just hide and pee and then continue what he's doing. We were using Star Wars guys as rewards but he's earned them all so now we are moving on to treats. He loves treats so that's working well.

My friend Kris who's son is about 2 1/2 months younger than Matthew is potty trained and we went to lunch on Friday and she was sharing some tips. She mentioned setting a timer, moving the potty into the kitchen, and that she had a frog potty. On Saturday we started with a timer, moved his potty into the kitchen and things were going ok. While at walmart on Saturday I saw the frog potty and wanted to get it but Jordan talked me out of it. When I got home I saw Matthew trying to go potty in this tiny blue potty we had and it was way too small and making seriously ring dents in his bum. Jordan had to go back to Walmart to get some wrapping paper for a wedding present and I had him pick up the froggy potty.

Things are going much better now with the froggy potty. It's super easy for Matthew to sit on and go and he won't spill anywhere. He thinks it's really cute too so it's makes going in even easier. He's so proud of himself when he goes and we give him tons of praise. Seriously cute! So far accident free today but we're only half way through the day. I'm hoping the rest of the week will be easier.

I think this potty training business is the hardest thing I've had to do yet as a parent so far. I know, I know you are all thinking this is nothing compared to when they grow up. I think the hardest thing was convincing Matthew that he wanted to give up the diapers and be a big boy and go in the potty. He seems to be pretty on board now so we'll see.

Isabelle started on cereal today. She hated it and wrinkled her nose at every bite but did swallow a little bit. It's a good start to her eating pureed vege's/fruits.

These milestones are fun to experience with our kids.