Never has anyone been so unhappy to get Jordans. But I really just love this picture. Look at her little toothpick legs! And that face! We are seeeeeriously in trouble.
Jayden's Jordans. :)
We went to a winter festival at the Discovery Cube. This was actually just an inner tube slide, no snow involved. Jayden refused to go on the big one, even though this little one went reallly slow. He enjoyed it, which is all that matters.
Jayden and his friend Landon, holding hands while waiting in line to play in the snow. Landon always wants to hold hands and Jayden doesn't always. They're so cute to watch together.
The tree on Christmas Eve. Think we have enough presents?!???
The kiddos, putting out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and the reindeer.
The snacks, along with the Santa note: "Dear Santa, Dear Santa, I'm a great kid. Dakota is a cute baby and a fast eater. If we scare her, she laughs. I'm a great kid because I run so fast that I slip sometimes. Also because I try to be gentle. Love, Jayden Love, Dakota" I told Jayden that he might need to help out Dakota this year, so that's what he came up with. Awesome.
I CANNOT WAIT to put her hair in pigtails. Seriously going to be the cutest ever. I mean she is already, but pigtails will just amplify the cuteness by about 100%.
Santa came!
Enjoying Christmas morning. She even tore a few pieces of wrapping paper. :)
Seriously loving his marble run. And his parents were kind of impressed by it too. We all had fun contributing to the building of the marble run.
Daddy and Jayden enjoyed the remote control BMW i8 as well. Jayden liked to smash it into walls mostly, and Carmen kept trying to protect it. (the present - from Auntie - all stemmed from a comment I made to her about what Jayden wanted for Christmas, which was that he wanted a BMW to take him to and from preschool. She definitely made the right choice in getting the remote control car as opposed to the real thing!)
Playing with an indoor soccer "ball" from Gigi.
Family photo on Christmas Day. (courtesy of the selfie stick I finally broke out and learned how to use - pretty awesome!)
What you do when you arrive two hours early for your flight and it takes you seven minutes to get to your gate. Interpretive dance by the window, watching planes take off and land.
And THEN you get on the plane and you get an entire row to yourself, your four year old falls asleep during takeoff...
...and the six month old falls asleep a few minutes later. I must have done something right for karma to come around and benefit me like this. My kids are so seriously awesome it's not funny. (at least that was my thought at this stage of the trip - I would later deduct a few points for inability to sleep in a new place, but overall they came out winners)
The ferris wheel on the Seattle waterfront.
Sibling love on the ferry boat. This is absolutely a picture I'm going to make them recreate when they are 20 and 24. I can't wait.
Ready to go play soccer in the snow with Grampa! They also caught snowflakes on their tongues. Pretty awesome.
The snowy/slushy view from the kitchen window. Oh how I miss this place.
Hanging at the house while Auntie and Gramma were at the Seahawks game. We were there in spirit, sporting our Seahawks gear.
Even Dakota - although she got the sport wrong. ;)
Monday we went to the children's museum on Bainbridge. They had this cute setup outside. Jayden's face in this picture kills me.
And everything in this picture kills me - her face, her jumpsuit and her house slippers. :) The outfit is from a fabulous little company called June and January, and the house slippers were donated by one of Jayden's friend's moms. The face is courtesy of a well-fed baby.
Tuesday we went into Seattle and did some shopping, had lunch with my friend Stacy (I need that picture, whoever took it and is holding it hostage!) and then rode the ferris wheel!
We were not so excited about the beginning part of the ride. And by "we" I mean Jayden, me and Ellen. The three of us were ready to press the emergency button about five minutes in, while were stopped, loading more people below and swinging back and forth. Turns out it got a lot better once we started the actual ride.
We were able to smile later on, and even Dakota enjoyed it!
The golden city.
Playing a game, and got a little marker on his face! Still so cute.
We went home the next day. The flight home was a little dicier, but at the end of the flight my seat mate turned to me and said "your kids are really amazing travelers - just amazing" and then proceeded to tell me how his wife flew to ASIA when their oldest was eight years old and their youngest was EIGHT WEEKS. So his wife wins the world. But he wins the world for telling me my kids are awesome and reassuring at the end of a looong trip.
Happy New Years Eve! Dakota is saying "I want a glass too!" (thanks Vanessa, for that one) Jayden is saying "just let me watch TV!" (thanks Von, for that one)
We are ALL celebrating with sparkling cider. We watched the Netflix countdown for kids and got the kids to bed just a little bit late. Carmen and I did not make it to the West Coast countdown, but that was completely okay with us.
New Years Day we went to a friend's house for an afternoon party. Jayden found a friend from the year before and they had a great time, and we were home in time for dinner and bed. It was a nice relaxing day.
Dakota has been babbling all over the place. I love it.
Saturday Carmen had to work so I took the kids to a local kids museum called Pretend City. They have a little gated area for infants so I could even sit Dakota down and let her play a little. She loved this mirror with bees on it.
And Jayden drove all over the place in his car, with his friend Landon. Also, Jayden wore his pajamas all day, because he just didn't want to wear clothes. Worked for me.
Cutest story - the museum has a time card kids can fill out and then take to the ATM to withdraw money. Jayden and Landon went on a scavenger hunt (with me as their guide) to fill out their time card. Then they started withdrawing money. They withdrew a LOT. Landon's mom asked him what he was going to do with all the money and Landon said he'd give some to all the people who didn't have as much money as he did so that they could have some too. Sweetest answer ever. Parenting at its best, seriously.
Dakota rocking some early 80s clothes. Seriously. This was an outfit I wore when I was little. I'm guessing I wore it earlier than she did, since I was much bigger than her. She's just so tiny! But still adorable. I love the ruffles on the overall straps.
Back to soccer as usual on Sunday. We're still outside for now. They did some cool new exercises (like this one) and drills and Jayden picked them up so quickly. Carmen and I are thinking we need to enroll him in AYSO in the summer. It means some early weekend mornings for us probably, but will be good for him I think.
Watching Jayden play soccer. Her legs look a mile long in this picture. I adore this outfit too - the Adidas tracksuit and hot pink socks? Nothing better.
Adorable baby in blue. I really think this color is beautiful on her. She looks so angelic here. Don't be fooled. She's been testing us recently, awake for a couple hours every few nights. And with Carmen, she'll sleep right away. With me, she thinks it's Christmas morning when I walk in the room and she giggles and coos and wants to nurse and hang out. At 3 am. I want to SLEEP. So she and I are working through it. I'm mostly scared because Carmen is about to be traveling extensively so it will be just me for a few days at a time, which is potentially very difficult. I foresee quite a bit of Dakota sleeping in my bed from mid-January to early February.
Dakota is getting big enough to be held/cuddled by Jayden, and sometimes she even enjoys it.
Bubble bath fun.
Dakota kept splashing the water to move the bubbles away, and I kept putting the bubbles back. I think they both had a pretty good time.
And now it's 2016, I'm back to work (now doing THREE jobs - since I got what my friend called a promotion punishment) and the kids are back in school. Dakota is waking up about two times a night and Jayden once. Needless to say, Carmen and I are running on empty. Being back in a routine has been helpful the past few days, and I think it will continue to get better. The kids are definitely more tired, which is both good and bad. 2015 was by no means a bad year, but the second half, learning how to survive with two kids, was definitely challenging. Here's hoping that challenge evolves in 2016 and that everyone stays healthy and as happy as can be!
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