day in the life: may 2013

i remember a while back i posted a couple times about a typical day in the life with mr. jack. now that baby #2's arrival is less than a month away (!!), i've been thinking more about our daily routine and how it's going to change -- pretty sure jack and i are in for a rude awakening. ;) so, to document our little lives at this moment -- and to revisit my glory days of blogging, when i had time to write about this kind of stuff on a regular basis -- here is what a typical day looks like for us right now.

we wake up around 7 a.m. with jack yelling to me that he needs to pee. (i haven't set an alarm to get up earlier than him since i got pregnant; sleep is valuable.) this wake-up thing has definitely improved since we potty trained in february; there's been trial and error in figuring out how to deal with peeing at night until a few weeks ago when i had the epiphany to cut off liquids an hour before bedtime. he doesn't wake up during the night anymore (which was reallllly cramping my style) and doesn't even wear a pull-up to bed, just holds it all night long. such a champ.

jack LOVES cereal so we march straight to the kitchen. most nights he tells me what he's planning to eat for breakfast the next morning. he eats and we read the wall street journal together. then we play together in the play room and say a family prayer with b before he goes to work. i usually eat my own bowl of cereal on the floor while directing some combination of race cars / trains / space rangers / circus animals.

while i shower and get ready, jack either reads books in my rocking chair, plays on the ipad (favorite apps include mickey mouse road rally and endless alphabet) or plays with toys. or comes into the bathroom and bugs me. ;) then i get him ready -- he is SUPER opinionated about his clothing so i usually let him pick out his outfit. when I'M the one to choose, like on sundays for church, i'm usually rewarded with a 20 min. tantrum. he's starting to learn how to undress himself (can't really dress himself yet) and brush his own teeth. so cute.

then we have our outing for the day. sometimes a play date, sometimes running errands, sometimes going somewhere fun and out of the ordinary like into seattle to visit a museum or other cool spot. when it's sunny, our play dates typically involve the park. living here gives you this crazy-intense sense of urgency when the sun comes out -- we MUST go out and enjoy the sun NOW!!! occasionally we stay home in the mornings and do chores or craft projects, but on those days we both get a little antsy by the afternoon. we also visit b at work once a week or so for lunch; it's so convenient to have his office only 10 minutes away, and there's always some fun new xbox toy for jack to check out.

usually after that it's home for lunch and a little more play time, then i force jack into his room for quiet time. ;) i began instituting this when he gave up naps last year and most days he doesn't mind it, but i've noticed our quiet time duration is getting shorter and shorter. who knows how much longer i can pull this off. he plays with toys or reads books or bangs on his door (haha) while i attempt to get some work done in my office.

things slowed down a lotttt for me professionally when i first got pregnant because i was so sick and tired, and they've since picked up a little bit -- but i've been having a lot of promptings lately that i just need to give up the work stuff, at least for a short while. i love it so much that i get super frustrated and stressed when i can't give work the attention i know it needs -- which messes me up and takes me away from my main job of being a mommy. plus, i'd love to spend the next month nesting and doing baby-prep stuff -- how dreamy would it be to spend quiet time on crafts or reading, instead of rushing to my computer?

so anyway. i work for as long as jack will let me (usually an hour or two) and then i get him out. we have a snack and then head to the park! we have the greatest little park right on our street and it is so convenient; we literally go there almost every day. jack hops on his little motorcycle and i walk over. we're typically the only people there unless we invite friends -- although with the warmer weather we've had more company than normal and it bugs me. ;)

we come home from the park and jack gets to watch a show or two (he begs for dumbo every day but i only let him watch it once in a while; most days it's mickey mouse clubhouse or chuggington) while i make dinner. some days i feed him on his own if b is working late; otherwise we all eat together. then we play a little bit more and around 7 p.m. it's bedtime! stories, potty, brush teeth, prayer, sing songs. he knows every single word to i am a child of god, families can be together forever and i'm trying to be like jesus and will usually sing along and it's the cutest thing on this PLANET. then i leave the door open per request and he goes right to sleep in his new big boy bed.

nights have gotten pretty lame around here and usually find me on the couch, reading or watching tv with b until i go to bed. late stages of pregnancy are tiring. ;) i occasionally make it to the gym or out for book club or a girls' night, but those are exceptions to the norm. i actually feel pretty good despite the whole 8 months of gestation thing, just tired and achy by the end of the day.

and there you have it. can't wait to add another little boy into the mix and see how things change...hopefully for the better. :)

seattle photo shoot

i met a new friend here in seattle with a developing photography business, and she offered to take some pictures of jack for her blog. um, yes please. (incidentally, if you're looking for cool stuff to do in seattle, her blog is where it's at. she teaches me new stuff about my city on a weekly basis.)

so this week we met up at the sculpture garden in seattle -- on may day, which was both a ridiculous day for seattle hipsters and a gloriously sunny day -- and she snapped a few pictures of my tempermental toddler. it was hard to motivate him to stay happy. and THEN i got a parking ticket on our way out! lame. oh well, at least we've got a few winning shots.

