Zee-bahhhs Revisited

Grace, Samuel and I braved the zoo today with the help of my aunt and saw many new animals not found at our local zoo. Two of which are giraffes and zebras. Yes, Grace still calls giraffes "zee-bahhhs" but seeing them in person provided another teaching opportunity. We even got to stand on a platform and feed the long necked creatures.

First Haircut

After being made fun of repeatedly by her uncles in Arizona for her "mullet" we decided to take Grace for a haircut. She cried at first until she got a strawberry lollipop and it was smooth sailing from there. The mullet isn't entirely gone. Her hair still has some growing out to do but at least it's a clean mullet!

Family Photos Revealed

For Christmas my siblings gave me a present that is likely one of my all time favorites: a professional photo session and digital prints for the new baby and our family. We had the pleasure of Alicen Lum in Federal Way (http://www.alicenlum.com/) take them in her studio and she did a spectacular job of not only taking beautiful photos of our family but also soothing Samuel in between takes and showing humor and patience while he peed and pooped numerous times on multiple props and her. Official baby announcements have been ordered and will be mailed out within the next month.  Below are a few of our favorites but check out our Picasa page to view the complete collection. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Serene Samuel

Grace admiring her baby brother

As uncooperative she was during the shoot we did get a small handful of good photos of this cutie

Samuel with his father's baby blanket

Latest Templin Family Photo

Link the our Picasa picture page

Driving Cutie

Grace discovered the car attached to the front of the grocery shopping cart and is a HUGE fan. The horn was an added bonus.

Grandparents Rock

Since Samuel was born my parents and Scott's mom have come to visit and have helped out tremendously as we adjust to our new life and routine with two children under the age of 2! I know we don't tell them enough, but we have the best parents anyone could have and feel so blessed that they are such a part of our lives. As our family has grown it has become harder for us to live so far from them, but are so lucky that we all travel often to see each other. We hardly go longer than two months without seeing some family member.

The following pictures are from these recent visits and highlight all the help our parents were in occupying our nearly 20 month old daughter while we tended to Samuel or caught up on sleep! Whether it was helping Grandma cook in the kitchen, visits to the zoo with Grandpa, or checking out the new children's museum with Grandmuhie, Grace has had a great time and has only slightly noticed the change in the attention she gets from her parents now that her little brother has joined us.

 

Images From a Lazy Sunday

Just wanted to share a couple images from today. First is one of Grace in the tub...and yes, with her clothes on. Scott and I learned today we can no longer fill the tub and not keep an eye on her since she now has jumped in on her own. I was doing something and asked her to go into her room to take her clothes off and the next thing I knew she was standing in the tub with her clothes still on. It was pretty funny.

The second photo is of Samuel catching some z's on Dad. He likes to be held these days, and who wouldn't if you had a soft warm spot like Dad's chest, right!?

The Great Thaw

A day after getting 8 inches of snow, the ice storm arrived.  None of the weather guessers predicted the temperatures would stay so cold, and that the forecasted rain would actually be FREEZING rain, covering all of Puget Sound in about a 1/2 inch of ice. In the places where the snow had not been cleared, the ice created a protective shell over the snow.  In the places where the snow had been removed, like the places I spent so much time shoveling  (driveway & sidewalk) the ice made beautiful ice rink style conditions.  Oh boy.  Also, overnight, the car had been outfitted with a revolutionary anti-theft device called "Coating of ICE!" only defeated through the use of at least a half hour of chipping and scraping.

By day 3, even though I had made many ventures into the neighborhood, cabin fever was starting to set in. We needed to get out!  Luckly, overnight, the temperatures had risen and new rain had melted most of the ice on the roads.  If you could get to a main arterial, they had all been plowed and were clear.  Sarah and I ventured out.  First we drove to my Mom's house to rescue her, then we had a delicious breakfast at the Southern Kitchen.  Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy!  Sanity restored.  We spent some time roving the city seeing the sights covered in snow and observing all the trees that had fallen under the weight of the ice.

Now things are returning to normal.  Schools will be open on Monday and most of the tree damage will be cleared as well.

A frozen waterfall coming over the gutters.  

Sarah got some great photos with the Macro setting.

Poor Lavender - covered in Ice.

Looks like we won't be going anywhere soon... the car is encased in 1/2 inch of ice.  

Grace enjoyed a warm Apple Cider drink after her sledding adventure...mmm.