Seattle FD/My little Pony

On Thursday, when Max got off work in the evening we started a 3 hour drive up to Seattle to be there in time for Max's interview with the Seattle Fire Department the following morning. We didn't start on our drive until nearly 7pm. I did the driving so Max could get some extra studying in. Charlie fell asleep about the last hour of the drive. We were hoping he would transfer directly to bed. We arrived at the hotel around 10:30 and after getting checked in and our luggage to our room, Charlie was wide awake and ready to explore. (side-note: Normally when we have gone up North for fire fighting stuff we have stayed at my brother's house, this time the interview was at least an hour north and early in the morning so and we wanted to make sure Max got a good nights sleep...so we went to a hotel 7 minutes away from the interview) So we get into the room and Charlie is beyond excited, running from light to light turning  them on and off, digging in the snack bag, spilling the muddy buddies, opening and closing the fridge etc. We were terrified that it would take him forever to settle down, I was prepared to stay up and cuddle with him all night so Max could get the sleep he needed. We quickly got ready for bed and made the pull-out bed up for Charlie. We turned off all the lights and I cuddled with Charlie in his bed and sang to him. Much to our pleasant surprise he settled down pretty quickly and fell asleep all while I enjoyed my cuddle time with him,.And then I turned on some lights to take a picture of my sleeping angel.  

Both my boys slept well all night long, I, on the other hand, am starting to get uncomfortable with this massive belly of mine so I didn't sleep the greatest.

We woke up early and Max got all ready...
Here is a little tidbit about this interview process, and why this interview was such a big deal...For fire fighting, all departments have a test you have to take first. After the test you are ranked and the highest percent are called back for interviews. Out of the tests that Max has taken this was the first time that he was asked to come back for an interview. They are interviewing 2600 people and 1500 will be called back to have Chief's interview. Max will not know if he goes back for that second interview until Valentine's day. After that interview they are ranked again and the top 25% will be invited back for the physical test. Then those that pass will be invited to the training academy which has a 25% fail rate. Which should leave a list of about 200 people ranked for 50-60 jobs. SO, this is incredibly competitive. Max has a lot of great things going for him and this would definitely be a dream career so as of now we are just praying for God's will. In the meantime we are so grateful for the job he has now and his generous employer.

So yes, I took his picture at the hotel door as he left for his interview.

In the meantime, Charlie and I played a bit at the hotel and watched some Friday morning cartoons. He ran around and explored some more. He especially liked this luggage rack.

Also, he wore his brand new "good luck" fire truck pajamas. 

Eating Strawberries and watching cartoons

After a little bit of lazy time Charlie and I got ready to go to the pool.

He was a little anxious

We played at the pool for awhile then Max joined us and we had some fun swimming time. Max had mixed feelings about the interview. He felt like it went so fast that there was information that he wasn't able to share with them but he also felt like he had shared some good traits and he filled the time perfectly. (it was a panel interview where 3 fire fighters were questioning him) We have to wait and see but it was fun to have him back and a little relieved for the rest of our fun family day. 

After swimming, we packed up and checked out of the hotel then headed to IHOP for a family lunch. Charlie was kind of being adorable and I kind of wanted to take a bunch of pictures so that's what happened.

He then starteed doing some science experiments with the ice. 

First he tasted it and said "mmmmmm." Apparently this is his yummy face.

He then set the ice on the table and shot it around with his finger. He laughed like crazy. I love my little explorer.

And then he wanted to hold Max's hand while they were eating. This made him so happy. 

and then he put a fork in Max's hand and made him feed him some ham.

And this is his ham face (pun intended)

After we were stuffed we took Charlie to the mall to run a little bit before our hour drive to my brother's house to celebrate Gwenevere's 5th birthday with an amazing My Little Pony party put on by James and Elizabeth. I don't know much about My Little Pony but apparently it's a big thing among 5 year olds.

Gwenevere had some of her best friends come to the party.

James and Elizabeth made an amazing Pony pinata.

And the winning shot!

Elizabeth had some fun relays prepared.

They also dug for jewels, then created crowns with their jewels.

Gwenevere's beautiful heart cake.

This little guy is growing up so fast. He's almost 4 months. 

Max got a whole bunch of smiles out of him. 

She even got to cut her own piece of cake 

Then there was a pony photo shoot. 

Hugs for the birthday girl.

After the party we stayed and ate a wonderful dinner and got Charlie all ready for bed. We then had some cousin/climb on uncle Max time. There were a whole lot of giggles.

WE then headed home, Charlie spent most of the ride sleeping and Max and I were able to have some enjoyable road trip conversation time. Thanks to James and Elizabeth for hosting a wonderful party. 

Diaper Gymnastics

Charlie absolutely loves his new trampoline and Max and I continue to realize that it was the perfect gift for him. He has started doing all kinds of tricks on it. Max has taught him many different kinds of jumps, such as in outs, twists, front to back, and high knees. It is so fun to demonstrate these to Charlie then he immediately wants to try them for himself. It's cute how at first his coordination is not quite on but he figures it out pretty quick and gets excited to try any trick we request of him. Charlie also makes up his own tricks and loves to show them off to us. A couple nights ago, Max decided to try some gymnastic tricks with Charlie. This isn't recommended in the trampoline manual but Max was a great spotter and counter-weight. Here are some pictures of the gymnastic tricks. (feel free to ignore the laundry and other messes in the background)

First, Max showed Charlie that he could hang on the bar and bring his legs up.

I love Charlie's concentration here!

and then do a flip.

