Video Palooza!

Here are several videos of our cute kids. I suspect mostly the grandparents will be interested in these, but they will put a smile on your face whoever you are :) Enjoy!
Lily finally started walking just short of turning 17 months. Once she decided to do it she really took off without falling down much. This video captures a few of her first consecutive steps. She took steps prior to this, but every time I whipped out my camera she would stop walking, sit down, and smile for the camera. Also, as a side note, she does occasionally wear clothes, but many of our videos are taken in the evening after she has smeared dinner all over her shirt :)
Here is Lily conversing with me in the tub. These little conversations occur quite often. She has a lot to say and I feel cheated that I don't understand a word of it! At least not yet.
This was filmed while we were waiting for a bus on a rainy morning. Lily discovered that walking through puddles is actually really fun. Good thing we live where puddles abound!
While we were at the park Lily started climbing on these little steps, holding both hands high in the air, and squeeking. She did this spontaneously without any prompting. As far as I can tell this idea originated in her own little mind, but it bears a vague resemblance to a gymnast sticking her landing.
And who can resist the uninhibited dancing of children? Seriously, too cute.

Lily

Here is a post all about our Lily. She is nearly 18 months old now and I want to honor her by letting you get to know her better.

Things She Loves:
Her binkie
Dogs, cats, birds, basically every animal (especially the neighbor cat, Oprah)
Flowers
Books, especially those with puppies and kittens in them
Smoothies
Blueberries and bananas
Coloring
Being outside
Stickers
Dancing to music
Going down the slide at the park
Eating the cream filling out of the Oreo
Tortilla chips

Things She Hates:
All vegetables
Brushing her teeth
Having her hair done

Funny/Cute Things She Does:
When she sees a dog, a cat, or a baby, she makes a panting sound and sticks out her tongue
She often walks in a certain circuit and then does it over and over and over again (walking in circles through our bedroom and bathroom or making a circle while we wait for the bus where she touches a sign, walks over a vent, around a lightpost, and then back again)
Growls like a monster
Flaps like a bird when she wants more food or when we offer he a food she is especially excited about
Hugs Tommy when he is crying

Nicknames:
Beefy
Lily Girl
Sweet Girl
Foo Foo
Miss Lily
Boo Boo Baby
Lilybug

Tommy's Birthday and a Visit from the Chattertons

This year for Tommy's birthday we had some extra-special visitors: Grandma and Grandpa Chatterton! We had a great time showing them around our new home and experiencing all the best things in Beaverton and Portland.

We went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market where we bought tons of strawberries, got Tommy a fire hat and a balloon sword, and played at the playground.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Tommy this Superman cape and mask, which he loves! He is so into superheroes now. Grandma and Grandpa also gave Lily a consolation present; a baby that cries and coos when you push her belly. They are so sweet and thoughtful.

Tommy requested an M&M cake, so this is what I put together. It was very tasty, if I do say so myself. While we were at the store Tommy saw these pink marshmallows, put them into my shopping cart along with a bag of regular white marshmallows and said, "The pink ones are for my birthday and the white ones are for regular days." How can you say no to something like that? They went on the cake along with four candles.

One of the presents that we gave Tommy was this big styrofoam airplane. He decorated it with stickers and put it together himself. We spent several hours at the park throwing this thing in the air and watching it fly, much to Tommy's delight. Grandpa and Daddy were definitely the best throwers.

The evening of Tommy's birthday we went to our neighbor's house for dinner around their fire pit. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and ate the cake. Tommy got to play with his friend and run around all crazy. He loved it.

Here is Lily at the Boehm's. Isn't she cute?

We went to the park the day after Tommy's birthday and he went dressed like this. He felt like Cool Cute Numero Uno. I think he is carrying an umbrella and yes, that's a wrapping paper roll stuck in his belt. The other kids at the park thought he was pretty awesome.

Here is Lily and Grandma. They are so cute.

We hiked around the park a little bit. I love this baby-wearing dad! Parks in Portland are fun because you can play in the grass, play at the playground, or take a walk in the forest. It's all right there. On this adventure we found a lake and hiked all the way around it. Awesome.

The Chattertons came with us to the Children's Museum, which the kids love. We ate pizza outside afterward.

We love you guys! Thanks for coming to celebrate Tommy's birthday with us!

