Andrew's 2nd Birthday Party

This year for Andrew's birthday we had his party early since we will be on vacation during his actual birthday. And I decided to have a much smaller guest list than last year. We did a backyard beach party, and thankfully the weather cooperated, thanks to God for answering our prayers! The kids had fun playing in the little pool and sandbox. My mom made two really cute cakes, one was a fish, and the other was an aquarium. The kids loved that they were covered in candy!



And I made some little sorbet fishies. Our friends John and Tricia were wonderful, and provided the yummy sorbet for us.
Andrew was so cute when he opened the presents. He wanted to play with each one as he opened it, and who can blame him he got some fun things!
For the last few months I have been working on a playhouse for Andrew, and I was able to get it done in time for his birthday. Micah was a big help and did all the final seams for me since I was a little daunted by that task. So far Andrew has enjoyed playing with it. He especially likes to put the flowers in the mailbox.

This Boy LOVES Tractors

Anytime Andrew sees a tractor he gets really excited. He calls them "gokey tracktey" or something like that. I think he is trying to say vroom vroom tractor, but I'm not sure.

23 Weeks

I finally got around to taking a picture of my tummy. I don't know why, but I keep forgetting to take pictures. I am still pretty small, and not showing a whole lot. I am actually enjoying not being too big right now. I know that in a month or two it will be harder to sleep and get around, so I am not sad that I'm not showing that much.

Seattle International Film Festival

A few weeks back Micah got an email at work saying that they would be giving away some tickets to the Seattle International Film Festival. All you had to do was tell them which movies you were interested in seeing, and they would do a drawing to see who would win the tickets. Our first choice was A Little Help starring Jenna Fischer from The Office. And we ended up getting tickets to it! We didn't expect much, but when we got to the theater we saw that the cast was there. It ended up being the world premiere of the movie, so they were there to promote it. Before the movie started the director, Rob Schiller (who also directed King of Queens and Family Ties), introduced the movie.
At the end of the movie the director and cast got up to answer some questions. It was interesting to hear how an independent movie is made differently than a big studio movie.

Fun in the Sun

Last week it felt like summer, and so we tried to take advantage of the good weather. One of the days we went to Seahurst Park in Burien with some friends to spend some time in the sunshine. Andrew had lots of fun playing in the sand and playing with his friends (or at least he had fun playing with their toys). He still doesn't really play "with" other kids. Hopefully that will happen soon. He does enjoy being around other kids his age, he just doesn't interact with them a whole lot. But we had a great morning at the beach chatting with friends and soaking up some sun.

Andrew posing by Jack.
The three boys: Owen, Jack and Andrew.

Pt. Defiance Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo with Nana. My mom and I went in together to get an annual pass. It ends up being a fabulous deal because each time we go we can get 3 people in for FREE. I hope to make many trips to the zoo over the summer.
It was so much fun watching Andrew and his reactions. We would tell him what animal we were seeing, and he would repeat the name, and then tell every other kid that came up what it was. It was adorable.

We even fed the goats. Andrew was a little nervous around them since they kept trying to climb the fence to get the food.
To end our time at the zoo I took Andrew on the carousel. It was a fun day, and it was beautiful outside, so it was nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine.

Reading

We always read to Andrew before we put him down for a nap, or at bedtime. The other night we told him it was time to get ready for bed. He headed right to his room, picked out a book, and climbed into the rocking chair where we read to him. It was so cute, and great to see that he likes our routine of reading stories for bed.

Andrew's Birthday Present

For the last month I have been working on a big project for Andrew's birthday present. I am making him a felt playhouse that will slip over our folding card table. I got the idea from my favorite craft blog: www.homemadebyjill.blogspot.com I saw her playhouse, and just knew Andrew would love one of his own. I still have lots of work to do, but I have a little less than two months, so hopefully it all comes together. Right now my sewing machine is broken, so I have been cutting all the pieces. Hopefully Micah will be able to get it back up and running soon.

This will be the front. I still need to make the front door and put in a window.
Andrew likes to help Daddy wash the car, so on this side he will practice washing his own car. I still want to make a hose that he can "spray" the car with.
This is the garden. Andrew will be able to pick his own lettuce and carrots. I still want to add one more veggie, I haven't decided if it should be corn or pumpkins.
Andrew loves tractors, so I decided to add a tractor to his playhouse. On this side he can pick the apples off the tree. I will add a cart behind the tractor with a basket to put the picked apples.
Here are all four sides. Nothing is sewn on yet. I just put everything down to see how it looks.

First Cooking Lesson

Yesterday I decided to let Andrew help me make cookies. I usually bake when he is napping, but yesterday I need something for us to do together, so I decided to give it a go. And I was surprised at how well he did. I measured out the dry ingredients, and let him dump them in. Then I let him stir them together. He loved it! And he didn't get too messy. The best part was sampling the finished product, Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies (they have peanut butter and oats). Yummy!

We're Having a Boy!