and -- if you're a seattleite in need of an affordable photographer -- i highly recommend lisette.

famous payzants

i like to read the credits in movies. not sure why, but it's something i've always done. my lifelong infatuation with the entertainment industry has led me to be endlessly curious about all the different jobs that go into making a movie, and i have quite a useless knowledge of directors, screenwriters, producers, musicians, etc. floating around in my head. b has always teased me about this random talent, but once in a while it pays off.

jack is realllllly into dumbo (which is a pretty weird kids' movie, if you think about it -- so much serious subject matter for a cute baby elephant!) and we watch it once in a while. one day i was just reading the credits, per usual, and i noticed a payzant! amazing. my maiden name is definitely NOT a common one, so any time i see it pop up i'm instantly intrigued. 

i forgot about it until my mom came to visit, and i mentioned it to her. while we were in hawaii, she did some sleuthing -- and it turns out this charles payzant was an art director for walt disney studios in the 1940s. he even has an IMDB page! he worked on movies like dumbo and fantasia and lived in southern california until he died in 1980. we're not quite sure how we're related to him just yet, but my dad remembers visiting his home in orange county as a kid. as someone who LOVES everything disney, this was an awesome little discovery to make. i have new respect for that dumbo movie, that's for sure. :)

snow day

the first day of spring was march 20. on march 21, we woke up to this:

an amazing winter wonderland! i was up early working when it started, and by the time jack woke up we had a nice blanket of white. he walked out of his room and said, "oh, snow! is it christmas?"

after breakfast we put warm clothes over our pj's and went outside to check it out! b was out of town (in the past month he's been to austin TX, copenhagen denmark & boston MA for work...not counting out hawaii trip! the man hardly ever sleeps in his own bed) so we took lots of pictures for him.

jack hates (HATES!) to wear a coat, no matter how cold it is -- it's a weird seattle thing, lots of kids around here run hot and hate to wear warm clothing...i see kids at the bus stop in shorts all winter long -- so if he won't wear one and i think he needs one, he has to carry it around. ;)

jack even got to help build his first snowman:

good thing we made it outside when we did, because all the snow melted away by lunchtime. then we had a beautiful, warm weekend! crazy stuff. seattle usually gets one good snowfall a year, but this was the first sign of snow this whole season. glad we got one little glimpse once spring hit...but i'm okay waiting until next year to see anything else.

easter 2013

our easter was pretty low key this year. i taught jack about the resurrection and the easter bunny in the week leading up to easter sunday -- he received both pieces of information with equal enthusiasm and talked about "white jesus" (watch the video, you'll understand where he got that from) and the easter bunny every day.

saturday we went to an easter egg hunt at a friend's house...jack was less than thrilled. what can i say, he was in a mood. we've done easter egg hunts in our living room every day since, but a hunt in muddy grass with a zillion big kids running around just wasn't his scene i guess.

(please note the short sleeves! this weekend was a dream, with pure sunshine and temps in the 60s. days like that make it totally worth it to live in seattle!)

easter sunday, both of my boys slept in and we barely made it to church on time -- causing me MUCH stress and anxiety. luckily we made it in time to sing christ the lord is risen today (my favorite!) and enjoyed some really beautiful messages about christ and the atonement. i love easter sunday! such a cheerful, hopeful day. 

but oh yeah, jack was still being an awesome two year old, and haaaated his cute easter outfit. he tore off his new turquoise tie before we even got to church, and the second we got home he was running inside to change into his utah jersey. i never got a family picture of all of us dressed up and that sucks. but, we had lunch, and i spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for easter dinner while the boys dyed easter eggs. 

we had friends over for dinner and i cooked my very first ham! it was delicious (and much easier than expected), which is good because we have enough leftovers to last us for weeks. i also made homemade rolls from scratch, and a butter almond cake for dessert. then i fell asleep at 9:30 p.m. because i was so worn out. ;)

oh yeah, we kind of skipped the "easter bucket" (jack's words) too, since he had JUST gotten some new toys as a potty training reward a few days before and because i'm not too keen on feeding him tons of candy. we just pulled out his easter basket from the hunt the day before without even adding anything to it. and i'm totally okay with that.

all in all, a wonderful (and SUNNY!) easter weekend. hooray for spring!

babymoon

b & i just got back from hawaii! we've been home for a week so i guess i should blog about our babymoon before the memories fade too far away. although just looking at these pictures is making me a little depressed. ;)

the longer i live in seattle, the more i become a firm believer that in order to survive winter you need to take a trip to somewhere sunny around february or march. (last year we went to arizona.) this year, since i'm pregnant and about to be trapped within arm's distance of a little person for the next year+, i told b i wanted to take a serious vacation -- no kids. we'd never left jack this long before and i figured now's as good a time as any to take a little trip. i cried at the airport but got over missing the little guy as soon as we landed in maui.

