Simpsons in Seattle

Happy Halloween everyone! It was a fun filled day. For Evie, she had a Halloween costume party and parade at school followed by a pajama party. We opted to skip her swim lesson after school to instead go to our neighbor's house for a pizza party and then trick or treating with some of their kids. Evie was the youngest of the bunch and it took her some time to warm up to everyone. The group that we went with were mostly older (the oldest was 9) so they were running from house to house and at first it was a bit intimidating. After a few houses though, Evie was game trying to keep up and had a great time getting candy. We let her pick 2 to eat when we got home and she chose a pack of Lifesaver Gummies and Skittles. 20 minutes after shoveling the candy in her mouth, she asked for an apple (or beans!). Good girl! Does anyone eat candy corn still? Fairy princess getting ready for trick or treating Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern! Daddy carefully carving the pumpkin 

Most of Evie's drawing are pretty abstract. Usually, she draws a big circle and when she asks me what's that? I have to respond with - you tell me, what did you draw?  Last night was the first time I ever saw her draw anything even resembling a person. Milestone! Here's her drawing a Vivian (or Vivienne? not sure), complete with appendages, pink dress, brown hair, and a smile:

Evie: What's that? Me: A baby chair Evie: But it's not! I can fit into it! Yep, that's my dinky kid alright! :)

I didn't bring the connector to Orcas to take the photos off my camera, so here's the rest of the post about our Orcas Island weekend: We arrived late Thursday afternoon to a cottage we rented right across from Crescent Beach, only a block or so outside of Eastsound, which is the main town on the island. The location was great and the cottage was darling - it's a remodeled oyster shack but you couldn't tell because it was done up really well.  Our cottage The cottage backs up against a reserve so it was very pretty and private. Living room view I love this dining room, with it's "antique" table and oyster shell chandelier. Crescent beach at low tide They found a cave! The weather was really windy and it rained on us quite a bit so we were limited to what we could do. We were able to do a little hiking, walked over to the new Island Hoppin' brewery, and had a fun picnic in the yard. We also did lots of snuggling in

I'm not sure how families with multiple kids handle bedtime. Every night it's a struggle with putting our munchkins to bed. Nora doesn't have a great schedule figured out yet so I'm hoping this will get better in a few weeks. More often than not, there's lots of playing/tickling, whines of "one more book!", followed by one (or more) parent falling asleep right after Evie is put down. Yeah, you read that right - we count it as a good night when we're in bed by 9pm! 

Little girl is getting better at tummy time! 

We broke out the bumbo for Nora and I think she likes it!  Doesn't she look super chubby here?

After Nora's doctor's appointment, we headed off to Orcas Island for a long weekend. Orcas Island is one of Grammie and Grandpa's favorite vacation spots and we're lucky it's only a few hours away. We did a similar trip with Evie when she was about 3 months old and we wanted to do it again this year while the weather was still decent.  To get to Orcas, you have to drive about 2 hours to the ferry landing in Anacortes. Then you take an hour long ferry ride to the island, and then it's probably another half an hour to get to the main part of the island where we are renting a house. It's a long trip, but pretty doable with kids since it's broken up by a ferry ride where you can get out of the car and stretch your legs. Both girls did great!  What shots? All smiles after tylenol and 2 hours of driving. Waiting for the ferry in Anacortes This is a new boardwalk at the ferry landing. 

Nora had her two month check up on Thursday morning and I should have taken bets on how big this little girl has gotten. She weighed in at a whoppin' 10 pounds, 8 ounces. We had a new nurse (Travis) who asked to re-weigh her because he was surprised at how much she had gained, haha. 10 pounds may not seem like much, but it's the ~25th percentile and compared to Evie at the 3rd percentile, Nora is substantially bigger! She's also just under 22 inches, also in the 20-something percentile.  She got 3 immunization shots and was a mess for several hours after - she was crying her head off and was only consoled (read: went to sleep) when we drove in the car. Poor baby! She calmed down after some baby tylenol, sleep and many hours. Mama and Daddy are also much calmer now, haha. Waiting patiently at the doctor's office, pre shots.  

