The Move

Made it to Seattle! It was a little crazy at times, but we're safely installed in our temporary apartment. The first stage of the move was pretty easy, the moving crew swept in and boxed anything that stood still for too long then loaded it up in an impressively short time. I only had to beg for reposession of one forgotten item (dog medicine), and it turned up in the first reopened box, yay!

We spent our last night before the move in a hotel near the airport; I can highly recommend the Euless La Quinta hotel for all your dog-friendly hotel needs. Then it was up at 3 am to head to the airport! That was the tricky part, luckily my dad was there to help, not only the day before to help with errands and getting to the hotel, but then again at 4 am to get us to the airport. Thank you Dad! Between six checked bags, carryons, two dogs and their crates, and (not at all least) The Sam, we had our hands full.

 The flight was actually the most relaxing part of the day! We got Sam strapped into his carseat (which I'm very glad Jonathan was willing to lug through thr airport) and he just took everything in and read his book until we could turn on the electronics. Then he was absolutely thrilled to have 3.5 hours of uninterrupted iPad time, and I took a nap.

Just a little bit like his daddy :-p

Once we landed, things were not so relaxing. We managed to pile all our stuff and the dogs in a corner of the airport, and I waited with an somewhat bored Sam and two nervous puppies while Jonathan picked up a rental truck. (Interesting note: in Texas, it's cheaper to rent a minivan, but in Seattle, cheaper to rent a crew-cab pickup--yay supply and demand) I can't even imagine how strange we looked, but luckily (I guess) we were noticeable enough for a porter to come over and offer his help with the loading process.

Once we were all loaded, the hard part was over! Sam fell asleep almost immediately, and we took turns walking the dogs and waiting with Sam until check-in time at the apartment.

Crunch Time

Two more days! The movers start tomorrow, and Thursday morning (early morning!) we'll be getting on the plane. It still feels a little unreal, but suspect that won't last much longer--things are about to get very real indeed.

We had an open house this weekend with several interested parties, so fingers are crossed for maybe hearing about an offer! That would be wonderful. You know it's bad when my non-Catholic husband suggests that I get a St. Joseph statue to plant in the yard :-)

Last week we actually had a rainy day, so we took the opportunity for a quick picnic! This may sound counterintuitive unless you've lived through a Texas summer, but it was wonderful--a short walk through the woods and light rain to covered picnic tables. Sam splashed in a few puddles, explored, and enjoyed being allowed outside after 9 am!

Trip to the Park

Well, our move dates have been set; we're officially less than two weeks out from the big date! Gotta spend the next few weeks getting ready and spending as much time as possible with family and friends :-)

I'm playing catch-up with the Sam pics, here's some from a trip to the park a couple of weeks back.

Climbing up the mountain! I was really impressed (and scared!) the first few times he did this, but he's a real pro at it!

Made it to the top! Complete with dramatic lense flare (or bad lighting, one of the two).

He always gets excited about slides, but then gets nervous about the actual letting go and sliding down part.

Going up is much less scary. "This is how it's supposed to work, right?"

"Okay Mom, that was fun but now it's time to go!"

Smoothie Adventures

So, in an episode of truly awful timing, I had my wisdom teeth removed last week, the day before our house was officially listed on the market. o.0 Luckily we survived the weekend (thank you Oma and Grandpa!) and now everything is coasting back to normal, except that I'm supposed to be on a liquid or semi-liquid diet for the next week and a half.

Guess what I made for lunch yesterday? Would you believe a chocolate avocado smoothie?

I have yet to master the art of taking pretty pictures of food, so I stole this one from here

It was an idea I'd seen bouncing around Pinterest and Facebook, and I decided to finally give it a try! Final verdict: much tastier than expected, but not to be mistaken for the non-healthy variety. A great way to get nutrients that aren't easily available in pudding, jello, or cream of chicken soup.

Here's the recipe I used, I've also seen variations that include bananas and/or peanut butter:

1 ripe avocado

3 Tbs cocoa powder

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2-3 Tbs Honey

1 cup milk (more or less, depending on desired consistency)

Next time I think I'll try making it with Nutella!



Undercover Baby

Sam found a neat trick to distract Mommy and Daddy from naptime!

Now you see him . . .

Now you don't! Nope, no babies here. Sam must have escaped, you should go look for him! Just make sure to leave the door open behind you.

Are they gone yet?

Oh hai! 

Weekend Update

So busy! We'll see if I can actually post regularly for a bit :-p

This weekend we had our first house showing, with all of 30 minutes warning >_< that was an adventure! Thankfully, Oma and Grandpa were there to help or else we never could have gotten ready in time.

Last weekend Jonathan and I took our house-hunting trip to Seattle. It was actually more of a neighborhood-hunting trip, since the rental market turns over so quickly, but we got a good feel for where we'd like to look for a place.

We also did some tourism stuff, and Joanthan had fun with an app that makes nifty panoramics :-p Here's one from the top of the Space Needle: (link has a viewer for the pic)

The Amazon offices are slightly right of the middle in this shot, a very nice location!



The weather was amazing, although is did get warm in the middle of the day, all the way up to the mid-80s! (oh no!) The scenery all over was beautiful, trees and water everywhere. Should be fun to explore ^_^



Cuteness Update!

A short post in which Sam displays several newfound skills:





Drinking from a real cup with only minor spillage.





Wearing Mommy's flip-flops





Making faces at the camera! He didn't blink, that's the face he was making.





Grabbing up to 6 bean bags at once (and still making squinty grins at the camera!)