Busy Weekend

It's been another busy weekend. Friday afternoon our friend Colin arrived from Portland for the weekend. He hadn't been to Seattle in many years and was looking forward to seeing a bit of the town and spending time with Max. We had a delicious dinner, we ordered in from our favorite Thai restaurant, Tawon. Max had fun showing off for our friend, he loves having people over. Saturday morning Colin and Shawn took Max to a robot expo and the Pacific Science Center while I did some much needed clothes shopping downtown. It poured rain all day, but Max didn't seem to mind. After his nap we went out again, Max played at Firehouse coffee with Colin and Shawn while I checked out the new Trader Joe's in Ballard. A nice big store, but very busy at 3pm on a Saturday. Shawn and Colin took off for downtown to check out the cool library and see "The Merchant of Venice". Max and I had a fun late afternoon visit with neighbors and a quiet dinner at home. I enjoyed a quiet house after Max was asleep and got a great night's sleep as Max slept in, and my pregnant belly didn't rouse me for a bathroom trip at 3AM. Thanks, baby!

Pregnancy update: things are going pretty well. I'm 16 weeks along today. Baby has started to move more, and I love feeling those little flutters. Haven't had too much heartburn, just a mad craving for halibut and chips. It's really all I want to eat, I haven't had any of the watermelon or steak cravings I had with Max. I think we're having a boy, Shawn thinks it's a girl. Time will tell! I'm excited that we are waiting until the birth to find out.

Back to the weekend. This morning Colin took off for the day to visit with a friend downtown, and Shawn and I took Max up to the zoo. It was a bit chilly out, but we had a fun time. Max ran all around, enjoying getting a great look at a peacock putting on a show with all of his feathers out, the toucans, flamingos, and of course, a ride on the merry-go-round with Shawn. He took a good nap and we headed into Ballard to get some shoes for Shawn, he didn't find anything, but we got a great little pair of rain boots for Max who must stomp in every puddle he sees. After shopping Max delighted in watching skateboarders at a local park, and drinking most of a smoothie that he was supposed to share with Shawn. On our way home from the bus some of our neighbors were out working in their garden, we stopped by and stayed for almost an hour, chatting while Max played in the dirt, happy as a clam with a trowel and a little school bus to fill up with soil.

We are very excited that our friend Jasper is back from his week long trip to Oregon, and can't wait to see him in the morning. Tonight Max asked me if he and Jasper could ride bikes together tomorrow.

A visit to FAO Schwarz

Max and I bussed downtown to have coffee with my old boss, Rich this morning. To keep him happy during coffee, I told him we'd stop by a new toy store, and pick out a birthday present for his friend Jasper. He happily stomped in puddles on the way, and was delighted at the newish FAO Schwarz toy store in Macy's downtown. As I picked out Jasper's gift Rich watched Max for me, and they found a little station wagon that hooks on to an airstream trailer. Max played with it all the way home on the bus, and for an hour and a half after we got home. He was so busy playing with it that I had to feed him lunch (he normally prefers to feed himself). He held onto the trailer until he was fast asleep at naptime. Before dozing off he said "New trailer from nice toy store". It put a big smile on my face to see him so happy and concentrating so much on his new toy. We are looking forward to stopping by Jasper's this afternoon to bring him his birthday gift, and this evening we are off to an equinox party at a friends house. I love having so many friends in the neighborhood.

Hanging out in the neighborhood

Spring is slowly arriving

Spring is slowly arriving in Seattle and Max and I have been enjoying meandering around the neighborhood after 5pm, soaking up some sunlight and admiring crocuses. He's been really into riding his bike lately, and he scours the sidewalks looking for good "downhills" (driveways) to careen down. When he's not riding, he hands me his bike to carry and tears off running. I'm getting my exercise keeping up with him. I'm hoping when I'm heavily pregnant this summer he won't go speeding away quite so fast.

I'm feeling pretty good, pregnancy wise. Shawn and I felt the little one move last Tuesday, how neat! So early to feel it at 12 weeks, but I'm hearing that everything happens faster in the second pregnancy. Hard to believe I'll hit 14 weeks on Sunday.

We're looking forward to seeing some of Shawn's family who are visiting from Santa Cruz this weekend, we're hoping to go the zoo with them. Max has been asking to ride the merry-go-round at the zoo with Shawn.

Tuesday I'm going to cook up 3 lbs. of corned beef on Tuesday for St. Patty's Day dinner. Yum. I'm all about food these days. In other food news, our favorite thai restaurant has started free delivery! I can't wait to get my favorite dishes delivered to my door. Mmmmm.

Snowy Sunday Morning

I awoke at 4:30AM with Max to snow this morning. He woke up really early stuffed up with a cold. We were snuggling about a half hour ago on the couch and he fell asleep on me. A very peaceful moment while holding my sweet son and looking out the window at white roof tops with Greg Brown quietly playing in the background. I've got Max tucked under his favorite quilt on the couch and I'm enjoying some quiet and a cup of tea while he and Shawn catch up on some sleep. I love these unexpected, peaceful moments.

And One More Makes Four...

That's right. Max is going to be a big brother! Sometime around September 13. We're all
a bit surprised. Ok, make that totally surprised! We had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and everything looked great. We are going to wait and be surprised about the gender again. I'm happy that I'm going to be working with the doula and one of the midwives that assisted us with Max's birth. I've been feeling pretty good, just tired.

In other not so great news, Shawn's company did a big round of layoffs a few weeks ago. Fortunately, Shawn didn't get laid off, but he did get a 10% pay cut along with the rest of the company. We are hoping his small company does ok during these tough times. Things in Seattle have been rough economically but I am hopeful things will turn up soon.

We are having a good weekend, we spent the afternoon with good friends over in Ballard and I indulged my craving for fish and chips at the Lockspot. Yum.