Our Faves Part 3...This time with Santa!

Becoming a tradition, we have pizza with Santa at Jim and Char's beautiful home in Shoreline. This year, Emmett was not afraid to walk up to good 'ol SC.

Ah, below was one of those moments you will never forget as a parent. It was our first visit with SC for the holiday season. We had a lovely brunch at CTC with mimosas (yay!) and decided it was time to see Santa. We went down to the library and Emmett's wheels were turning as he knew this was the moment! How could we tell? He was quiet. We turned the corner and immediately head over to sit on his lap. Santa says "hello" and Emmett looks him right in the eye and says o-so sweetly, "I've been a good boy". Magic was in the air!

When asked this year what Emmett wants for Xmas, his response over and over was "train track and fire truck". Santa listened and pull through, so our boy knows he truly has been good. We're still working on the "be nice to your sister" thing, but we're getting better over time. This truly was a joy to witness with both kids on his lap...

Our Fave Xmas Shots Part 2

Emmett and mommy take a break on the man-size teddy bear. We visited The Teddy Bear Suite decked out for the holidays at The Fairmount hotel. We'll skip it next year.

Emmett, Aunt Penny and Gramma Alex getting into the spirit!

Daddy, too!

Our Fave Xmas Shots Part 1

Emmett and Papa making a super cool Gingerbread Train. Who needs gingerbread houses when you can have a train?! We love our the dogs and they get their own "stocking" too!

Emmett had a great idea to wear the stockings. Why not?

Sorry Anya, we could not find baby antlers!

Fa la la la la la la la...

This might take a couple of posts as we have so many photos! I gotta say, I think Justin would agree, this has been THE BEST XMAS EVER! Of course, the one missing thing is our families, but now that we're our own unit it simply was the best. We're creating new traditions and loving the laid-back vibe here in Seattle throughout the holidays. It truly has been relaxing, peaceful and fun every day for the last week!

Last Sunday, we kicked off our week with a night away at The Salish Lodge (http://www.salishlodge.com/) celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary. Romantic, VERY quiet and lots of solitude with two massages in the morning. The best part was this was a gift from two friends who I helped sell their home. We returned on Monday to begin the Winter Solstice festivities. We turned off all the lights in the house at sunset, ate dinner by candlelight, drank hot cocoa by the fire and did a ceremonial wish or intention for 2010. Lots of this footage on tape and truly precious to hear Emmett say, "I wish I was an elephant".

Xmas Eve we spent at the place we had our first date ever, Salty's on Alki then we drove down to an outrageously decked out house for the holidays. Emmett loved the train track the most. Xmas Day was bliss opening presents, eating, playing and walking Greenlake. Oh, I forgot to mention that all week it has been 50 degrees and sunny! Perfection.

Turkey Day with Keegans

Boy, I sure do love Millie Keegan! Ever since she has moved back to Seattle it's been magical now that I get more time with her and her mommy and daddy. All I know is MY mommy and daddy are so excited to have the Keegans back I heard them say THEY might pee in their pants. That makes 3 of us!

We had a great Thanksgiving at the Fredlunds with Keegans, too. We gave many thanks and feel blessed having "family who are friends and friends who are family". Great toast, Uncle Paul!

Quite the Ham

Emmett has shown us many new sides to his dynamic personality. We're seeing many silly faces, slick dance moves, characters in costume along with playin' it cool. Oh there are so many photos, but here are a few of my favorites...

Love-Hate Relationship with Halloween

Overall, I would say Emmett enjoys this holiday for the candy, but finds it confusing and scary. We talked numerous times about how "monsters are not real". Our gym threw a "Monster Mash" the Friday before Halloween and I told Emmett we were going. After I tucked him into bed, he called me back in his room and asked, "mommy, are there going to be monsters at the party?" I felt awful as I could tell he was sitting up concerned wondering what kind of party is my mom taking me to?! I mentioned it to the gym and they said, "oh, maybe we need to call it something else next year." Good idea.

We went trick or treating with the Bertrams in Lake Forest Park. It was a repeat from last year after having a great time and this year was even better since the kids were older. Some of the houses go all out and frankly, made me scream. We showed Emmett this one house and told him everything would be okay. Other toddlers were turning around, but our boy wanted to push through the spookiness as his eye was on the candy prize. After getting his treat he proceeds to walk out with his eyes closed and ears covered. I realize this was a rookie parent move on our part and maybe next year we will skip this home.

This is definitely the last year I will have a say in his costume. So sad. I was so happy all of us played the part in our Arnold Pumpkin Patch. One day, Emmett will think this is totally uncool and then hopefully one day, he will appreciate it. Kudos to Justin for playing the part well of Daddy the Scarecrow!

