More visitors

Chloe has had many visitors in the last 4-6 weeks. We feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family, and Chloe has appreciated all of the well wishes. With Uncle Tim and his girlfriend Dani home for Christmas, Chloe got to meet them on the 23rd. My sorority sister and friend, Courtney Cohen, also dropped by on the 27th with her daughter Avery. I have a feeling there will be lots of playdates with all of the girls from our Kappa group in the future.

Uncle Tim is a natural

Thank you hugs from Dani for the gifts

Baby cake for Chloe - made by Dani's mom (so neat and valuable)

Courtney, Avery (7 months), me, Chloe (5.5 weeks)

Brotherly Love

We feel truly blessed that Mason is such a good big brother to Chloe. Admittedly the first few weeks were off to a rough start. Mason was having difficulty with not having 100 percent attention and was struggling with sleep.We think it was due to baby sister's arrival and wondered how long it would last or if he would show more signs of "rebellion." IIt was not like our sweet little guy to have crying fits, trouble sleeping and long-lasting meltdowns. In the last week, we appear to have turned a corner, though. Mason is always asking about Baby Chloe ("where she is"), telling her "it's okay" when she is crying and even singing her songs. Here are a few precious moments that we've recently captured.

Teaching her how to pose for the camera

Kisses

Telling her all about baths

Prepping her for Christmas

Santa Train

Today we ventured out to the Santa Train. Combine Mason's recent excitement for Santa and his love for trains and he was beyond excited for this activity. Luckily, the weather cooperated as we set out and we enjoyed the activity with no rain and even some bursts of sunshine. It was a good thing we left a little early because we went to the wrong spot first. We quickly piled back in the car and off we flew to the train depot for our Santa Adventure. It was actually perfect as we didn't have to wait to board and just walked right up to the train and on one of the cars.

We heard there was a nice old man that cruised the cars during the ride singing carols. Shortly into our trip to see Santa he came to our car and we all sang Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer.

Thankfully, Chloe slept through everything - including our waits in line, the ride, etc. I was worried she would get hungry just as we were boarding the train. We had also been warned there could be lots of waiting in line once we got to Santa, but were surprised that the line moved pretty quick and that Mason was being very patient. Once it was our turn, he walked right up to Santa, said "hello," told him what he wanted for Christmas and wished him a "Merry Christmas." Then we were off to get cookies and hot chocolate, which we were able to enjoy outside.

The older gentlemen who sang carols on the train

Mason and dad on the train ride to Santa

Mason, Mom and Chloe (hiding in the sling)

Happy Mason and Santa (he's getting way too good at "cheese")

On our way back, the older gentlemen came by again and we sang "Jingle Bells," and Mason found his own seat to take in all of the scenery. It was a great day capped off with lunch in North Bend and sleeping kiddos on the way home. Who could ask for more!

Newborn pics...

When Mason was approaching 6 months, my friend Melissa mentioned that they had a photographer they used for family portraits and loved, so we decided to reach out and schedule a session. For his 6-month photo shoot, we actually wanted to include the grandparents, so knew we needed to work with someone that would not only have patience with snapping photos of our little guy, but also wrangling a larger group. We have now done three sessions with her, and decided to schedule a session to capture newborn pics of Chloe and our family of four - hopefully to also use for our Christmas/New Year's card (if I can get myself organized).

Deena was so patient with us on Sunday as we tried to capture pics of our busy little guy with his sister and pictures of Chloe without her pacifier. We actually hoped Chloe would sleep, but she ended up being tearful at times and awake until the last two minutes when we already wrapped up the pictures.

Deena maintains a blog, posting pictures as a sneak preview to the families and as a neat way to share her portfolio. Here's a glance at the pics from our session: http://www.deenahofstad.com/blog/. I also received a few others from Deena via email.

