Watsons in Washington

May 2010

2010-11-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

In May Michael and I celebrated our fourth anniversary, and my 27th birthday. Honestly it's hard for me to remember how old I am any more since I passed 25, not too sure why. I'm sure I'll remember when it's my turn to turn 30.

The best part of May though was flying down to see my sister's first baby Eli. I got to be with them for four wonderful days. Stupidly I only took pictures once, and my sister wasn't awake at the time.

Such a proud Poppa

And here he is a enjoying his bath about a month later ( I think).Poor Michael didn't have such a good time while I was gone. Dade's sleep schedule has always been a bit of a struggle, but at the time I left he was doing just fine. Milk, books, song -then bed worked every night. Then Mommy went away and he decided that sleep wasn't something he was going to choose. I'm very thankful that Michael was able to take time off of work to watch Dade while I was gone, but I don't think he'll let me leave again for so long. I loved seeing my sister's new lovely house, and to be able to help a little with Eli. If California wasn't so bad off right now, we might just have to live there to be close to them.

Here is our anniversary celebration. The card that Michael picked is very true to life, but the cover hogging goes both ways. ;)

Here is Dade in May after a bath - Gotta love his crazy hair
Dade's favorite thing ever was kicking his soccer ball.

April 2010

2010-10-19T08:57:00.001-07:00

For some reason I don't have any pictures from December to April. I know that Winter this past year lasted way too long, but that shouldn't cause such an absence.

In April we flew as a family to Texas to see Michael's sister get married. The flight there went better than expected because of a borrowed DVD player, mountains of books and snacks.

The flight back was only terrible because we had to sit on the Tarmac for an hour to wait out a thunderstorm, and the DVD player's batteries died halfway home. We found the electrical outlet only after calling the stewardess. Many thanks to whoever thought of putting an outlet on a plane.

Lisa's wedding was beautiful, and would have been more enjoyable had Dade not been a complete hellion. There was a fountain in the courtyard of the country club, and all Dade wanted to do was throw everything into the water. Everything including grass, rocks, snacks, and of course himself.

Here is a picture of the entire Watson side. We waited till everyone else was set up and then ran in with Dade. Oh well, at least everyone else looks very nice.
Dade's Uncle John did get a couple of really cute pictures. Dade discovered that his cousin had Thomas the train shoes on, which he thought were the coolest thing ever. And John actually got a good picture of our family.

The Holidays

2009-12-27T10:12:00.000-08:00

And then the holidays were upon us. We went Halloween day to pick out a pumpkin. It was hard to find a time that Michael and I could go at the same time, and the time we found was a very muddy day.Dade had already picked out a couple of miniature pumpkins from the grocery store, and had lost of fun running around and picking up muddy pumpkins at the patch. I really wanted to go so that I could turn a real pumpkin, instead of a can, into a pie. I bought two, and gave one to my sister. It was very tasty, and I had some left over to make a pumpkin pie shake. Very good also. Michael didn't care for the shake too much, but liked the pie. Dade did not have a halloween costume this year. We couldn't think of anything that we wanted to make or buy, and he didn't really have anywhere to wear it. As far as trick-or-treating, Dade doesn't eat candy, and Michael and I certainly didn't need any.

We don't have any pictures from Thanksgiving, but had a very good dinner at my sisters house.

Then Christmas preperations were under way. Gotta love tinsel and lights.
This is the picture that we used for our Christmas cards. A couple of people said that they didn't even notice the tree at first.

We had a very nice Christmas morning thanks to generous family members. Dade didn't really understand the whole wrapped present thing, but enjoyed the toys that we unwrapped for him.

He started with one train...

and ended with a whole train set complete with tracks. We set up the tracks for him, and he rarely leaves the table.No snow on Christmas this year, but you won't hear me complaining. It's either none or too much when it comes to snow. My family in KS is definitely in the too much category right now.

New years is just a couple of days away. It's been a very eventful year, and hopefully next year will go even better.

September Fun

2009-12-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that you can tell by the length of time between the last post and this one, that we've been very busy. So I'll just quickly catch up with some of my favorite days.

For Dade's birthday in August his Mimi Watson got him a tricycle.He loved it from day one, and used it all summer.
He got very good at driving himself, and especially loved going backward.

Another activity that we tried to do on every warm day was visit the local water park. He was usually apprehensive at first, but would be soaked by the end.

Sometimes we would bring his trike with us and he would ride it through the water.

One fine Day we decided to try something new and headed off to Whidby Island. Dade really loved the ferry.
We tried to find a good hiking trail, but got very lost among all the campgrounds. Eventually we found a map and followed a very steep trail down to the beach.