we had SUCH a relaxing trip -- it was a perfect break from reality. we stayed at the honua kai in kanaapali and had an amazing view from our room on the 8th floor. every morning we'd get up and have breakfast on our patio, looking out at this:

after breakfast every day we took a long walk on the beach, then grabbed our stuff and headed back to the beach / pool to lay out. i read three magazines & TWO books (neither book was particularly great, but just the fact that i had time & attention to devote to two full novels was pretty amazing) and b read unbroken cover to cover, quite a feat. we'd take a lunch break to head back to our room for fresh pineapple and sandwiches, then go right back out to swim and play. i felt completely spoiled having so much time to do whatever i wanted to do without a little person pulling at me or demanding more milk or telling me to stop talking. (all things that happen regularly around here.)

me & the bump at the beach:

at night we'd get cleaned up and head out for dinner. there was a duke's right on our property which was quiiiite convenient (here's the time we fell in love with hula pie...we were such babies) but we also tried a few hot local spots like ono tacos & star noodle. we went into lahaina a few nights for more commercial-type food (sometimes you really just need a cheeseburger in paradise) and snow cones -- and souvenir shopping of course.

we ate our tacos at a little park right on the beach...and took some maternity photos, naturally. ha.

no baby bump on b, but i think he's pretty cute anyway.

it is prime whale-watching season in maui right now as all the mama whales come down there to have babies and then swim up past the islands to cooler water. i had never seen a whale anywhere besides sea world before so i was pretty excited. we saw them every day, right from our patio or while standing on the beach! you'd see a little puff of air and then BOOM, a flipper or even a full head popping above water. we went out on a catamaran to try to get a closer look -- none swam right up to our boat like i was hoping ;) but we still had a pretty good view. i loved the sailing company we used, trilogy -- the guides were so friendly and they had a marine biologist aboard to answer all of our questions. plus they gave us free pineapple juice & chips and salsa so... you know. (all whale pictures taken by my awesome photographer husband.)

i got epically sunburned on our first day there. awesome. such a rookie seattleite move -- i know better than that! i was in a bad mood for like 24 hours afterward because i was so mad at myself...and then i suffered through intense pain the rest of the week. it's currently peeling nicely and turning into a kinda-tan, so i'll just bide my time until i'm diagnosed with skin cancer. you can see my sweet tan lines here:

another day we rented snorkel gear and went out to black rock (pictured below). we saw a ton of cool fish and the HUGEST sea turtle ever. he was just chilling by the rocks, swimming up to all the people. so amazing.

my friend laura from utah was randomly vacationing in maui that same week with her family! thank you instagram for bringing people together. we met up at whaler's village our last night to say hello, because you can't be THAT close to a long lost friend and not see each other.

we met a few interesting characters during our trip, of course, and i'd say at least 75% of the people we talked to were from seattle! hilarious. guess it's really just the time of year to get out of dodge around here.

i was sad to leave when we had to come home, but it really was the perfect break. after b's stressful few months at work and my time dealing with potty training, tantrums and growing another human i think we both realllllly needed this. we're so lucky to have been able to take such a great trip!

oh, and what was jack doing during all of this, you ask? my amazing mom agreed to come up and stay with him all week. she planned tons of craft projects and outings and took amazing care of him -- she didn't even mind dealing with his accidents and his attitude. :) she is the BEST grammie ever.

aloha, maui. thanks for such an amazing week.

around the sound

wellll guess i should keep up with my new once-a-month blog post rule :) in january, jack and i met up with some friends to visit the discovery park lighthouse. this spot had been on my must-see seattle list for a while, but we just never made it out that way until my friend offered to show me the secret kid-friendly parking spots. :) it was a freezing, foggy day but i LOVED our visit. i can't wait to go back when the weather is nicer.

while we were playing around on the beach, jack pointed and yelled "birds!" we turned around to follow his gaze, and spotted two huge bald eagles sitting up on a tower. they were probably less than 50 yards away from us. it was amazing! i've never been so close to bald eagles before. we just watched each other for a while and then one of them flew away. so cool.

another day, equally as cloudy as the eagle/lighthouse day (welcome to winter in seattle, folks), we met some friends at the delicious & quaint bakery nouveau in west seattle. that place has french delicacies as far as the eye can see and it is off the hook. after lunch, my friend sara and i took our kiddos over to alki beach for a quick visit. we were literally only there 20 minutes, but it was just long enough to toss some rocks into the sound, watch ferries crossing elliot bay, and get a quick recharge. plus jack and his little friend ashlyn were being totally cute.

whenever i start to feel grumpy about seattle's cloudy atmosphere, all i need to do is get near the water -- which is easy to do, seeing as how we live right between two giant lakes and there's a sound on the edge of the city -- and i feel a zillion times better. it is so gorgeous here, even when it's gray.