Santa Visit - A Success

Yesterday, we had a little lull in activity so decided to make a go at taking Santa pictures. Mason hasn't been so sure of Santa in previous visits. Last year he was ok until we tried to place him on his lap, at which point he burst into tears. When we ventured to Cougar Mountain Zoo a few weeks ago, he was quite timid with Santa and chose not to get near him. So, you can imagine our uncertainty that this could or could not go well.

Lines were pretty long at the main Santa in the mall so we decided to hit up Nordstrom. There was still an hour wait there, but we could give our cell phone # and do some shopping and grab dinner while we waited. We also knew we were buying time as Chloe got closer to her feeding time. We have been trying to prep him for the visit, explaining that he's a "very nice man," will give Mason a candy cane and want to hear what Mason wants for Christmas - his favorite response - a train book. We also connected with Santa this week and he got back to Mason with a video message and we also hoped that would help make him more comfortable. http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/8f9227295bffb64241d80edb5eea8afc. For any parents, you should try this web site. It's amazing.

He did start to get a little restless, but we bought time with a toy rocking horse in the Nordstrom kid's department. As soon as we walked into the picture room, Mason marched right up to Santa and told him he wanted a train book and a candy cane. Santa was very friendly and chatted with Mason while we got Chloe settled in his lap.

Enjoying a chat with Santa and introducing him to his dog

Getting closer

Perfecting his cheese

Our family pic

...and Chloe melts down

Grandparent overnight

Andrew had his holiday party on Friday evening and Andrew's parents offered to take Mason that evening for an overnight. Mason always enjoys sleepovers with his grandparents and it's nice every once in a while for us to get a good night sleep. As you can tell, this time was no different. Lots of dancing time, a ferry boat ride, moving watching and more.

Perhaps grooving to tooty ta

Holiday movie watching

Ferry ride games

Baby it's cold outside

After a record-breaking amount of snow last year, we're now experiencing record-low temperatures. Needless to say, it's been difficult to venture out with Chloe with the chilly weather and when we do, she usually has to be bundled up in all sorts of layers. Here is a favorite piece of attire from this week.

Our little flopsy mopsy

Start to the holiday season!

Christmas is one of our favorite holidays and we're getting in the spirit. My parents came over last weekend and helped decorate, as I knew it would be difficult to tackle with a busy two year old and newborn. Mason helped us decorate the tree one night this week and Andrew put up the outside lights last weekend. It feels like the holidays creep up on us every year, but we're trying to simplify things this year to really enjoy this special time with the kids and the one-time opportunity with both of us being home/on leave. Plus, this year has put a lot of things in perspective after my mom's health scare and the arrival of our little one. It's these type of life events that have caused us to pause and enjoy the small and precious moments - whether coloring with our little guy, reading a holiday book, snuggling on the couch or taking in holiday music at Bellevue's Snowflake Lane.

Taking in Snowflake Lane with dad

Can't get enough of the peppermint sucker

Meeting one of the soldiers

Chloe slept through it all

Not sure about Rudolph

We are also trying to start new traditions as Mason gets older and can understand and appreciate them. One thing that my parents did when I was growing up is an Advent calendar - kind of in lieu of a stocking. One year they purchased a wood one that has little doors and spaces to put small items or clues for future gifts. This year they passed along the calendar to us and we're starting this tradition with Mason. Grandma and Grandpa Gable are providing some of the items, and this week gave Mason a neat book of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with their voices narrating. Mason loved it!

Just a few weeks ago, we also decorated a gingerbread house as a fun activity to do with Mason and let him express his artistic side. Here is the final product - our version of a masterpiece. :) It was truly a family effort - especially when it came to the icing.

Celebrity sighting

During our Snowflake Lane outing last night we had a rare celebrity sighting. If any of you are Biggest Loser fans, we saw Susie and Matt from the show. They were contestants about 5 or so seasons ago and Susie was from Seattle. The started dating after the show, got married and now have two kids.

This was the only picture Andrew was able to snap without being too obvious, followed by a picture of them in case you don't recall who they are.