Seattle - May 2013

Over Memorial Day we drove up to Seattle to visit my brother, Carson, and his fiancée, Desiree. We rented a car and thought it would be a pretty simple hop up there. We have done 18 + hours in the car with both kids before so we figured a 3 hour drive would be a piece of cake. What we didn't count on was that our children would turn into bloodthirsty monsters. We almost left one of them on the side of the road somewhere between Vancouver and Olympia. We eventually made it to Seattle and actually had a wonderful weekend, despite the difficult start.

Carson and Desiree live in an apartment on a chic little drag in West Seattle. We had the pleasure of eating food from a French bakery, a pizzeria, and an incredible ice cream shop, all within walking distance of their home. Desiree fed us incredibly well while we there. She cooked steak/vegetables and amazing pancakes for us. We were so spoiled!

The thrill of riding on the high seas!

Since when am I the shortest one in the group?

On Saturday we took a water taxi over to Seattle. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and the event that Tommy will talk about first. The kids loved being on a boat. We walked around Seattle and saw some of the main attractions. Pike's Place was cool, but the thing I enjoyed most was the variety of street performers we saw there. I don't often donate to street musicians, but there were a couple that impressed me so much that I sent Tommy with a bit of money to give them. We walked the steep streets of Seattle, visited Carson's work for a little rest, and went to the top of the Columbia Center to see some breathtaking views of the city.

One of my favorite events of the day was getting caught in the middle of a film shoot. As we walked down a street in downtown Seattle we kept seeing people on each street corner with walkie talkies. We speculated about who they were and what they were doing and decided they were either security detail or undercover super spies. Before we knew it, a police car stopped traffic and a truck loaded with heavy duty cameras pulled out. Two cars and a van pulled out into position. They had the camera right up to the driver's side window of the black sport's car. Desiree tried to peek inside to see who was in there. I guess we'll never know :) One of the directors on the camera truck yelled, "Action!" and all four vehicles raced down the road. A few minutes later they came back to do the shoot again. It was a little thrill to get to see something like that even though we have no idea what movie it was for.

View of the Space Needle from the Columbia Center Observation Deck.

Here is Lily with the filming crew in the background. The black car, the white car, and the white van were all part of the film shoot.

On Saturday night we stayed with our friends, the Pimentels. They have kids roughly the same ages as our kids. We haven't seen them for over a year (they used to live in the Phoenix area, but moved to Seattle) so it was so fun to catch up with them and see how cute our oldest boys were together. For the record, they also fed us amazing food. I think I gained 10 pounds over the weekend.

We were supposed to go to church with the Pimentels, and we did, but we only lasted about 30 minutes there. Our kids were completely out of control. We opted to leave so that others could feel the Spirit :) It's amazing how crazy our kids can get when they don't get the sleep they need. We went back to Carson's and Desiree's, ate, slept, and were merry. Later that evening we went to this amazing park on the beach called Lincoln Park. We probably could have spent an entire day there. We walked around, threw sticks and rocks into the water, swung on the swings, hiked through the forest, saw lots of doggies, and watched the ferry go back and forth between West Seattle and Vashon Island. We had such a great time! Thanks for hosting us! We'll be back to visit whether you like it or not :)

Tommy

Tommy is turning four in just a couple of days! I can't believe my boy is growing up so fast. In celebration of his birthday here are a few things you should know about Tommy.

Things He Loves:
Everything with wheels (cars, trains, airplanes, trucks, etc.)

Being a spy, a policeman, or a fireman
Riding his bike
Doing "crafty" things like painting
Making interesting things out of paper by cutting, stapling, taping, drawing, etc.
Milk
Helping Mommy with housework, especially mopping the floor or cleaning the bathroom
Space, robots, Legos, and science experiments
Playing baseball
Music, especially Indie Rock (he actually knows a fair number of words to most of his favorite songs)
Going to the Children's Museum
Essential Oils
Sending/receiving letters in the mail
Taking pictures with our camera
Yoga
Yardwork
 
Things He Hates:
Being alone
Band-aids

Funny/Cute Things He Does:
Sings to the Rescue Rangers theme song, "But these two Dumb Shoes are picking up the snacks" (the real words are, "But these Gumshoes are picking up the slack")
Says, "Ding dong!" every time he finds something in a finding book like the Big Book of Things to Spot
Calls Lily "Beefy" half the time
Helps Lily walk by holding her hand
Uses big words, usually correctly in the right context (examples: "Apparently this house was recently built." or "Can you understandably tell me what that means?")


Nicknames:
Mr. Tom
Master Tom
Buddy
Brosephus
Brosephus Maximus
Mr. Boy
Tommy Toodles