A chill in the air

The city of Seattle has come to a stand-still... the temperature has dropped below freezing (*gasp*) and with the precipitation we enjoy all winter, it's icy. On the down side, it's frustrating living in a place where the precious few salt trucks and plows are apparently all busy at Bill Gates's house, because I haven't seen any. On the plus side, I've been missing my family as Christmas approaches, and this weather is very typical of Midwestern winters. There's no place like home for the holidays.

Fortunately, the weather has not kept us home. Here's what we've been up to recently...

Last weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, we went to the mall so I could get my hair cut and DH could exchange a raincoat at Macy's. No one got shot while we were there, so I'm counting it as a success. Then we went to the annual Christmas party that one of DH's coworkers throws. Last year I was six months pregnant, and it was fun for us to reminisce about the general anticipation we felt twelve months ago versus the specific reality of now. Bean behaved himself beautifully despite being up past his bedtime, and there were no dogs allowed this year, so I didn't have to restrain myself from body-slamming the terrier that always tries to hump Evey. Again, a success.

On Sunday we had some pictures taken as part of a fundraiser for our co-op preschool. Each family needs to raise $90 for the school year, so I figured I would get something out of it instead of ending up writing the $90 check myself in the spring. (Another challenge of living far from family. It's much harder to guilt them into spending $25 on a box of chocolates when Bean isn't cooing in front of their faces.) The photography session was okay, I came away with a CD of 83 pictures, mostly of a silly Bean making full use of his expressive eyebrows. There was at least one good shot of the three of us, though, and I appreciate that because those are hard to come by.




On Monday we met Jen and her friend at the mall for Santa pictures. Their little ones are both about seven months younger than Bean. It hasn't been that long, but it's hard for me to remember him being that small! (I guess this means the therapy is working.) It was a fun outing, and I finished my Christmas shopping with the last person on my list: Bean. I ended up spending too much money on the gift, but I just thought it was super cute! I feel I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy... I can even come up with an argument about how this is ultimately an investment because it will help stabilize home values in our area. If you'd like to hear that entire explanation, let me know and I am happy to break it down for you.


This morning we had our first one-on-one baby playdate with a family from preschool. Okay, technically one-on-two, because the other mom has twins. She made grilled cheese (my favorite!) for the two of us while our little ones played on the floor, and since we've been home, Bean has been sleeping all afternoon. I think we are going to have to do this frequently.

Last but not least, I hope Sam doesn't mind me borrowing this from her blog, but she posted it today and it gave me quite a laugh during breakfast. So perhaps I don't have the most refined sense of humor, but maybe it will make you smile, too. (If you have trouble getting sound, the volume slider is in the corner of the black video box.)

More funny videos like the "May He Poop?" at Heavy.com