SIPRESS SCOOP

We celebrated Josie’s 1 st Birthday with a Penguins & Pizza Party at Alfy’s Pizza in Lynwood. It was actually difficult to find penguin party supplies that were not for a holiday party but I settled on Happy Feet supplies & they looked great. We had a fabulous group of family & friends including; Grandma Mel, Auntie Nicole& Warren, Gramma Laura & Mark, Cousin Jackson, Erin & Ryan, Maddison, Haley, Diane & Matt, and Jennifer & Lily. Josie got a great selection of clothes & toys as gifts. After the party we went home to enjoy some family time. We ate left over pizza, watched Happy Feet & played with Josie’s new toys. It was a PERFECT DAY, thank you to everyone who came. This pic is of Josie at her regular check up. On Tuesday the 13 th I took Josie to her 1 year well child check.   Josephine was 29 inches tall & weighted in at 20 lbs, 5 oz.     At past visits our pediatrician had expressed a small concern for a heart murmur Jo

Josie's 1st Thanksgiving has come & gone. We were having such a nice relaxing day that I didn't take my usual pelethora of photos but we had a great day.  I hope that you & your family had a great Thanksgiving as well. here are ten great things from the turkey day. Enjoy! 1) we got out the door early & hit the road, missing traffic. 2) Magically we were the very last car on the ferry, each way!!! 3) We traveled to Oak Harbor to my Great Aunt Sharon’s to enjoy some ham, lasagna & of course turkey with our family.   It was great to see & catch up with people we only see once a year or less like my Great Uncle & some of my cousins.   The kids had a great time visiting & playing with everyone as well. 4) Issac was such a good boy & pleasantly handed out the Thanksgiving cards we had made, until it was time to go & he caught a glimpse of Grandma’s card hang out her purse so he had to “take his paint home”.   I secretly mailed the card to m

November passed like a series of overwhelming sneezes.   The next month is filled with exciting holidays and celebrations so it is my intention to post about each of these exciting events.   So until next week when I get to pleasantly write about Josie’s 1 st Thanksgiving, here is ten exciting things that happened this month.   1-       On Saturday November 5 th we finished up our breakfast & headed to downtown Auburn to attend the annual Veteran’s Day Parade.   Josie slept most of the parade all cozy in the Bjorn on Tyler’s chest.   Issac was fascinated by the cars, motorcycles, bands and people.   I chased down one of those salesmen pushing a shopping cart full of overly priced blow up toys to purchase Issac a flag.   He was a good boy about not hitting people with his flag & was quick to hold it up when I reminded him that the flag shouldn’t touch the ground.   2-       Tyler’s birthday was on a Sunday.   For breakfast I tried a new recipe that turned out fabulous; frui

  It’s that time of year again. Time to deck the halls & be jolly, or so the saying goes.   Every year I have to force myself into the joy.   Each holiday season comes and goes & I celebrate on New Year’s Eve that I made it through another year.   This year Issac is old enough to start to understand what is happening around him, so I think we’ll get a Christmas tree before December 20 th this year!   I have even already started to get our Christmas cards together, watched a couple holiday kid movies & even took out a few winter decorations.   BUT I’m internally fighting it, but my brain knows it is here, EVERYONE is on fb talking about that fat jolly man Santa. So now I must face the fact that the holiday season is in full swing, on TV, at the stores and even in our conversations.   I haven’t always been a Grinch.    As a young child, my Mother & my family celebrated the holiday season with a variety of yearly traditions.   Although I successfully “fake-it” each yea

October has come & gone. It was an amazing month all gearing up to the big day: Halloween!   I was super excited to take Issac trick or treating this year.   To prepare we did a ton of pumpkin crafts, checked out some Halloween themed books from the library and watched a few Halloween movies including A Word World Halloween DVD, Spooky Buddies & others.   Here are our top ten highlights for the month.   1)       On the 5 th we celebrated a friend’s 1 st birthday.   I went with my friend Jen & her daughter Lily to Pacific Science Center with the kids.   I packed some Pb&J’s & we had a great time. 2)       The 8 th I took Josie to a birthday party & Issac got to see his first theater movie with Dad.   Tyler took Issac to see Cars 2 and Issac did a great job, lasting almost the entire film’s length. 3)       The 9 th Tyler’s Mom & Mark came over for dinner. Tyler made us Beef & Broccoli with rice & salad. It was delish!!! 4)       This month I t

  I had started a blog last month & never finished it. With Josie walking now the kids seems to go in separate directions so I have had little time on the computer.   I spend a little time each day reading different sites & mommy blogs. One trend I have recently noticed is the “top ten lists”.   So to keep posts regular I’m going to start writing this way. So here is my first top ten list: The Ten Best parts of September. 1)       We spent Labor Day weekend at home. It was nice & relaxing. The kids went with a friend for a few hours on Saturday so Tyler & I could paint the outside of the house. Then we spent Saturday & Sunday night camping in the back yard.   Issac loves the tent & got super excited about it the entire weekend.   Monday was warm so we went to the splash park with the kids & BBQ’d.   2)       Josie turned 9 months old on the 10 th .    At her check-up she was 27 inches & 17 lbs, 13 oz.   3)         On the 11 th we drove to Marysville

Tyler has been on day shift for the last two weeks.  We have enjoyed the change across the board. Now we eat dinner as a family, go on evening walks together & even enjoy bedtime at the same time.  Tyler is at work before the kids & I ever wake up. The extra bonus is that when Tyler worked night shift, come Friday he was so tired it was a waste of a day. We only ever felt like he had one day off each week.  Now come Saturday and Sunday he wakes up with me & the kids and makes us breakfast.  The weekdays go by quickly & I try to take the kids on an adventure or two during the week.  The library is good to get books, but Issac got us kicked out of his first story time for misbehaving & we were asked to leave.  The park is great, its free & I just pack up some PB &J's and go but what will I do when the weather turns cold? I guess our Science Center membership will be put to good use.  I have also found out that there is a "First Thursdays" Progr

Issac thinks anytime you have cake then it must be a party. Makes perfect sense to me.  Ever since his birthday, anytime we've had cake with every bite he smiles and says, "its a party".  The first weekend of August we went to lake goodwin to celebrate a friend's 4th birthday.  The beach area is perfect for young kids because you can walk a good 30 feet out & still be in shallow water.  In all the excitement of the day, Issac fell twice. Once was a bad fall that scraped his knee, elbow & back on the cement area surrounding the picnic table.  When we arrived home, we cleaned up the areas good & Issac got his 1st bandaids, with baloons on them. He still shows us his"hurt spot" but any sign of a scab is completly gone.  The 12th we headed north to Ferndale to spend some time with Grandma Melanie.  Friday night we BBQ'd some steaks before we left the kids with grandma to enjoy a few drinks with friends.  Saturday we headed to my Mom's com