Emmett's 1st Wedding!

Jason and Ashley tied the knot last night and it was hands-down the most warm, authentic and sweet ceremony we have ever attended. One of our favorite memories and there are many is the "kid parade" of all the little ones walking down the aisle before the bride handing out flowers to guests.

Emmett did an amazing job! He looked dapper and adorable with his new haircut and shiny brown vest with tie. When the parade was done and I started walking him to the back room, he turns to me and said, "mommy, I want to do it again." He loved being in the spotlight while making people smile. I dunno where he gets that from? :-)

The other cute-cute moment was just when Ashley gets to Jason at the altar, everyone is quiet and Emmett says out loud, "hi dad" as Justin was standing up at the front by the groom's side. It made us smile and we are so proud of our boy! We are so excited for the newlyweds, too!

Nap Time is Over

We gave up on Emmett napping months ago. He dropped it well before he was 3 and it took us a few months to finally accept he was done. Now we encourage "quiet time" or "down time" or simply tell him "you need to be alone".

As parents sense when their child really needs to rest after a long day, we explain to Emmett the importance of taking a break for the sake of everyone's sanity. Recently, we told Emmett that no nap/down time means he will be really cranky.

We just had a big weekend here in Seattle as our dear friends, Jason and Ashley, got married. Emmett was part of the festivities and rehearsal night, which means staying up late. We begged him to rest before the evening events and yet, he turns it on me...

He said, "Mommy, did YOU nap today?"

I replied, "No, I did not."

His response, "Then you're cranky!"

Emmett and Mommy on TV!

King 5 did a one hour show on "Learning for Life". They choose Nanny's School to talk about the importance of playing while learning for kids before the age of five. Nanny being the huge advocate she is and well-known expert/childcare educator in town was interviewed. Nanny asked that I get interviewed, too!

Emmett's cameo is brief, but cuuuuuuuuuuute! I love that we're holding hands and you see Anya in my belly!

http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=393158

Enjoy!

First Day of School

Our boy begins another year at Nanny's School and we're thrilled! The last 2 in a half weeks have been life-changing to say the least for the whole Arnold Family in Seattle. On top of our newest addition and Emmett learning what it likes to be a big brother, school was out of session, so structure was missing from our daily routine. Emmett was missing the magic of Nanny and so was mommy and daddy!

Anyway, here is a lovely pic of our adorable son as he starts his final year at Nanny's. His report on his first day back was "Emmett has worked so hard at utilizing his good friend skills...he truly is a leader and makes us proud"! He makes us proud, too.

Big Brother

On August 20th at 4:33pm Emmett became a BIG brother. He met his new sister shortly thereafter. This posting is the story of Emmett becomming a Big brudda.

In the months leading up to baby sister's arrival Emmett and Mommy frequented the library to find books on little siblings, how they arrive (some in rather graphic detail) and the impact this will have on the family. Emmett loved reading these books before bed and he embraced the idea that a newcomer would arrive soon. He loved to tell everyone that a baby was in Mommy's belly and would soon come out of her "Bagina." Still, some pieces were missing for Emmett and a few weeks before her arrival I remember Emmett asking, "How do I become a big brother?"

Well, that day came and sure enough becomming a big brother was easier than he thought. The tough part was yet to come. In fact, within about 1 hour of her arrival Emmett said, "I don't want be a big brother anymore."

Bedtime came rather quickly that night and the next day the work began. In the afternoon Daddy and Emmett took some time to go out and play at a park. This turned out to be good outlet for some of his energy. While leaving Emmett suggested that baby sister live in another house.

Since that time Emmett has become more fond of "My Baby" and enjoys kissing her and patting her on the head "as gently as possible."

Let's Water the House

Seattle's summer so far has been a scorcher. To be 8 months pregnant in this heat makes me think this is revenge for doing the same thing to my mom, but in humid St. Louis. Thanks, mom! Anyhoo, we're making the most of it and spending plenty of time outside in the yard with the hose. Our main objective has been to water all the plants. Until now...

One afternoon, Jodi and Emmett are in back taking care of our precious plants. Jodi gets a call and sure enough work requires her to break away for a minute to pull some paperwork off the internet. Jodi turns to Emmett and asks, "mommy will be right back and do you promise to stay right here with the hose?" Emmett nods and we part our separate, but o-so brief ways.

It could not have been more than 4 or 5 minutes. Jodi runs downstairs, turns the corner and low and behold, the hose is in the middle of our kitchen and water is being sprayed EVERYWHERE. Jodi screams, "No!" Emmett exclaims, "mommy, I am watering the kitchen!" with such a level of enthusiasm that it was hard to stay upset. It's just water after all, right?