Charlie was eager to try this new trick on his own. Max spotted and guided him. Sorry about the blurry pictures, he was just moving so fast.

He eventually fell into Max's arms upside down....but seriously, this kid is so strong.

They then tried a couple tricks flipping over the bar.

Charlie was so happy to do tricks with his daddy that he gave him a whole bunch of hugs when they were done.

And that is the diaper gymnastics. In the meantime, Charlie starts a gymnastic class at the community center in 2 weeks, we are so excited and from the looks of things...he's going to love it!

Ringing in the New Year

New Years! I was trying to remember past New Year celebrations and I really can't remember that many of them. I think that would have to make this one my favorite. I guess it could only compare to when Max and I would go to church New Year's dances together as teenagers and dance with each other the whole time. Yup, pretty magical. Anyway, I loved this year because of the simplicity of having an in-home date with the man I love most. Last year was kind of a bummer because Max had a deadline with some homework and had to spend pretty much all hours working on it so he took a 15-30 minute break to ring in the New Year then went back to work. (Alright, so I guess I am starting to remember past celebrations)

So here is a little bit about what we did this year and some of the highlights of 2013

We had random snacks for dinner. Please note that the meat is Venison actually caught by Max's brother. We haven't tried our venison summer sausage yet, but this one is sure delicious. We also, had soup, garlic bread, and canned peaches for this random dinner. 

We felt absolutely NO DESIRE to keep Charlie up until midnight. We thought that maybe we could keep him up until 9 to celebrate East Coast New Years which would commemorate our East Coast trip of 2013. We were able to do this but he was completely ready for bed and about to lay down to sleep. We put him down and started our in-home date, which actually started with our "square one" tidying up (dishes, toys and other things that are left out) and Max climbing in the attic to connect a vent...then our date really started. We showered and reviewed the goals that we had made the previous New Year (as part of our 15 minute celebration last year). We had never done this before and decided that it would be a great tradition. We had a lot of success coming from these goals. 

 

1. Weekly Planning: We both did this when we served missions but didn't really continue afterward. With our schedules getting busier we decided we really needed to make a time to go over our week. This was a huge success this year. Every Sunday night after we put Charlie to bed we go over the calendar, make goals and checklists for the next week, do meal plans, make a grocery list, balance checkbook, pay bills, balance the property ledger and enter receipts. This has been so wonderful for our family's organization and we are happy to continue it into this year. 

2. Job: Max started working with Grow Construction last January and it has been great for our family.

3. Preggo: Yup, that happened. 

4. Healthy Weight: Max and I both made significant improvements to our health and fitness. 

5: Max get Diploma: He officially finished his last undergrad requirements and got his diploma last January. Within 24 hours of finishing his last final, he was offered a job where he is working now. What a Blessing. 

6. Charlie will walk: He was 13.5 months last New Years and still not walking but definitely strong enough to do so. He started walking a week later after we purchased a living room rug. 

7. Family outings: This we have definitely improved on since we are no longer students and Max didn't have to work crazy salesman hours during the summer. Our outings included 3+ trips to the beach, hikes, 3 camping trips, lots of OMSI, Target trips, Tacoma trips, rafting (without Charlie) Washington DC, New York, Gettysburg to name a few.

8. Visit the temple every other month: This was not completely achieved but we made significant improvements since last year thanks to our baby sitting exchanges with Kerri and Corbrett and my mom always willing to babysit.

9. See Les Miserable. We got tickets to see the movie last Christmas so I was pretty excited to go see it. 

10. Paramedic certification: This was not completed. Max still wants to get his national certification. (His previous/current certification is only good in Utah)  

11. Finish house: We have lots of projects still to do in our house so Max was kind of bummed when he saw this goal. On the bright side, we have a functional upstairs bathroom and the yard is much more under control. Also, Max has had to put many more hours into the other houses on the property that were in worse condition than ours. He has had to deal with 2 dramatic eviction proccesses and flipping 2 houses that needed significant repair work. When it comes to fixing our stairs or cupboards or getting good renters in the other houses, the renters come first. Point is, huge wonderful changes and progress have happened on this property and 2014 will be the year for carpeted stairs and functional kitchen cabinets in our home.

 12. At least 3 pages of Rhapsody in Blue: I think I gave this goal up by March. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is the hardest song I've ever attempted to learn and it is 30 pages (15 minutes) long. I set this goal because I didn't have much reason to make myself practice the piano and I hated that I wasn't using my talent. I did learn to play through those 3 pages better but still not fluidly. Since then though, I've started playing for our church choir and giving piano lessons so I know my talent is not going to waste. 

Alright, so I'm sure that is more detail than you wanted to know about our goals and successes of 2013 but I'm glad I wrote it down for my personal memory. It also helps me really see how blessed we have been in this last year. Life is so good. 

Anyway, back to our Ringing in 2014 celebration. 

Max and I decided to play a game because that is not usually something we make time for with just the two of us, and we both enjoy it. We played Would You Rather, I think we made up half of the rules but we had a wonderful time and laughed until our stomachs hurt. It was then just after 11pm so we decided to indulge and make new goals for 2014. 

Sparkling Cider and Chocolate covered strawberries with my Love, it doesn't get any better than that. 

Just so you know, Max and I rarely drink carbonation so sparkling cider was enough to get us tipsy! 

 And here are some more goals for 2014 we'll see what we can get done! 

   

I don't think we wrote this down but I'm pretty sure we should add "more late night in-home dates" because we truly had so much fun. I think we'll especially need them as this new little boy comes to join our family!

Happy New Year to you all...Life just keeps getting better!