Tulip fields

We might have a lot of gloomy days here in the Northwest, but we also have some spectacular sights to see!  One of which is the tulip festival is LaConner where you can walk through huge fields filled with rows and rows of gorgeous tulips.  This was Jack's first year going (ok he "went" when I was pregnant but I'm not sure that counts) and he had a great time splashing in puddles and smelling the flowers.

Jack made sure we took the time to stop and smell the flowers too

Pointing at the school bus with Gra-Dave

Paul, Jack and Gra

Here's us as a family:

And here's the two of us 4 years ago:

Wow.  A lot changes in 4 years.  Notice the motorcycle gear?  Yea, we drove our car to the tulips this year complete with car seat and diaper bag.  We've both lost weight, gained a fabulous son and ditched the motorcycle gear (at least on the weekends, Paul still rides to work).  Memories are wonderful but I also love the life I'm living today and wouldn't change it for the world.  I'm thankful for the past and look forward to everything the future has in store for us.

Outside

I am positive that if, given the option, Jack would live outside.  From the time he wakes up in the morning till the moment he goes to sleep, the word "outside" is spoken (or whined) at least once every ten minutes.  He loves to run, smell the flowers, climb, slide, splash in puddles, and even pick up the occasional piece of poop (we're working on not doing that).  By far, the hardest part of my day is getting him inside.  But don't get me wrong I'm MUCH rather have trouble getting him inside than getting him to like the outside :)

 

 

Yes, we are getting him a bigger slide soon :)

He loves to climb up and down the stairs on the deck

On the porch of the playhouse at GG's house

One proud momma

Ok, I have to take a second to brag about my ridiculously smart child.  

Jack turned 19 months old this past weekend and is shocking us on a daily basis with how much he knows.  He now knows all his colors (at least the basic ones - we haven't gotten to "periwinkle" or "burnt orange" yet), he can count to 14, recognizes and names numbers 0 - 9, can tell you his right from his left, and knows almost all his letters.  Yes, that's right his letters!  He has a set of alphabet flashcards (My kid has something educational?  Shocking, I know) with capital and lowercase letters.  He loves to sit and go through the box of cards and name all the pictures and letters.  Last night, out of curiosity, I pulled out the flashcards to see how many he really knew and out of 52 cards, he correctly named 42 letters!

Paul, Jack and I were out for a walk the other day and out of nowhere, Jack said, "two five".  Paul and I weren't sure where that came from until we looked up and saw a 25 mph speed limit sign.  I can't explain how much I absolutely LOVE watching Jack grow and learn every day I am so thankful that Paul has blessed me with the opportunity to stay home and raise our incredible child.

Egg hunting

We definitely gave Jack more than his share of Easter egg hunting experiences this year!  We started the weekend before Easter with a church egg hunt that he and his cousin Maddie did together.  He had a GREAT time finding all the eggs that were "hidden" in the field.

Look at all those eggs! He ended up with over 40 eggs and pick up every one of them himself!

Then the following Saturday we went to the Woodland Park Zoo's "Bunny Bounce".  They had an egg hunt for toddlers and I was super excited for this one.  It wasn't all it was cracked up (pardon the pun) to be.  The eggs were just sitting in piles under a group of trees, they were empty (Jack didn't care, but the older kids were pretty upset), AND you had to give the eggs back at the end!  It turned out that walking around the zoo was WAY more fun than the egg hunt.  Jack had a good time and that's all that matters, right?

Paul taught Jack to carry his basket like this

We thought a ride on the carousel might be fun - wrong! Jack did NOT want anything to do with the carousel horse.  He was ok in Paul's arms, but still wasn't sure about the whole thing...

Please Daddy, tell me when it's over...

Me and Jack, Laura and Cameron, Erin and Ryleigh and Dylan

Overall it was a great day at the zoo - the sun was shining, the animals were entertaining and there were some piles of empty eggs to "hunt".  Will we go back to the zoo?  Of course!  Will we go back next year for the egg hunt?  Probably not :)

The third and final Easter egg hunt was on Easter Sunday in our OWN BACKYARD!!  Yes, you read that right, we have a backyard big enough for an egg hunt now, wahoo!!

I got two!

Ya Ya helped Jack open his eggs to retrieve the goldfish and crackers (nope, I still haven't given him chocolate)

 After three egg hunts, you'd think he would be a little tired of the whole thing.  Nope, he woke up Monday morning, saw his basket was still out and wanted to hunt for some more!  Maybe he just wanted the goldfish crackers inside the eggs.   :)

Time for an update!

Alright, we're back!  I know it's been a while but we've been busy.  For the last month I've been playing Real Estate Agent with our rental property but as of this last weekend we signed a lease the the tenants will be moving in next weekend.  You know what I have to say about that?  PRAISE THE LORD!!

Jack turned 18 months old today - a year and a half, really?!?!  He is absolutely amazing, the light of our lives and I'm pretty positive he's a genius.  I know I'm biased but seriously he's so darn smart!  What is he doing?  Well he...

• Counts from 1 to 10
• Identifies written numbers from 1 to 10 (even when they're not in order!)
• Identifies and name colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, gray, brown, black and white
• Says 2 and 3-word phrases, his favorites right now are "big truck", "front door", and "Bye Daddy's truck" 
• Eats. Eats. Eats.  As you can see, he's not lacking nutrition :)  He loves fruit, cheese, bread, peanut butter, corn, hummus, and will at least try most things.

His new favorite word is "okay".  It is so cute when he says it and he uses it in the appropriate situation!

What does he love?  OUTSIDE!!  Ever since we moved into our new house, what I hear all day is, "outside? outside? Jack outside?".  I'm pretty sure this kid could live outside.  He also loves books and trucks, actually anything with wheels - strollers, cars, trucks, tricycles. 

I promise I will try to blog more regularly now that we're getting settled and into more of a routine in our new place. 

I haven't had time to blog because...

...we bought a house!  Finally after 7 looooong months of looking, we found the perfect house for us.  It's in a darling neighborhood in Bothell (not where I thought we'd end up but I'm loving it), it has much more room for us and a YARD!  A real, live, leaves-to-rake, grass-to-mow, room-to-run YARD!  I'm not sure who loves the yard more, Savage or Jack.

Needless to say, the process of buying the house, packing, moving, fixing things in the new house and getting the townhouse ready for renters (oh, and the stress of finding renters) has kept us rather busy.  Oh, and add a curious little toddler to the mix - he's adorable but not so helpful with house projects quite yet.

I'm feeling much more settled, but there are still a million little things swimming around in my head at night (What kind of towel rack should I buy?  What color will we paint that wall?  Can we get a gas line into the kitchen?  I wonder when story time is at the library?).  Paul thinks I need to try yoga...maybe he's right :)

I will try to update again soon with pictures of the house (first I need to take some).  For now I'm off to change more outlets - so far I've done it without electrocuting myself!

Sledding

Sled - $10

Discover Pass - $35

Snow Park fee - $20

Gas - $60

About an hour and a half and 6 runs down the hill - priceless!