Dewfamily's Seattle Blog

Snow Days!

dewfam — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:56:56 +0000

It has been an odd couple of weeks around the Dew household. Last week, we were just about falling apart – we had a plumbing fiasco which resulted in all new flooring for our master bedroom (and us having to move out of our room while the floor was dried and wait until the new floor is in to move back in), our cat Lilly had a spendy visit to the vet because she was uber-sick, Jeremy dropped and shattered his iPhone (sad…), and Brady was sick with pinkeye and then running a high fever of 104/105. Jeremy and I alternated taking off days last week so we could be with him (his mantra was “Holdmeholdmeholdme” and we did just that for about 4 days around the clock). By the end of the week, we were all so stir crazy from being cooped up in the house and having so much going on. And then the snow came. It was actually a really nice relief when it fell over the weekend because snow makes everything pretty. And then it came again last night leading to school being cancelled today (Wednesday) and Thursday. Seattle was trying to refer to it as “Snowpocalypse” but that was a hefty exaggeration. It was about 6-8″ of snow and since B does not seem to enjoy it, we mostly watched it through the windows. He would send Jeremy out from time to time to get him a cup of snow which he would eat while sitting in front of his space heater. For a boy who relishes hanging around the house in his diaper, he wasn’t much up for having to get a ton of clothes on to go out and play in the cold. Maybe next year? As for now, this was our day:

Looking outside the at the front of our house

Jasper in the snow on our deck

Brady's lunch - quesadillas and snow

Making snowman rice krispie treats

And done! It was amazing that I could even take this shot without Brady snatching all the candy off!

(belated post #2) Christmas in Texas

dewfam — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:19:47 +0000

These is about as posed as these sweet cousins get

Merry Christmas from the Dews!

Brady needed no coaching at how to open presents - he was a natural!

B loves his Aunt Meesh

Brady got really into holding hands with Kylee - they would run around in circles laughing (in their matchy-match PJs). So sweet!

And then they climbed up on furniture and sang and danced (with Hailey too)

Oh, and Meesh didn't just get matchy PJs for the kids...she got them for the whole fam. She's special like that.

Brady liked the bread just as much as the ducks

Cousins Sienna and Annaka with sweet Evan

Brady, swinging and laughing, with Papa

Mimi and her little grandsons

(belated post #1) Hawai’i!

dewfam — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:40:43 +0000

Over Thanksgiving, we had a beautiful, wonderful chance to go to Hawai’i with my family to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. When it came time for the trip, I felt like I NEEDED to be there. The Seattle winter was already getting me down and I needed to soak in some Vitamin D. Furthermore, I was thrilled to see my family and was so excited about taking Brady somewhere beautiful and to some great beaches where he could play. The trip was exceptional – we had so much fun celebrating Mom (she LOVES Hawai’i!), we had an amazing house, Emily had done a great deal of research in figuring out our itinerary so we knew exactly where to go, Jeremy & I got to sleep in , Brady and his cousin, Evan, shared a deep affection for each other, and we found out Mini & Tyler are expecting a little one in June (which puts her pregnancy 4 1/2 weeks behind mine – super fun!)! So, all to say, it was a great trip. We are so, so fortunate to have a family that enjoys traveling and celebrating together.

Our amazing house!

I have the cutest nephew!!

Brady, Jeremy and Dad riding the Kauai Plantation Railway

Brady, Jeremy, baby bump, and I at the train

Evan, Mom, and Emily playing in the pool at our house

Jeremy and Brady playing in the pool

Brady continually kept Evan entertained by playing trains and letting him watch - oh, and he'd periodically give Evan a train to chew onPlaying at the beach

Preggo sissies! (I'm due mid-May and Mini is due mid-June)

The family at Waimea Canyon

Brady rocked Mimi's sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes (a true Seattle child - he literally avoids the sun)

Jeremy, Brady and I at Lydgate Beach

Jeremy had a little love affair with shaved ice and yes, he ate this entire thing (well, he let B help a little bit)

Sissies & Mom (and Evan!) at Secret Beach

I love our family.

A favorite...

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

Halloween = fail

dewfam — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:25:31 +0000

Brady had access to not one, not two, but three costumes for Halloween. A Thomas costume from my dad, a hand-me-down dinosaur costume, and then a Henry costume that I made just the day of Halloween as a last-ditch effort. I should have stuck to my guns in my belief that there was no way Brady would put on a costume but I got suckered into thinking (by myself) that he just might wear the “right” costume. So, I spent his nap creating this:

Which Brady showed interest in for all of 5 seconds (oh, and then again when Calais wanted to put it on…at that point, he didn’t want to wear it, he just didn’t want her to put it on). So, Halloween = fail. Maybe next year? Moral of the story: Stick to your guns, Jen.

