Morning Snack

It only took almost a month after Sarah went back to work, but I'm finally getting comfortable taking care of 2 kids by myself. Sure, there are moments when I wish I had help, but for the most part, I got this. Toast with jelly and some Netfix helps quite a lot too...

Cinderelli...

Grace is just waiting for a pumpkin carriage to take her to the ball.

Updated Pic

Because I don't share enough images of this little ray of sunshine!

Pedialyte...A Girls's Best Friend

The stomach flu has stricken our poor girl. I received a call Monday morning at work that Grace had thrown up not once but three times at daycare. She's still stricken from it and it's now day number 5. At first she showed no signs of illness except for the occasional, no-warning episodes of vomiting. But now that a mild fever has set in, she clearly doesn't feel good. The poor girl just wants to lay around and watch her "shows." As much as I try to limit her TV viewing to a bare minimum, I'm not gonna fight that battle right now.

Now that we are on our fifth load of laundry, Grace's time downstairs is limited since Mommy really doesn't want to have to clean vomit out of the couch or carpet. My solution, a makeshift bed in the living room on her changing pad, complete with an iPad viewing station. Scott has had some mild symptoms and threw up once the other day, and as I write this, my stomach is starting to churn a little. Sure hope this is as bad as it gets. We are all washing our hands diligently and hoping Samuel stays healthy.

A precious moment

Here's another shot from my girlfriends camera of Grace and her father. Such a beautiful glimpse of the two of them.

Pure Joy

I had to share this beautiful photo of Grace taken by my friend Beth this past weekend. She was playing airplane with her father which she clearly loves.

Egg Hunt

This year was Grace's first Easter egg "hunt." Last year this time, Grace was not yet walking, much less able to navigate a field of hostile parents body checking other parents and children so as to facilitate their own child having the best opportunity at collecting many Easter eggs.  Sarah and I took both children and met several other families we know down at Wright Park, the main park in Down Town Tacoma.  There we commingled with several thousand other people, all waiting their turn to rush the field and take the spoils. The event was actually quite well organized, and the civility of the parents restored my faith in humanity once again.  Egg hunts were broken into sections designated by age group, and each time slot only allowed a limited number of participants.  Grace was in the 18 month to 3 years category; not the youngest child in her heat, but also certainly not the oldest.  She ended up collecting about 7 eggs - and I think is primed and ready for next year.

Preparing for the whistle with two other families we attended the event with.

And it's ON!!!!

Parent's couldn't collect eggs, but could "abundantly assist."

Once it was over, Grace kept throwing the eggs, 

that is, until we showed her there was CANDY INSIDE!

Afterwards, we headed to the playground for some fun.

Here, Sara & Meagan both feed their infants Sam & Peter (in the picture, but not pictured)

"More chocolate, please?"

Child Services is Visiting Tomorrow

...because apparently I failed to realize a neighbor was peaking over the fence when i was at my wits end with Grace this weekend.  They would have been here yesterday, but the lady on the phone said since I wasn't wearing a wife beater, my belly wasn't protruding from the bottom of my shirt, and there were no spare tires visible laying in the grass in front of a double wide trailer, I was given an extra day to prepare my defense.  

In all seriousness, Grace loves to be chased and lifted upside down.  After each flip, she says, "Again?!" I can prove it.  See, if you flip the photo upside down, she's screaming with joy - not terror.  That's what I plan to tell child services anyway.

Thanks to Kate for capturing a great Easter moment.

Just Because...

I know, fourth post in one day. I'm a little backlogged in photos I keep meaning to share and am finally getting around to it. Here's another photo of my adorable little man. No special event other than being cute as can be.

Holy Week

As we prepare to celebrate the rising of Jesus this Easter weekend I can't help but think about the beauty of the spring season and, of course, chocolate. Who would have thought Jesus and chocolate bunnies would share the spotlight on this holiday? I've been blessed this week with fresh tulips, which closely rival dahlias as my favorite flower, and look oh so good in my home! I also got to dress my refrigerator for the first time with my daughters artwork, well, more her daycare providers artwork since Grace would have needed quite a bit of help to make the piece pictured below. I love it anyway. We were also blessed with sugar in the form of chocolate molten cakes when we had company this week. Grace got to do some licking of the cooking apparatus. That girl loves her some chocolate. Stay tuned for picks from an egg hunt we will partake in this weekend at Wright Park.

Forward Facing

We finally got around to turning Grace's car seat around and she LOVES it. She's constantly pointing out things she sees ahead or pretends she sees things. All the way home from daycare the other day she kept saying, "daddy... I see him!" even though we weren't even close to home. Scott and I also turn around frequently to give her a high five from the front seat, which all three of us enjoy quite a lot.

The Second Kid...

...gets no love.

We all know that's not true, but, seeing as how this is our second time through with the raising an infant, it can sometimes feel that way. You may have noticed a lack of photos of Sam since his birth. It's not that we ignore him, although, sometimes it does feel like we do; we simply aren't those nervous, nail-biting nellies we were with Grace. His relaxed temperament certainly helps. Unfortunately for him, in the long run, it means we don't have the camera out all the time waiting for new things to happen.

At three months old, Sam is getting daily tummy time. His smile is dangerously infectious.

Surprise: Happiness

Just when I thought it was going to be a spectacularly ordinary day, FedEx knocked on the door with our new iPad and then we went and had free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. Now it's only 3pm and I'm wondering what other fun things I'll get into with Sarah and Sam before the day is over.