Ravenna-Eckstein Preschool

Backtracking to June, Jackson finished preschool after 2 amazing years. He had so much fun, it was definitely bittersweet to leave that program. Even now, looking at the pictures, I get a little emotional when I see Jackson's friend, Hugo. We sure do miss our Seattle friends.

Fisher was not cooperative for the graduation. You can tell I got really desperate by the binkie in his mouth. He is way too old to be walking around with a binkie.

Jackson and teacher Carol

We're Home

It's been a crazy couple of months, but we're finally here and mostly settled. In July we moved to Dallas, TX (our home is actually in Flower Mound). It's been a lot of change, but so far we are loving it. Tyler's program has been very demanding, but his scheduled is supposed to calm down now, so I'm looking forward to that. No more 36 hour work shifts, and the boys are thrilled to have him around the house more.

The boys are loving all of the extra space. Tyler picked this home for us while the rest of us stayed behind in Seattle, and he did an amazing job. We absolutely love it. Having a backyard is amazing, and it's complete with bunny rabbits and geckos.

Today was our first Saturday to relax. I'd say we are 90% unpacked and moved in so we took the day off and decided to play.

My Sweet Jackson

It's moving week for us, which means packing and cleaning and packing and cleaning and a little bit of crying. I think I'm writing this blog post mostly so I have an excuse to sit for 5 minutes.

Yesterday, Jackson was helping me wash the walls. We got to the place on the wall where we have been marking Jackson's height for past few years to see how he's grown. I got a little misty-eyed and told him it made me sad to clean it off because I can't believe how long this has been our home and how big he's gotten while we've lived here.

This morning, Jackson appeared at my bedside at 7am and said "I need a pencil and I can't find one." I told him where to look and went back to sleep. 30 minutes later I came out of my room and Jackson handed me this paper. He told me it was a present he made for me. That he has copied down all the height markings from the wall so that we could take them to Dallas with us.

I love my sweet Jackson.

Photo Updates

A few photo updates

Playing at Carkeek Park. He must really trust his dad.

Fisher's favorite new word is "Donut"

Sun dial at Burke Gillman Park on our record-breaking hot Seattle day

Fisher's pouty face, which he happily does on command

Jackson just started t-ball. It's basically the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Love these boys. Tyler just got an iPhone for his birthday, which is where all these pictures came from. I don't do all the filters and framing and such, but apparently Tyler does :)

Easter 2013

I took the boys to an egg hunt at the community center where Jackson's goes to preschool. Tyler had a basketball game that morning, so it was just me, which means Fisher had to hunt in the 4-year-old area. He did just fine though.

Fisher was NOT going anywhere near the Easter bunny.

Easter morning

 My favorite Easter moment this year: Fisher thought the marshmallow Peeps were little stuffed animals. He was snuggling them and rubbing them on his face, which is what he does with all his stuffed animals. Then he saw Jackson bite one of the Peep bunny heads off and he was momentarily mortified, until he realized it was just puffy sugar coated with sugar. Then he was happy to eat one.

Easter brunch at the Laurel Village

More egg hunting

Celebrating at Saltys

A couple weeks ago, we had cause for celebration. Both dental and medical match days were over, and we all had good news. So we went with a few of our good friends and celebrated. Salty's has been on our bucket list for quite a while, but it's a bit of a splurge, so I'm glad we waited until we had something big to celebrate. It was so fun and so worth it. We are really going to miss Seattle and our amazing friends.

Enjoying Alki Beach after the brunch

Evidence that the chocolate fountain was enjoyed

The adorable girls and the boys-who-can't-look-at-the-camera

I'm so proud of Tyler and all of his hard work. He is amazing at taking care of our little family.

Because I Haven't Posted In A Really Long Time

Fisher thinks he is SO funny

Jackson is such a handsome little man

Balancing... awesome idea, Fish. It only ends in tears 40% of the time.

Just because

Chilly day at the zoo. I'm not sure who told me I could leave the house looking like that, but we had fun anyway.

Cafe Rio party, complete with pinatas. PinataS is plural because there was definitely an adult pinata as well as a kids pinata. And the grown-ups actually went for it. Video to come, hopefully... if I ever get around to uploading it. It's like my mom said, "I think all adults secretly want to smash a good pinata and scramble for candy." Those weren't her exact words, but that was the general idea. She was right.

Preschool Fieldtrip

Jackson's preschool is amazing. We were so luck to stumble upon it, thanks to one of my friends. Last week, Jackson had a fieldtrip downtown, and my fabulous friend, Jenny, watched Fisher so that I could go with Jackson. It was pretty fun to ride the bus and see the amazing gingerbread house and teddy bear suite.

Beauty & the Beast - These gingerbread houses are crazy elaborate.

Alice in Wonderland Castle

Walking around downtown during the holiday season is pretty fun

The teddy bear suite was amazing. None of the pictures of it turned out, but it's awesome to see.

Fisher likes to go to the open gym at Jackson's preschool on Wednesdays, although he's not a fan of the bouncy houses. He usually dives out face first onto the gym floor when I try to put him in one.

Jackson's fashion sense is amazing. Snow boots & basketball shorts. He rocks this look pretty frequently.

I love this hat.

More Photo Attempts: Jackson & Fisher

Fisher wasn't loving it

I'm a little obsessed with matching clothing, ever since I realized this is probably the last year of Jackson fitting into 5T clothing while Fisher wears 18 months, which means I have an endless supply of matching toddler clothing. Once Jackson moves up into big boy clothing, that game will be over. So I went a little crazy at Gap's Black Friday sale.

Sometimes a photo perfectly captures their personalities