Let's just say the kitchen was FLOODED. Literally, an inch or two of water on the floor. While mommy was cleaning with god knows how many towels, Emmett of course was outside now with the hose. Within a minute or two, Emmett managed to spray water through the windows saying, "I'm cleaning the windows, mommy!" That's when I knew it was time to put the hose away until he is 10.

4th of July in STL

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3rd Birthday Solstice Celebration

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Victoria B.C.

The Fairmont Empress

Emmett went with Mommy and Daddy to the beautiful Fairmont Empress in Victoria B.C. We enjoyed a fun trip to and from on the Victoria Clipper Boat which was a scenic 2 hour ride. We found many creative ways for passing the time from listening to Mommy's iPod to Daddy finding out that bloody marys were available for purchase.

The waters made for a pleasant trip and the ample sunshine offered specatular views of the mountains and islands.

The pool at the Empress and Emmett became well acquainted during many visits with Mom and Dad.

We enjoyed our room very much and a little time to ourselves thanks to our "friend" Cindy who came from Spoonfull of Sugar Nannies to play with Emmett on Saturday morning for several hours. Mom and Dad went down to check out the Rotary District Conference and listen to some great speakers.

Evenings in our room started out somewhat interesting due to the fact that Emmett did not want to fall asleep in the presence of either of his parents. Fortunately there were a couple of sitting chairs just outside our room door at the intersection of two hallways. We also got a chance to meet a lot of our neighbors on the floor.

Transportation was mostly on foot in the harbor on Victoria - so much to see and do. We visited the Undersea Gardens and had the opportunity to play with some older kids and watch eels and octopus swim with a SCUBA diver.

The Miniature World exhibit captivated Emmett's attention to the point of forced march departure. We must have spent 30 minutes there as Emmett's mouth was held agape.

Our dinner Saturday night was at a local pizza place that Jodi thought was pretty good, but not very memorable - which explains why we can't recall the name.

We had such a fun time together and enjoyed visiting such a hip, historical town on the West Coast. As always - it was great to get home and then we rocked.

Born to Be Wild

Baby Sister

While getting ready for bed Emmett and I were reviewing the names for everyone in our family - Dad is Justin, Mom is Jodi, etc. We talked about Papa is John and Gramma is Alex, he listed off his cousins Hannah and Ryan and we proceeded to talk about his whole family and what everyone's name is. Then I told him that we have a baby girl coming soon and that will be his sister.

Emmett told me that he wants to give his baby sister a hug and to hold her. I asked him what name she should have and he provided an answer other than "sister" or "baby" for the first time. This time Emmett looked up at me and said, "How about Baby Beluga?"

So, for the time being our little prenatal gem will bare the name Baby Beluga.

IKEA

Emmett and I joined Beckie and Liam today at IKEA in Auburn. We had a great time shopping for our kids and eating their swedish meatballs. At one point, Emmett starts running away from me and needs to be stopped as the distance between us was too much.

I yelled, "Emmett, please do not run so far and fast from your mommy!"

Emmett turns to me and says, "Mommy, I am getting my exercise!"

I could not stop laughing!!!!!!!!

Families Visit Us in March

We're grateful American Airlines decided to drop their fares to rock bottom prices from STL to SEA in March. Round trip airfare for the weekend was $144/ticket, so needless to say, the family had to jump on this opportunity! We were so excited to have Gramma and Papa out first and then we got to end with a bang with Julie and Hannah. Hannah had Spring Break, so the timing could not be more perfect.

Highlights from J&A visit: Justin and John ran the St. Patty's Day Dash in the snow! We had the weirdest day of weather with snow, hail, wind and sun all in one day. It's typical winter weather for Seattle lately and don't even get me started on global warming. John and Alex stayed at the Westin and graciously swaped rooms with us for a night! We stayed on the 31st floor of the Westin, rode the Monorail for the first time into Seattle Center and got to see theater at the Seattle Rep. It was Justin's pick this time, so he went for a irish play about men who drink too much. Hmmmm...

Highlights from J&H visit: we kicked it off at the Space Needle then rocked out at EMP. I had free passes from 5 years ago, so we decided to check it out. Hannah was the perfect age now that she loves her I-pod and I-tunes. We took advantage of EMP's On Stage attraction, which asks you to pick out your own band name then sing a popular song that is recorded 'live' in front of a video screen full of sreaming fans, cheering us on. It was absolutely hilarious as we sang "I Love Rock 'n Roll" by Joan Jett with Hannah on the drums, Julie on keyboard and Jodi playing the guitar. We were bonafide Dudettes and have the rock video to show us strutting our stuff! It was a magical weekend hanging out and bonding with my niece who has grown so much while helping my sis relax since she doesn't have many opportunities in her hectic life.