Big Boy!

Griffin turned 18 months old today! He went into nursery for the first time. I was totally expecting them to bring me a crying boy after about 15 minutes but he stayed the ENTIRE TIME! Yay Griffin! What a relief!

Here is Griffin holding his picture he "colored".

And some other cute pictures (the mask is all Sterling's doing, don't blame me...)

Here is a little video that I took just for my own personal documentation that I decided to stick on here.

What I big boy I have! I love his cute little face so much. I love how he loves anything Mesha does. He eats grapes like they are going out of style. He loves songs where he gets to clap his hands. He learned how to say "no" today (and now it begins...). Griff still loves to roll and burrow in blankets and pillows. He is a cuddle bug. He says "Ma" for 'more', 'mom', and 'Mesha'. I love this age. I kinda wish he would stay like this forever. But there is still fun to come so I guess I will allow him to keep growing. I love you Griff!

East Coast Firsts

While driving all over the state looking for a place to live we have taken a break or two to experience a few "East Coast" things.

Dunkin Donuts. Seattleites, think Starbucks. There is a DD every half mile around here. We like it because it has free wi-fi so we can look up addresses and such. The kids like it because they sell doughnuts. It's a right of passage really, like going to In-n-Out in Cali.

Atlantic Ocean!! OK so technically it's the Long Island Sound. Close enough right? I was surprised at how warm it was. All 'sounds' are not equal I guess (yes Puget I mean you). This little dip was unplanned and just a break from sitting in the car. We will have to plan a bigger and better trip when we get settled into something permanent. We get lots of good advice from locals.
While I am on this train of thought and for those that care... Here is my "East Coast List". Not sure why I am using quotes so much lately. Sorry if it is annoying. Anyway, back to the list.

1. New York. Just has to be done. I could use a tour guide (Mitch?). This includes but is not limited to the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Ground Zero, and Times Square.

2. Palmyra. I want to go during the pageant even though it will be crowded.

3. Boston. Love it. There is so much history in that town. I don't think I could ever visit too much. I would love to go to a Sox game at Fenway. I want to go to Cape Cod.

4. Light Houses. They are just so cool. They remind me of my Dad and Kara.

5. Atlantic Ocean. Check! But I want to go to a better beach too. Something with cool boardwalks and stuff like that.

6. Carousels. New England has a few of the country's remaining Loof Carousels.

7. D.C. The other Washington. It is a bit of a drive but worth it right? There are things I missed last time I was there on account of me getting stitches in my face... I would LOVE to see the fireworks on the 4th again, don't know if Sterling would be up for that though. Lets see, Capitol Building, White House, Lincoln Memorial. You know, that kind of stuff.

8. Rhode Island. Sterling really liked it when he was there. Block Island sounds like fun. Amica Headquarters. Ha, just kidding. But in reality I bet Sterling will take me there when we go...

9. Autumn. I guess I don't know how I would "do" autumn but I want to and will experience New England in the fall. I'm sure there are lots of fun things to do. Maybe one year we can go up to New Hampshire or Vermont.

That's all I can think of for now. If any of you out there have lived in or visited this area and have a suggestion please comment! I would love to put it on the list!

Hide and Seek (a game for both children and houses)

The kids sure love having Daddy back with us. They have so much fun playing with him. Here is a video of a rousing game of hide and go seek.


In other news the hunt for a house is frustrating. If we had a million dollars or a 6 figure pay check it would be a lot more fun. But instead we can't find what we want (slash need) for what we can afford. It's frustrating. True story: I found a house on the internet that looked like it needed a little work but we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty. So we trek down to see this house and when we got there a piece of paper was taped on the front door that said "Not fit for human habitation". Like I said, frustrating. Talk about a house hunting kick in the gut. So we keep looking. And looking. And looking. I'll let you all know when we actually find something fit for human habitation.

Home Sweet Temporary Home

We made it to Connecticut and are settling into our temporary housing. The kids did great on the plane rides. I am glad that it was broken up with a layover, it gave us time to eat and let the kids play. By the way, the Minneapolis airport is the biggest freaking airport I have ever seen. The first night we stayed in a hotel and then the next day we moved into our temporary housing. I wasn't excited about being in a 2 bedroom apartment for a month or more with two crazy kids. But I am pleasently supprised with our apartment. It is really spacious and done up nice. It is in a great location and has it's own private door to the outside (don't need to use a second key to get into the front door). There are still bad things about it as it is an apartment (no place to play, hearing your neighbors, and the kids have to share a room and don't know how to yet) but as far as apartments go, this place is really nice. Here are some pictures.

Master Bedroom
Another view
The kitchen
The living room
Another view
The kids room

Another view

My cute boy

Here is a long, kinda boring video tour for those of you who want to see it.

In general and so far I like Connecticut. It is very green and is nice and warm. The green is different from Washington. It is mostly deciduous trees that are shorter and give a rounder skyline. Driving around and the many highways and interstates you can't see anything but trees. Fall around here is going to rock. Winter might be a little on the ugly side. We will see. It is pretty flat around here too. There aren't too many places with big hills and pretty much no mountains (from what I have seen that is). The houses around here are so cool. Even the old ugly ones I think are fun because they are styles you don't see on the west coast. Our next adventure is finding one of those houses to live in. It is a daunting task and can be frustrating trying to find one you like that is in a good area and one you can afford. Seems like most of the time those 3 qualifiers are hard to coordinate. But I am excited to make it work and find a little home for my family.

Of Course

Warning: This post is a major temper tantrum...

In the grand scheme of things, when your husband has been gone for 7 weeks, what is one more day? I'll tell you, it's the biggest disappointment possible. Sterling's flight was delayed and he had to reschedule his flights (there was no way he would catch his connection) so he will be coming home TOMORROW! Boo. I hate you Delta.
On the bright side, I already told the kids he was coming home tomorrow because his original flight came in after their bedtime. And also now the kids can come with me to the airport to get him, he will like that. But I still hate you Delta. You can kiss my you-know-what.

Happy Birthday to Ya!

When Mesha sings 'Happy Birthday to You' it sounds like "Happy Birthday to Ya!" Cute girl. My 28th birthday was last Monday. It was a good day. The truth of the matter is birthdays are pretty plain when you grow up. There are still butts to wipe, kids to feed, messes to clean... But there is also cake so that makes it a good day. My parents also took me out to eat, yay! Everyone assumed I would choose Olive Garden but I surprised them all with a little Mexican place. See, 28 years old and I am still keeping everyone on their toes! Just kidding. Thanks for the great day everyone.

THE girl and the birthday girl.

Griffin loves to use utensils. Cute boy.

If you think I am weird it's not my fault. It's genetic. Don't believe me? Take a look at this...

On another note, I get to see my husband in 4 days! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. The stresses of moving make me panic a little still, and there are big decisions with lasting effects to be made (no pressure, no pressure). But I am still excited for the things to come. I have been teaching Mesha how to say "Yankees stink". East coast here we come!

Summer Fun

Yay for warm weather! We broke out the kiddie pool and there were good times to be had by all.


Griffin is so funny.