everett children's museum.

We had fun plans for St. Patricks Day. We were going to walk down the street to watch the annual St. Patricks Day parade in Bellingham. But, then it rained. So, change of plans. We ended up driving south to Everett for a day at the Children's Museum. If you've never been and have young kids you have to go! It is amazing! I wish we lived closer so we could go more often.

We ended up spending over 3 hours there with Carter running the entire time from exhibit to exhibit. We ate lunch and even went to the rooftop for a few minutes to play outside during a break in the rain.

Lucy did a lot of this during the day:
There is a great stage for kids to dress up and put on a show. Carter wasn't too interested in the dress up clothes but loved directing the play from the command center. Maybe he has a future in lighting design?
Lots of time to build, stack and then knock it over. Again and again!Riding the cow (or horse, or donkey?) Not really sure what animal it was, but he liked it.
Driving the tractor.
So the picture is super blurry but I love his facial expression. They have this fantastic water room that we let him play in at the very end. Luckily they also provide full size aprons to keep some of the water off kids' clothes. He would have spent another hour in this room alone. Actually, he was begging us not to leave at the end of the day.
And, before we were even on the freeway he was asleep. Yes, with his hand in his snack bag.
Such a fun day! Can't wait to go back soon!

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silly kids.

I've been feeling a little bad for Carter lately since I've taken so many pictures of Lucy and not as many of him. But, when I ask him to smile for the camera, this is the look I get:So, instead I just take more pictures of Lucy (well, that and she sits still making it easier to take a decent picture!).
So, I tried again. And, yep...again...a silly face.
But, then he got interested in Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy wasn't as interested in Carter.
Then, a super cute moment!
Love these two!

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splish splash.

What do you do in Washington when it's the middle of winter and too cold or wet to play outside? Go swimming! We took the whole family to the pool a few weekends ago. Carter hadn't been swimming since last May when we were in Hawaii so he was a little scared at first. But, after a few minutes of splashing he loved it! He clung to that silly little basketball the entire time. Luckily there were a few other balls floating around for other kids because any time someone went to the hoop to "rebound" his ball, he flipped out.



Lucy slept the entire time on the side of the pool with me. Maybe next time we'll take her in!

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babies babies everywhere!

So many of my friends have had babies recently or are about to add another little one to their family. In the same week that Lucy was born I had 3 friends deliver and since then another 3 close friends!

This past weekend we went down to Matt's family's cabin (the newly remodeled one!) to just relax. While we were there we were lucky enough to meet little Bobbi Weir. Bobbi was born just 5 weeks after Lucy. The Weir's have been close family friends with the Vance's for years. Both families have 2 boys, the same age (of course, now all grown up). Stevi and I married into both families and now get to let our little girls grow up together.

We had a little photo shoot with both girls. They were pretty cute!
Holding hands.
Whispering secrets to one another.
Adorable!

Excited to see how these girls change as they grow!

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Carter's day of fun.

Yesterday was a super fun day. Of course most days are, but this was extra fun. Maybe its because Carter was in a great mood. Lately we've been struggling quite a bit with tantrums, lack of listening and a not-so-mutual new found love of hitting/kicking/pulling hair/biting that makes some moments of the day become quite frustrating, to say the least. But, yesterday wasn't any of that. I love those days.

We started with a great breakfast. Lucy just loves her bumbo seat, especially when she gets to join us at the table.
Then it was time to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies! Lucy decided she was going to supervise.
Carter loves to bake! Well, I think he loves to sample, but hey, I'll take it. It's always fun to have a baking partner...even if it takes 3 times longer and makes a huge mess!!

After nap time, we headed down to the Skagit Children's Museum. We got a membership for Christmas and try to go pretty regularly. Yesterday was great though, because there were only about 5 other kids there. It was so nice to have the extra room available for Carter to run and play without waiting to take turns or share (another lesson we are working on!). These pictures are pretty blurry because I used my phone, but you get the idea.

He played at the doll house.
Went shopping at the farmer's market.
Explored the music room (and in the process, woke up Lucy with his excitement on the drums).
Went for a climb.
Dug in the sand (and brought home about 6 cups worth in his pants....that was fun to clean up).
And colored. He has a new obsession with hats and proudly wore this pilot hat most of the time. Now I'm just praying he doesn't develop head lice from wearing a hat that has most likely never been washed but worn about 425 times by germy little children. Ugh...gross.
And finally, got really, really, really wet. Like he tried to jump in 3 times before I said we were all done and it was time to go.
We came home, had a snack and did some yoga.

Yep, it was a pretty great day.

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getting bigger every day.

Time really needs to slow down. Tomorrow our little Lucy will be 2 months old. 2 months! How is that possible? Lucy is eating about every 3 hours during the day, every 4 hours at night. She is starting to have 1 long stretch of sleep at night, for about 5-6 hours (unfortunately, it's from 7:30pm to 12:30am so I don't always get a 5 hour stretch myself...oh well, I shouldn't complain!). She is a great eater, loves to smile, adores her big brother, could play on her playmat all day and is pretty much the sweetest little girl in the world.

I took her 2 month picture a few days early. Here she is:She is finally starting to like tummy time. Well, if she's in the right mood. And, only for about 4 minutes. So, I guess she is tolerating tummy time.

We tried out the bumbo seat for the first time yesterday and she loved it! Matt and I were so happy because now we finally have a solution to our dinner dilemma. Lucy always wants to feel included, especially at dinner. This means one of us ends up holding her while we eat with one hand or we take turns and one of us eats a cold meal. Now, she can sit in the bumbo at the table, feel included, look around and we all get to eat together!

My sweet little girl.
Happy 2 months Lucy.....we love you!

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the (new) cabin.

For the last year Matt's parents have been hard at work completely remodeling their cabin/beach house on Camano Island. For those of you who have had the fun privilege of visiting, the 70's shag carpet, floral couches and huge lamps are all gone (sad, I know...we had many fun memories with that shag!). This past weekend his parents moved some stuff over so we decided to drive down for a little visit.

Carter just loves his grandpa and wanted to help him with a few projects. First he put on his big vest to get started. Then, he helped install a door and hang a huge TV! He was very proud and Grandpa appreciated his little helper :)
Grandma got spoiled with lots of Lucy cuddles.
A view of the new living room. Ignore the 1,000 toys laying on the floor and picture beautiful new furniture (has been ordered, but still needs to ship).
After the new TV was hung, Carter explored the box.
Then, Grandpa made a tent!
More Grandma/Lucy time. Not sure who loved it more, but I saw smiles on both their faces throughout the day!
A view off the new deck. It was raining the whole time so it's hard to see the water, but still a nice view.
I forgot to take pictures of the new bedrooms and downstairs but it is just beautiful. We are so excited to spend many summer weekends at the cabin relaxing, going to the beach and walking around the neighborhood. So happy it's finally done!

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