While my family was here for Christmas, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for a little afternoon sightseeing. Needless to say, it rained the entire time and the fog was so thick there was absolutely no view from the boat, but it did give the fam a realistic Seattle experience. Addie had a blast riding the “fairy boat” and even asked if we were in Tinkerbell’s stomach when we went into the passenger area to warm up. If only we all saw the world as such a magical place!

In other news, I had the opportunity to write a guest post for my sister-in-law’s blog. Nina is a talented writer and a tad more intentional in her blogging than I am, so it was fun for me to have a little assignment to work on. Enjoy!

A week before Valentine’s Day, we received a fabulous gift from my friend Jane. She assembled a box full of everything we could possibly need to make cards. Prior to receiving this gift, I had big visions for fun and festive crafts, but find it’s difficult to round up kid-friendly items without a big craft store nearby. Time is precious, and I need all my crafty things under one roof. I’m guessing true Seattleites use old scraps of fabric and cardboard from the compost bin to make cards for their loved ones, but I digress… Thank you, Jane, for making this so fun and easy!

We joined our friends Ann Marie and Max for a little V-day brunch. Don’t believe the look of disgust on Carter’s face. She talks non-stop about Max when he’s not around, but plays hard to get the minute he enters the room.

I hope your sweetheart behaved better than Max’s!

Happy Valentine’s Day…

As if tantrums, potty training, picky eating and sleep issues weren’t enough, parents of preschoolers are now faced with an additional issue – training wheels or balance bike? For those of you not up-to-date with the current preschool biking industry, there is a new kid on the block. The Balance Bike. As you can see from the above photo, a balance bike is a bike without pedals. Sound a little silly? It is AMAZING. Addie zips around on this thing like she is training for the X Games. She has graduated from being a stroller passenger to riding her bike on the sidewalk, up and down curbs, and gliding down hills. It has been so fun to see her learn something at her own pace and gain confidence so quickly. Thank you to whoever decided to take the pedals off of miniature bikes and sell them for an unreasonable price. You are a genius!

Our Christmas cards went out in January. I have no particular excuse. Several were returned and they will most likely sit on my desk until Christmas 2012!

(Thank you, Charles, for the a fun photo shoot with grumpy children).

Now, onto the celebrating…

We bought a beautiful,  eight foot tall, over-priced tree. Day three I forget to water it. Day four I made Daniel saw a few inches off the bottom.  Thankfully, I invested in a tree stand that a fellow Fred Meyer shopper said “saved her marriage.” She was right, things might have been pretty tense in our home without that stand.

My family came all the way from Virginia to spend Christmas with us. Tara came with a bag of gifts from Virginia Beach that was so big, we thought Buela herself was inside.

Since I can credit my mother with my undying love of doughnuts, we headed straight to Top Pot their first morning in Seattle.

The first glimpse of the presents under the tree is always the best moment of Christmas morning!

Poor Carter had a terrible cold, but it certainly didn’t stop her from quickly learning how to open presents.

Fabulousness…

Carterbell.

Why do we even try to take staged photos?

The Dominicci clan joined us for dinner and we had our First Annual West Coast Christmas Celebration! Merry Christmas!

I FINALLY sat down to post Christmas pictures and this is what happens three minutes into it:

Addie’s reply to my gasp? “Don’t worry mommy, it’s just us. We are having fun!”

We’ve been snowed in for three days and are all going a little crazy.

We are trying to take advantage of all the fun holiday activities in a big city, but just can’t seem to get our act together. I try to remind myself that some things just aren’t compatible with a toddler and preschooler, and, before I know it, we will all be iceskating together in coordinating sweaters and knitted hats (in my dreams…). On the other hand, some things are just better with an enthusiastic three year old. Who else would get this excited every. single. time. they see the Space Needle? Addie sees this thing out the car window on a very regular basis and still requests to see it every time I ask her if there is something special she’d like to do.

If you haven’t seen Boz: A Wowiebozowee Christmas, then you are certainly missing out. We’ve seen it. A lot. In fact, one day the hot chocolate scene really got to Addie and she really needed some to accompany her movie watching. My lame-o version of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles didn’t cut it. We needed marshmallows so Addie could be just like Boz. So we bundled up and sang about marshmallows all the way to the market. Thankfully, our trip was a success and I even convinced Addie that Ovaltine is the real hot chocolate mix.

This past weekend, Daniel and Addie went on a special date. Addie was super-excited when she found out they were going to ride the bus downtown. The actual destination did not matter. Daddy and the bus were the only things she needed for a perfect afternoon.

Despite the excitement of the bus, the Christmas carousel ended up being a pretty fabulous destination.

Tomorrow, Addie’s dance class will put on their own little version of The Nutcracker and I think I am more excited about it than Addie. She is just happy spinning to Barbra Streisand’s version of Jingle Bells for hours. The song stays on repeat in our house. If you’ve heard it before, than you are appropriately cringing right now. Even Carter requests “bee bells” and any version besides Babs’ just won’t do. My college roommate, Elizabeth, gets much joy out of my girls’ obsession because I banned this song (her favorite) all three years we lived together.

And, as I sit in Starbucks finishing this post, a child just started singing Jingle Bells. What an appropriate way to end…

We’ve officially lived in Seattle for six months now. While there are plenty of days I feel like such a stranger to this place, it’s nice to look at how far we’ve come, how many new things we’ve done and how many great people we’ve met since moving here in June.

The biggest hit this fall has been Addie’s dance class. She loves every single second of galloping, jumping, spinning and gliding. This girl was born to be on the move and Miss Lynn’s Creative Dance Class is her favorite 45 minutes of the week.

Carter does not like to be sidelined and it’s a very strenuous 45 minutes for me to keep her entertained and off the dance floor while continuing to offer approving smiles to Addie’s watchful eye.

And how have I not posted pictures of our trip to Hilton Head? I’d forgotten what humidity feels like and it was wonderful to be reminded. Despite a rocky trip on the way there and the loss of our iPad just before the six hour flight on the way back, we had a great time with family, friends and the sun.

Addie’s first trip to the dentist went extremely well and she somehow left with an entire bag of toys from the treasure chest. (She looks just like my did in this picture).

Addie is full of questions and I find myself answering anything from “Do pistachios have noses?” to “Can we put Carter in a basket and throw her in the ocean so a princess will find her?” (inspired by baby Moses). The questions are both hilarious and exhausting. Especially since Carter is talking at lightning speed and adding her own commentary now. For example, she now disagrees with music choices in the car and offers alternatives “How ’bout, PUPPY SONG!” No, no, no. How ’bout BUS SONG!” The little tid bit even has her fair share of time-outs and offers a “sorry” afterward. She is not even 18 months old!

Thanksgiving pics and Christmas fun to come…

I’m referring to Seattle. The city where the sun doesn’t shine 8 months out of the year. This recent iPhone picture is proof that the sun is shining everywhere but here:

As I’ve quickly learned, there is absolutely no use waiting around for the rain to let up. So, in an attempt to maintain sanity, we headed to the zoo this morning.

There was quite a bit of singing leading up to the debut of Mary and her Little Lamb on Halloween night. The girls had two very different takes on the classic, but both played their roles well.

Addie:

Mary had a yittle yam

Yittle yam, yittle yam!

Mary had a yittle yam whose quiche was white as snoooowwww

Carter:

Mumble mumble AM!

Mumble AM!

Mumble mumble AM! mumble mumble nooooooooo

Addie invited some traditional tea party guests to her very nontraditional tea party. Check out the Toca Tea Party app. We love it.