Visitors this fall!

dewfam — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:17:43 +0000

Interestingly enough, each of our parents visited this fall, although they all came on separate weekends – funny, eh? To their credit, each came for different reasons. We enjoyed having them here and also got to see my little sister, Mini, and Jer’s sister, Meesh. We are so thankful that our family is willing to travel so far to see us. And Brady loves having them come visit and will run down the hall in the morning to greet who ever is here. So, here’s a synopsis in pictures.

Hanging out with Aunt Mini on Alki Beach - I can't even remember what it was like for it to be this warm! Mini came the weekend before my birthday to celebrate with me and see Brady.

Mimi came the same weekend to join in the fun with us and see Brady. She also brought him a new slew of trains and humored him by letting him stuff fruit in her mouth.

No visitors in this pic, but this is B and me on my 31st birthday I see Jeremy in him for the first time in this pic!

And this is Jeremy and I out to dinner with mom and Mini for my birthday. Jeremy gave me some beautiful new earrings that our friend made.

My dad came the following weekend to build a fence with Jeremy in the front of our house

It looks so great!!! We love it. Jeremy has such a great design-eye.

As previously mentioned, Jeremy's mom and sister came the weekend of Brady's birthday and we got to enjoy a day on Whidbey Island.

I don't have any pictures from when Jeremy's dad came to visit, but here's a picture of B on our Saturday night date while Ed was here.

Ed’s reason for coming was to take Jeremy on an elk hunt. This was something Ed wanted to do his whole life and Jeremy was glad to join him (it’s funny to think of my husband as a hunter…but alas…). So, the two of them left on a Friday, leaving B and I at home with a broken furnace (brrrr! It’s now been fixed, not to worry), and promised to return by Tuesday with hundreds of pounds of elk meat. (Yippee?) True to their word, they arrived home on Tuesday afternoon after Ed had achieved a lifelong dream of his – hunting elk. We now have over a hundred pounds of meat in our deep freeze – anyone want some? Or have any recipe ideas??

In my blogging hiatus…

dewfam — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:00:21 +0000

I missed the chance to share that we’re having another baby! Yes, it’s true. Due mid-May so I’m at about week 13ish right now and feeling pretty good. This pregnancy has been different from mine with Brady – this one has been more characterized by falling asleep at 9 pm vs. constantly sucking on peppermints to avoid hugging the toilet. We are so thrilled to have our family grow and to welcome another little one. Brady’s response? ”Mommy have baby in her bewwy. Bwady have baby in his bewwy. Daddy have baby in his bewwy. Lily (the cat) have a baby, TOO! Kwamer (other cat) have a baby in his bewwy. Jasper have a baby too!” I’m excited to see him as a big brother! :)

This one’s for you, Em!

dewfam — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:56:00 +0000

When Emily and I were little, we used to LOVE drinking out of the special mugs at my Mimi’s house. These mugs were special because inside each one was a little ceramic animal that you couldn’t see until you had finished half of your drink. Since my sister is a lover of all things sentimental (I do love (and tease!) this about her), she found special mugs for me that she gave me as a graduation gift from college. Well, I’ve hung on to them and Brady found them this weekend and LOVED them. Each mug had a different liquid – milk went into the zebra cup, juice in the giraffe cup, and water in the sheep cup. Of course, he wanted them the next morning too and since he is a lover of organization, they of course had to have the same liquid they held the previous night. So, Em, this picture is for you – thanks for your thoughtful gift and I want you to know it’s being enjoyed!

Brady’s second trip around the sun

dewfam — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:47:01 +0000

On October 22, we celebrated two years of sweet Brady. We have loved, loved, loved the ways our lives have changed with him in it. I have loved getting to know his curious, funny, personable, and sweet-natured spirit. I have loved the many funny moments he’s brought into our lives and the sweet cuddles he’s offered as one who still loves to sit and rock in the chair with Mama. He is persistent, strong-willed, and a lover of all things sweet – although like his mom, he indulges sweets over a long period of time, trying to make them last as long as possible (and often forgetting about the last bite or letting it crumble in his hand after carrying it around for so long, not wanting to eat it and have the enjoyment be over). Although frequently on the move and running from place to place, Brady loves to sit and read books, look through photo albums, and would watch full-length movies if we let him sit in front of the TV for that long. He has surprised us with his talking – he’s already using full sentences, knows the names of all our friends and family (as well as every Thomas train ever created), and asks great questions. Brady is empathetic and is quick to read the emotions of other children and characters in books. He loves singing and changing words to songs to make them funny and silly. He LOVES Jeremy and the two of them share a very special bond (which today resulted in Brady telling me to go sit on the other couch so he could sit by Daddy I was only slightly offended…). So for all these wonderful reasons (and many more), we celebrated him.