Our favorite Yee Yee came for a quick visit to meet baby Nora. It was a low-key, drizzly weekend that was perfect for snuggles. Nora was on her best behavior and loved being with her auntie as much as Evie does. We're already counting down the days of when we'll be able to visit the whole family in November! Happy to be with Yee Yee!

October means pumpkin time! The weather was holding on (just barely) so we took advantage and went back to Fox Hollow Farm to get a pumpkin. The place was PACKED this time - there were lines for just about everything! Evie still had a good time though, as is obvious from the pictures below. Plus, as an added bonus, Yee Yee was visiting this weekend and made it extra fun! The best part of the day was picking out her pumpkin!  Inside the hay maze.  She wanted to ride with Yee Yee.

For fun, here's Evie's 2 month birthday shot compared to Nora's. Nora at 2 months Evie at 2 months

Happy 2 month birthday, Nora! At 2 months, Nora is sweet as can be - she's started social smiling, does adorable cooing noises, has been known to say "hi", and still eats like a champ. She hasn't taken to a pacifier yet, which is probably good in the long run but there are times during the witching hour when I wish she'd take one! She loves being held and rocked to sleep. Her 2 month appt is in a few days so we'll get the official stats then, but I think she's probably weighing in over 10 pounds. She sure is a cutie pie! 2 month baby With big sister

This town is crazy for the Seahawks and Evie has picked up "Go Seahawks!" from the teachers and other kids at school. Scott and I don't really pay attention to football so I find it amusing that SHE informed us yesterday that the Seahawks were playing and could we watch them on TV? We let her watch for about 15 minutes, and at least this time, she remembered to cheer for the blue-and-white team (last time she wanted the red guys to win). It's kinda hard to explain the rules of football to a 3 year old, and from the look on her face, I don't think we did a very good job!

The big event each year that the city of Issaquah puts on is the annual Salmon Festival, celebrating the salmon returning to the rivers to spawn. Downtown Issaquah is closed down to cars and they set up tons of art booths, entertainment, kids play stuff, a salmon bake and have docents walking around talking about salmon. We went last year with Evie and she'll tell you she had a great time but truthfully, all she remembers is that she got a balloon and that we had to park in a big parking structure and wait forever to take the shuttle to the festival. This year, we decided to forego the shuttle (too hard with a baby) and parked close by instead. We got Evie a balloon again, and she was also able to do a lot more of the kid activities too - like getting her face painted! She calls it a face tattoo and was so excited about having it on her face. She would stop and ask "is my tattoo still on?" every 5 minutes. I think we'll definitely have to do this again next year!

Daddy and Evie went boat camping for the first time on Saturday! They met up with Vivienne and her dad Jeff and the four of them went on a daddy-daughter sleepover. Sounds like they had a ton of fun - Scott said there was lots hooting and hollering when the boat was going fast, and lots of giggling before the girls settled down to sleep. Maybe this will be a yearly tradition? Cute girls! Waving at all the other folks on the water. Lots of smiles the next morning!

The Bellevue Fire Department had an open house this past weekend and since one of them is so close by, we walked over there to take a look. The station was a little bare bones - it's really one very big garage with a few small rooms to the side. I wonder where the firemen sleep? Surprisingly, Evie was a little shy and wasn't too excited about climbing into the big fire trucks. I think Daddy had more fun than Evie! Trying to convince Evie to come drive the truck with me! Daddy "rescueing" Evie! Not sure what this vehicle is for, but it sure was super clean.

Nora is more and more awake these days and while I was trying to do a photo shoot, look who photo bombed!

Poh Poh and Goong Goong were awesome enough to stay with us for about 6 weeks and just left over the weekend. Evie loved having them around - there was always someone to do puzzles or read a book with. Plus, Poh Poh makes yummy fried rice and has some good games on her iPad! We loved having them here too. We joke that Poh Poh is the Baby Whisperer because she is a pro at putting baby Nora to sleep. We all already miss them! Hurry back and visit us soon!