Meeting the Asher twins

We all have those longtime, special friends - friends who we've experienced many life milestones with, had great adventures with, good laughs, memories and more. Katy Asher is one of those friends for me. We've been friends since the 5th grade (I'm not going to count the years as that will date us :) ). We traveled Europe together for 6 weeks after college, were bridesmaids in each other's weddings, shared many memories and occasions in elementary school, junior high and high school - to name a few. Being pregnant was another, recent life-milestone we shared as Katy brought her twin girls into the world on October 6th and I brought our little Chloe into the world on Nov. 17th.

While I had the chance to meet Hannah and Charlotte about 3 weeks earlier, Chloe got to meet them last Friday when Katy came by for a visit. I hope there will be many playdates for the girls in the future and that they might have a friendship as long-lasting as the one Katy and I have had.

All three girls were sound asleep so not a very lively picture (I think Hannah is on the left and Charlotte on the right)

Thanks, Dani!

Tim's girlfriend Dani purchased Chloe this cozy romper, which has been great with the cooler weather we're having.

Thanks, Dani! Chloe loves the gift. Hope to see you soon!

Our little Husky...

Apple Cup is always an interesting weekend in our house. Depending on the outcome, it is bittersweet for someone. Mason has gravitated towards Coug gear so I tease Andrew that I have dibs on Chloe for Husky gear and priming her for Kappa's. My good friend Bridget made Chloe a fun and cozy Husky blanket, which we've broken out the last few days with the cooler temps. It also helped that we had a Husky win at this year's Apple Cup. I see more purple and gold in Chloe's future and guess I have bragging rights for the next year. :)

Trip to Cougar Mountain Zoo

On a few different occasions we've driven past the Cougar Mountain Zoo, which is only about 15 minutes from our house. Why we've never gone, we're not sure, as it was a great suggestion of Grandma Jan and Papa Craig's with the Reindeer Festival kicking off yesterday. The temperature was chilly, but the sunshine was out, there were no crowds and it was a great activity to get our cooped up little Mason out of the house. Chloe slept in my new Peanut Shell carrier the whole time, so you don't really see her in many of the pictures.

    

He loved the deer - especially the reindeer and the tigers. The reindeer really liked Mason and the apples he fed them. Mason also loved all of the different animal statues - identifying each one, chatting with them, climbing on them. We become more and more surprised with how talkative our guy is becoming each day. Too bad he didn't want to talk with Santa during our zoo trip. He's still a bit shy of the man in the red suit.

Santa's practice sleigh

 

Tiger cubs getting bottles

First Bath

Needless to say, Chloe wasn't too keen with the bath to begin with, but came around eventually. Hopefully, she will like baths as much as her brother. It was ironic that her umbilical cord fell off at last week's dr. appt. I was actually glad that it did because I was pretty concerned with the bleeding.

A little more content.

Chloe's first week

We are getting settled in at home and acclimated to two kids. Mason has been a great big brother to Chloe, telling her "it's ok" when she cries or helping get diapers. He also seems to realize that the silence is now gone and every time Chloe cries, he says "it's too loud in here" and covers his ears. It's pretty darn cute, but also makes us sympathize.

We've had various visitors (Kate, Melissa, grandparents, neighbors) and enjoying lots of quiet moments together, as well as our first outing.

On this Thanksgiving, we feel very blessed and thankful to have two wonderful and healthy kids who provide us endless joy, laughter and love. We are also so appreciative of our family, which have provided lots of support in the last 9 months and week.

1st day home

Papa Chuck pays a visit

 I must have forgotten how much newborns sleep

Cracking a smile

Meeting the neighbor girls

Big brother Mason hanging out with sister

Storytime

Kate meets Chloe

Melissa and Chloe (thanks for all of the yummy food)

Perhaps a future Kappa?

Snuggling with Grandma

A favorite pose - Mason did the same thing