We had a small party with dinner and cupcakes. Jeremy’s mom and sister were in town so they joined us in the festivities. Meesh and I decorated the cupcakes with B’s favorite – Thomas trains – and Brady played extensively on his gift from Jeremy and me – a train table. Our friends were kind and helped outfit the train table by gifting B with more trains.

Brady, Caleb, and Calais play on the train table.

Brady's cupcakes with Thomas friends on top

Brady (of course) picked the Henry cupcake - Henry is his favorite

On his actual birthday, our friends had a fall harvest party at their farm on Whidbey Island so we enjoyed a day outside with friends. It was a fun way to spend time with MawMaw and Meesh, too!

A swinging birthday boy!

Painting pumpkins with MawMaw

Playing with Meesh and the turkey feathers

Burying his trains in the dirt. "Henry's hiding! Can't see him! Birthday Thomas is hiding, TOO!"

A first misrepresentation…in my mind at least

dewfam — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:51:47 +0000

But until then, I wanted to tell a quick story to get back into my blogging.

So this is my first story (of many, I’m sure) where I feel Brady misrepresented me. I know that as time goes by, I’ll have many, many more experiences where I feel he takes my words out of context, overgeneralizes what I’ve said, or fails to “get me”. And I think my hope is that I’ll take those experiences as his experiences and give him room to feel what he feels and hear what he has to say. But this first one, it was hard.

Brady: (pointing to stickers) Bwady wants a Daddy sticker.
Me: Hmmmm…which sticker is a Daddy sticker? How ’bout this one that says “Yea!” because Daddy says that a lot.
Brady: (nods and reaches for the sticker) Bwady want a Mommy sticker.
Me: Hmmm…which sticker is a Mommy sticker? What does Mommy say?
Brady: Mommy says “no”.
Me: (choking) Mommy says “no”?
Brady: Mommy sticker says “no”.

Ouch.

So, I’m behind on my birthday, on the onset of fall, on the visit of family, and on Brady’s second birthday…but it’s all because my computer power cord broke and I’m too cheap to place it and I don’t want to upload my pictures to Jeremy’s computer and ruin the lovely organization on my computer…so instead I’ve done nothing. This is what I do when I don’t know how to organize something. I freeze and pretend it doesn’t exist. That’s my blog these days. More to come soon.

Bumps and Bruises

dewfam — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:09:56 +0000

Brady likes to clod around on his flat feet. His legs may be slightly bowed. He ALWAYS has something in his hands that he carries around, usually clutched at his chest. This trifecta of conditions leads to Brady inevitably encountering a number of bumps and bruises. Not to mention the fact that if he takes after his mom at all, gracefulness is not likely in his future. In the past couple of weeks, he has mastered the concept of a band-aid. Now any time he (or Jeremy or I) gets hurt, he immediately cries, “Need band-aid! Need band-aid! (Of course after asking for “Nuk” and “Ducky”)” Now, rarely is he bleeding, but a band-aid is the remedy he needs. Of course, I oblige Here’s a little preview of some recent mishaps. A true boy, he is.

This was our first band-aid that B earned while camping.

And this was done to his nose when he fell face first of the curb in my school parking lot.

And pictures I don’t have are of the scratches from blackberry bramble, some little cuts on his fingers that we don’t know the origin of, and the other cut on his finger from when Jasper (that dog…) bowled him over and knocked him into the wall.

Good thing is that he’s soothed pretty quickly and works a lot of it out by talking. The other night he was playing with his tractor and James (the train) in his room. James ran into the back of the tractor and Brady said, “Sorry I bonked you, tractor!” He repeated this a few times. It was one of those times that Jeremy and I looked at each other and smiled. It’s so great to see B learning to sort out what’s going on in his daily experiences. This morning, he saw some dried up paint on my foot and pointed to it, saying, “Mom have little scratch. Ouch. Need band-aid.” Such a sweet boy.