We are now 19 weeks into my pregnancy. It is amazing how fast it is going by! Yesterday we went in for our ultrasound, and found out that we are having a baby boy. So Andrew is going to have a little brother to run around and play with soon. I was hoping for a girl, but I'm excited about a boy too. It means we will not need much at all once the baby comes. I do plan on getting more cloth diapers since Andrew will probably be needing the diapers too. But other than that there's not much else we will need to get which will be nice. And I am excited that Andrew will have a playmate!
Our ultrasound went really well. We had an u/s tech who has been doing it for over 25 years, so she was quick. And she told us everything she was doing, and pointed out what we were looking at. She was wonderful! And she said our baby is very photogenic and cooperative, so that helped too. :)
Now we need to come up with a name. I had a girl name picked out, but we didn't have a boys name (even though I was almost positive we were having another boy). I'm just having a hard time finding one I like. There are a few criteria I like to follow. I like names that have options. For example, Andrew can be Andy, Drew or Andrew. So if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. :)

Easter Basket

I love carrying on traditions from my childhood with Andrew. Like Easter baskets. It was so cute to see his face when he spotted his little basket. He even turned to pose for me, a first! :) He never stays still for the camera. Micah and I also talked about how we can teach our kids the real meaning of the holidays, not just the Easter bunny and Santa stuff. We want Andrew, and any future kids, to know why we celebrate, and it's all about Jesus, not about us getting stuff. So if anyone has any ideas, we would love to hear them.

Easter Egg Hunting

This was Andrew's first year to try out Easter egg hunting. We were surprised at how quickly he caught on. All we had to do was show him one egg and how to put it in his bucket, and he was off. The whole time he was saying, "egg, egg, bucky, bucky." We had one egg hunt on Saturday at my aunt's house, and then another one on Sunday at my mom's house.
Both days there were other little ones looking for eggs with him. It was interesting to see how he handled other kids getting to eggs before him. He was pretty okay with it. And it was neat to see my cousin's little two year old girl give Andrew an egg if they were both going after it. What a little sweetie!

Tulip Fields 2010

On Friday we drove up to the tulip fields in Skagit County. It was a rainy, windy day, but we still had fun. And we got to the fields before most of the rain and wind. The highlight of the trip for Andrew was seeing tractors. He LOVES tractors, so every time we drove by one he would shout out, "tracty, tracty." So of course we had to stop and let him see some close up. One farmer even let Andrew get in his tractor and pretend to drive it.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

A couple of weeks ago Micah and I went down to Ashland, OR for the Shakespeare Festival. This was our Christmas present to each other. We found a hotel that was offering a package deal of a one night stay, 2 tickets to any play and $30 off a dinner in their restaurant. So we flew down early on a Thursday morning, arrived around lunch time, and had a great lunch at a brew house. Then we explored the cute little town of Ashland. There were lots of cute shops to browse through. Later we headed back to the hotel to check in and took a nap. Then we headed off to dinner and our play. Dinner was wonderful! And we ended it with one of the best desserts I have ever had. It was a warm, melting chocolate cake with salted caramel ice cream on the side. Oh so yummy! I want to go back just for that dessert. After dinner it was time for our play. We saw Pride and Prejudice, and it was fantastic. They did a wonderful job. And our seats were amazing!

West Fenwick Park

A few weeks ago it was a sunny morning, and Micah was home, so we decided to take Andrew to the park up the street from our house. Andrew had lots of fun running around, going down slides, and climbing on the toys. I was hoping he would wear himself out and take a good nap, but no such luck. Oh well. It was still a fun morning.

Driving Around Fred Meyer

I just had to take a picture of Andrew in the car cart at Fred Meyer (our local grocery store). He absolutely loves cars, and loves to ride around the store in this cart. He even steers the wheel. He is just so darn cute!

A Few Announcements...

Sorry we haven't been blogging much lately. Things around our house have been pretty busy the last couple of months. For one thing, we bought a minivan. We are very excited about it. We have been saving for years, and were just waiting until we found the right van. I had been checking Craigslist for a couple of months, and ended up finding a great deal on a 2006 Honda Odyssey. And we ended up buying it! Andrew LOVES the van. The first few weeks we had it, he kept asking to go down to the car. So we would go down and get in the van. He likes pretending he is driving, and of course he has to push all the buttons.
Another thing we have added to our lives is that Kim became a Stampin Up demonstrator. (A Stampin Up demonstrator is someone who sells Stampin Up stamps, scrapbook supplies, etc. and does parties where she demonstrate the products.) Her friend who was a demonstrator was stepping down, and asked Kim if she wanted to take her place. So far it has been a positive addition to our lives, but it does take up more of Kim's time (thus less time to blog). And it has been a way for us to add more income, which has been nice. God continues to provide for all of our needs! Below is one of the cards Kim made with her Stampin Up supplies:

And the card goes along with our last announcement. We are expecting another baby! The baby is due around September 21st. So we are about 12 weeks along. We are very excited! It will be fun to see Andrew as a big brother, and meet our new little one.

Bath Time is Fun Time

Uncle Justin got Andrew a fun boat and bubble bath for Christmas. Andrew loves to take baths, and now every time he sees the bathtub he says, "boat?". The boat is the kind that you pull a string in the back and it goes forward. We love playing with it too.