Puzzles

We bought this puzzle for Thayne about a month ago, and he's just recently shown more interest in it. He'll take it and practice while I'm making dinner and we can definitely tell! Assembly used to entail waving the pieces across the board until by some miracle they aligned themselves to the right angle and caught in the designated space. Now, Thayne takes each piece and looks to see where the match is and he intentionally adjusts the angles to get the locked in 'click' that lets him know that piece has found its home. 

He's also applying this new skill to his Legos. He'll actually lock them together to build towers and will specifically find pieces to fit in and fill the empty spaces. He's getting so smart!

This is How we Play with Daddy

Note: They had been doing this for at least a half an hour before dinner, and this was moments before they both crashed for they night. And boy, did they crash! 

It's a GIRL!!!

No pictures, but we had our 20 week ultrasound today and we're having a girl! She is healthy, beautiful, and doesn't like to show off her profile. Nothing came up to warrant follow up ultrasounds and we're very relieved about that. Thayne started saying, "guhl, guhl" after we told him there was a baby girl in Mommy's tummy and was really excited to see the ultrasound on the television monitor.

We are excited to venture into the enticing pinks and purples that have been off limits thus far! 

"Coooookies!"

Thayne loves Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, and pitter-patters around the house saying, "Coookie? Coookie?" in reference to just about everything cookie related, but not the actual treat. I'm not a great cookie maker and I feared he would go through his childhood loving the word "cookie" and never knowing the deliciousness the word is intended to describe. So Tyler and I dawned our aprons and set out to right our folly. Let's be honest, mostly Tyler. He's the better cookie maker of the two.

Thayne was happy to have a make-shift apron of his own

I so desperately wanted to record him saying 'cookie', but never quite caught it...

Enjoying the deliciousness

 He now says cookie with even more fervor than before

Fall is Here!

The Seattle area is absolutely stunning in the Fall. Every time I drive anywhere or step outside I want to take a million pictures, but somehow only end up with a couple here and there.

Our street

General Conference

Best weekend ever! It started out with a sleepover Friday night with Taylor, Martha, and Nelli, and just got better and better as Grandma Jana, Grandpa Scott, and GG joined us Saturday afternoon. Tyler has spent at least one session of General Conference with Grandma Ruby since his mission, and we were really sad about the inevitable discontinuation of the tradition with our move to Washington. But alas, it continues! At least for now.  

Saturday Morning

Listening to conference with GG through her hearing aids

Lots of snuggles

The men headed to Priesthood Session. Ty is already eager to take Thayne when he's 12

Modeling his new hat and mittens. I only put them on. He did all the posing himself

Playing Aggravation 

The messages from Conference were wonderful. The message for me was: no matter the cost, the trouble, or inconvenience, following the Savior is ALWAYS worth it. 

It felt so good to be with family and to have the space to take care of everyone. If only every weekend could be that perfect

Thayne Has an Announcement!

18 Weeks! 

We're due March 5th, and can't wait until the 19th to find out if Thayne will have a little baby brother, or a baby sister!

Piano

Our first investment to furnish our new home: a piano! We found it on Craigslist from a sweet older gentleman that even had a lift on the back of his truck and delivered to our house. It's nothing fancy, and certainly needs to be tuned, but it's in good condition and we absolutely love it. 

New Park!

A couple of days after getting into the new house, Thayne started saying, "Wee? Wee? Wee?" Which really means he wants to go the the park. Swinging elicits such joy that he can't help but say, "Wee! Wee!" Our apartment was literally across the street from a great park with baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and of course, an awesome playground. Thayne knew precisely where the park was and would start pulling me towards it whenever we would go out the door. So needless to say, exploring the new park was essential for Thayne to really feel comfortable in our new house.

The park is only a quarter mile away from our house and Thayne loves looking at every rock, plant, and front door along the way. He's getting so big! When we got to the park, I showed him how he could go down the slide by himself and he took off. It was a surprisingly easy trip to the park that resulted in one tired Thayne and one happy Momma.