Milk + Water = Baby?

Ryder asked me tonight to drink a lot of milk and water so I could make another baby. I asked him if that's how he thought babies were made and he said, "yes, is that correct?". I realized I had taken the conversation down a path I wasn't quite ready to go yet and changed the subject.

He then said he wants Sister to turn into a Brother.

Christmas Wonderland at the Cabin

It has definitely been a white Christmas this year. We went to my parents' cabin in Oregon where we had our fair share of snow. While we were there, we got at least two feet of snow -- on top of the already four or five feet.

Christmas morning started off bright and early - around 6:30 am. Ryder was so excited to see what Santa had brought him. Naturally, the one present Ryder was most excited about was his $6 spinning Spiderman toothbrush. According to him,"That was exactly what I wanted. Santa knew!"

Payton had a great Christmas as well. Santa hit up the Hanna Anderson outlet store in Woodinville, WA (thanks to Susie & Tucker for taking me on my one and only outing during our Seattle visit) and scored some adorable outfits for our sweet girl. She was quite content sitting in Daddy's lap grabbing and biting anything and everything she could get her hands on.

When we tried leaving on Saturday morning, we got down to a small town called Elgin and didn't make it any further. As we were driving, the wind gusts were picking up quite fast and created a complete white out. Since we had zero visibility, we drove right into a snow bank that had drifted its way onto the two-lane highway. The car was nearly completely covered in snow, except for the driver's side. With the help of a small pick-up truck, we were able to break my rear bumper and pull out the emergency brake line. (It's in the shop today.) Since that didn't work, a fellow Elgin resident was kind enough to hop on his tractor and pull our car out of the snow bank. As we turned around to drive back up to my parents' cabin to wait it out, we saw that three more cars behind us had also ran into the snow bank. It was pretty intense. I felt claustrophobic with the snow all around the car.

While Ryder, Payton and I stayed warm and dry inside the car, poor Jeremy was out in the blowing snow trying to get us out.

We did have a great time at the cabin though and here are some pics from our very white Christmas.

Payton and Grandma Jan, getting ready for Santa Claus.

For some reason, it was quite easy for Ryder to go to bed on Christmas Eve ... he knew Santa was coming and he would wake up to a room full of presents!

Jeremy enjoying a nice cup of hot cocoa on Christmas morning. Payton, looking adorable, of course. You look adorable too, Jeremy.

Miss Payton was so excited about her new books from our neighbors, Scott & Maggie.

Payton & Grandpa Chris, relaxing after an exhausting morning of opening presents.

A Christmas bath.

Come on Grandpa, let's go for a snowmobile ride.

Ryder watching Grandpa on the tractor snow blower.

Ryder even got to help Grandpa blow snow.

Jeremy and Ryder digging our cars out of the snow! So much snow. Unbelievable.

Snowed-in In Seattle

We traveled to Seattle the weekend of December 19 to visit friends and the Bordner family since we were spending Christmas with my family this year at their cabin. Wow, what a weekend we picked -- we were literally snowed-in all weekend.

Because of the snow I wasn't able to see my friends, as I was nervous I would get stuck in downtown Seattle and wouldn't be able to get back to feed Payton. Good decision; the snow kept coming and the cabs didn't.

So, while Jeremy spent Saturday and most of Sunday in downtown Seattle with some buddies(he visited the new Seahawks training facility and went to the game – thanks Tom!), Ryder, Payton and I spent some quality time with the family, and we had a great time. I enjoyed catching up with Katka and Julie, and had a nice talk with Tucker about my job and the challenges of being a working mom.

Jeremy's brothers, David and Peter, and brother-in-law, Jeret, joined Jeremy for the Seahawks game. David got some pics and video from the game; pretty amazing how close they were to the players. It was a great game for the boys to attend - Holmgren's last home game as a Seahawks coach, a chance to see the great Brett Favre play, the Seahawks won! (after a pretty dismal season) and it was snowing nearly the entire game. Thanks to our good friend, Coach Tom Headlee, for hooking the boys up to go to the game!

Ryder also got to see his girlfriend, Kaitlyn (actually Peter's girlfriend), while in Seattle. Ryder was talking with Jeremy about seeing Kaitlyn. Here's a quick snapshot of that conversation:

Ryder: Is Kaitlyn going to be there?

Jeremy: Yes, she'll be there.

Ryder: I love Kaitlyn.

Jeremy: Yes, I love Kaitlyn, too.

Ryder: Is she going to be wearing a dress?

Jeremy: I don't know, we'll have to see.

Ryder: I think she will. I think she'll also have some pretty stuff in her hair.

Here are some pics from our visit.

Ryder's Christmas Dance Recital

Ryder had his Christmas dance recital the other day at school. Yes, he's in dance. Don't laugh. He's going to be a well-rounded boy.

Anyway, he's got some moves. Hope you enjoy the video. It's quite entertaining to watch.

Payton and Her Toes

Payton loves to suck on her toes. I forget how flexible little babies are - maybe she'll be a ballerina? Or a gymnast?

Happy Birthday Jeremy

Jeremy turned 32 yesterday (December 2). Happy Birthday, big boy. We had a little family celebration last night after work and school, enjoying some steak, asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. We topped the night off with a scavenger hunt around the house for Jeremy to find his present. Jeremy also decided to take full advantage of his birthday and rent a scary movie. Normally I put the kibosh on those movies. Needless to say, it wasn't the best night sleep for me (and it wasn't because I had to get up with Payton).

We also celebrated Jeremy's birthday this past weekend with some friends. I arranged for a stretch limo to pick us and some friends up before dinner. It felt like prom all over again.

Here are some pics from our limo ride, dinner and the night out.

Thanksgiving Tradition

For the past three years we have given thanks with our good friends the Hamildummies (AKA Hamiltons). We have enjoyed the tradition and look forward to continuing it. Also, I must give a shout out to Molly's mom, Karen, she makes quite a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie ... I could go on and on.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening. Thanks Molly for having us over!

It was also a big day for Miss Payton this Thanksgiving - she rolled over from back to tummy for the first time (actually four times!). I was able to catch a video of the big moment.