Gentle Jack

Every night when Jack goes to bed we ask him to give sissy a kiss goodnight. Julia is usually in my arms to this is a quick kiss given my Jack and is very sweet. Tonight Julia was on the gym mat and we asked Jack to go over and give sissy a hug and kiss. Whenever Julia is on the mat or any part of the floor Jack likes to steamroll her, jump on her, tackle her, or anything physical to show his affection which is always followed by me telling Jack to be gentle and whisking Julia away. Tonight I stood at a safe distance to see what he would do. To my surprise Jack went over straddled Julia leaned in gave her a very gentle hug with both arms and kissed her forehead, then gently backed himself up to avoid landing on her. I was so proud it brought me to tears. I guess a two year old does listen, sometimes.

First Laugh

Tonight Julia gave us her first real full laugh. We have gotten a lot of cooing and smiling from her, but no real laughs. Jeff was changing her and decided to give her a raspberry, something that Jack has always loved. When Jeff gave her one she let out this incredible loud giggle. We then both took turns giving her raspberries and she kept laughing and laughing, so hard in fact she choked a little. Guess we were over zealous parents at her new found skill. It is these wonderful ‘firsts’ moments that make a long day worth every minute.

Indoor Activities

We have been stuck at home indoors more than we would like lately due to weather, colds and an attempt to get Julia to nap in her crib. I have had to come up with some new ways to entertain ourselves, especially Jack who seems to have endless energy. Oh how I miss after strolls to the park in the nice weather. Spring cannot come fast enough! Here are some pics that document our adventures inside.

Jack's favorite morning activity is to bake. We have made banana bread, gingerbread, corn bread, cookies and on and on. On this particular morning I went to change Julia and when I came back Jack had lined up all the spices ready to cook.

After baking Jack always asks to sweep. I guess I should be hapy he likes to clean.

Arts and crafts time, snowmen to decorate today

Sissy is awake from her nap. Time to play in her crib.

Bored one afternoon, so Jack found my lipstick and decided Julia needed some.

One day we were lucky enough to have entertainment right in front of our house. Jack could not get enough of the construction.

Miss Julia

Julia is three months old this weekend, I can hardly believe it! When we found out last April that we were having a girl I was honestly in a bit of shock, well actually both Jeff and I were. I just figured we would have boys. After a year and a half of Jack I felt I really knew how to do the boy thing and Jack is all BOY. I have never been very girly so I was a little worried about having a girl. But now that Julia is here I cannot believe how much I LOVE having a GIRL! Julia is already showing us she is such a lady. Her smiles, her coos, everything about her is girl. I am also surprisingly so into the pink, the dresses, the hair clips, I love all of it!
Here are a few fun tidbits about Julia. Julia smiles all the time and is generally content to watch things going on around her (mostly watching her wild older brother run around). Julia talks constantly with her cooing. Julia LOVES to eat anytime anywhere! She has really put on the weight since her 6 lbs at birth and has these incredible rolls and is a pudgy little girl. Julia is very social and prefers to be awake at parties or out to dinner to join in on the fun as opposed to sleep (we discovered this at Thanksgiving when I had expected her to sleep, but she had more fun enjoying her family). Julia is finally sleeping. After 12 weeks of getting up multiple times at night sometimes for hours at a time, she finally learned how to sleep and has given us a few nights this week of sleeping through the night!!

W are having so much fun with her and cannot wait to see how her personality grows and look forward to experiencing more girly things with her. Here are some recent pictures of her, some are thanks to Annie who came and took pics for us, thank you Annie we love them!!

Pictures with Annie

Tummy time!

Christmas fun

Julia loves her hands

Bring on Christmas!

We are so lucky to have had Jeff home a few days this week. We took full advantage and packed the week with family activities. Today we did a day full of Christmas. We started the day with a trip to Trinity Christmas Tree Farm, what a fun time! We told Jack we were going to cut down our tree when we woke up this morning. Jack is really getting into the holidays this year so it is really fun for us. However he is getting some of the holidays a little confused so all morning long he asked (more like threw his body on the floor kicking and screaming) for his special pumpkin carving knife to take with him to cut down the tree. Well at least he is enthusiastic about the holidays!

Here is a picture of us getting ready. Jack wanted to wear Jeff's gigantic boots!

We could not have picked a prettier day for a trip to the tree farm. What a sunny fabulous day! Here are some pictures.

Kids train ride and Jack on the old school fire engine

Jack tree hunting We found our tree!
Jeff and jack getting ready to cut it down



We then stopped in Issaquah for some McDonald's lunch which hit the spot for all of us after a long morning of tree hunting! We headed home for naps, both kids passed out in the car on the ride home, so tired!

After naps we headed downtown for Santa pictures. jack was so excited on the drive there, he was determined to ask Santa for his beloved lawnmower. To our surprise Jack did really well with Santa and was excited to see him. Santa's helpers asked him to ride the horse so Santa could hold Julia with both hands since she is so little. Jack took his role seriously as big brother. Julia also did great and although we did not get a smile her eyes were wide open the while time! We did not get a smiley pic here of either kid, but we did see some good smiles from Jack so hopefully Nordy's got a good one. After Jack nervously asked Santa for his lawnmower.

What an awesome fun day for our family!

A New Chapter

I quit my job this week. I think part of me is still in a little shock that I actually did quit. I was at EY for 10 years, that is a third of my life! Recently, we decided as a family that it was just too much to have both Jeff and I in demanding public accounting jobs. So, I am the lucky one and I get to stay home with Jack and Julia. I am so excited to be able to stay home and raise our kids. It was a constant struggle for me to try and balance career and kids and now I feel a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. However, I did love aspects of my career and will miss many things here are a few:
-intellectual stimulation (even among the most boring accountants!)
- challenging work, sometimes too challenging where I had to fake that I knew what I was doing
- free lunches - I will sooo miss this!!!
- the soup place in our building - best chicken chili and cheesy rolls
- great people - from our administrative staff to new staffers to my peers to the partners
- a few really awesome clients
- my morning latte from Starbucks and the time to enjoy it while slowing starting my day
That being said, I am so lucky and so excited to spend my time at home with Jack and Julia. It will be just as challenging (probably more) and a lot more fun!