The beach was perfect, and you can tell by this last picture that Dade had a lot of fun.
That was really the end of Summer. We still went to the park on mildly warm days for him to ride his trike. Here is a video of his backwards expertise.

Happy Birthday

2009-08-22T09:01:00.001-07:00

So the last post I was complaining about no camera, I forgot about our old camera that was stuck in the back of the closet. It's almost impossible to take a good picture with this camera. Someday I would really love to have a well functioning camera.

Anyway, we used this camera to document Dade turning two. As I said before it was a very low key day.Dade really loves his train set!

And of course birthday balloons are fun to wrestle with.

And here we all are with the remains of Dade's cake.

I bought a little personal sized cake from Central Market. We cut it in half so Michael and I could share, and so Dade wouldn't have a tummy ache. It was really yummy.

Yeah for birthdays. Maybe next year we'll have a party. Dade will actually know what's happening and will care more.

Dade has changed so much this year. He's learned so much more about how to get around in the world since his last birthday. He has definitely improved on his climbing skills for one. He has also become very adept at letting us know what he wants, even though he doesn't talk yet.

He loves to run and spin and play outside. I love to make him smile and laugh. It's so much fun to have him in our family.

2009-08-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

You'd think with it being so long since I've posted we have so many fun pictures from the Summer...well guess again.

Here is one of the last pictures from our little camera before I dropped it into the Puget Sound in June.

This is Dade helping my good friend Ely dig out a geoduck to check out. I didn't get any pictures of the gigantic clam like creature, but if you want to see one just google. (it's pronounced gooey duck - go figure)
This Summer has been pretty busy. I work three days a week and only see michael after 9:30 at night, unless it's Sunday. Sunday is the only day we have off together. There have been lots of visits to the park, the pool, and the beach. But even after all that time outside only got a very nice farmers tan on my arms. I hope that the warm weather isn't over for the year. It's been raining and chilled all week. Such is Seattle I guess.
Last weekend Michael flew to Alabama to see his lovely oldest niece get married. He had a great time with family, but really didn't like the humidity. I chose not to go with him because then Dade would have gone too. It would have been really nice to see Michael's family, but not so nice to travel with an almost 2 year old. Especially since his terrible twos are here in full force.
It's almost funny how mad he gets about the weirdest things. The other day I started whistling and he yelled and fell on the ground until I stopped. I guess he doesn't have an appreciation for my tunes. But on the other end he is growing so fast, and learning new things all the time. On Sunday in nursery we sang "roll your hands" a couple of times, and all day today he has been doing the action. I started singing the song every time he started rolling his hands and he just loves it. He'll laugh and then fall on the ground. hmm, I think he just likes falling down.
The next trip planned is me flying to KS to see my best friend get married Sept 25th. I'm so excited to see my parents and KS family. I wasn't sure if I would be able to go, but my boss gave me a very nice bonus this week for holding down the fort. The rest of the girls from work (all 8 of them) went to Vegas for the work trip. They left Wednesday morning, and so I worked alone Wed and today. I was invited, but since I don't gamble or drink I figured I'd be more of a downer then anything. There is only so much time you can spend by the pool and read before you get bored.
DADE TURNS TWO TOMORROW! I can't believe it's been two years since our baby Dade joined our family. Last year we did a big party, and this year we have nothing planned. We were thinking about having people over on Sunday for cupcakes, but sick kids brought that plan up short. It's okay though, We'll just buy a couple of fancy cupcakes and get a balloon for him. That should be good. He does have a couple of presents to open, hopefully he likes his gifts.

When you have little kids the days are long and the years are short.

Who know where we'll be this time next year, but hopefully by then Dade will be talking instead of yelling.

spinning is so fun

2009-05-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Dade invents new games all the time. Sometimes they are not the best, such as climbing on chairs, but his newest invention was just too funny. Sorry the camera was shaking so badly, I was laughing too hard.( no toddlers were harmed in the making of this film)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun this past weekend, even though Michael had to work for most of it.

On Saturday night our friends came and stayed here while we went to see Star Trek for our anniversary date. We both really liked the movie, and I'd recommend it to anyone -trekkie or not.

Then on Sunday after church we went to Richmond beach to enjoy some sun. Dade didn't have as much fun as I would have hoped. It might have been because he is always grumpy when he takes a short nap after church, but I think it bugged him the the water was so close to us at high tide. Usually at the beach he'll go stand by the water a couple of times, but it's too loud and unpredictable. Mostly he sat on my lap and covered my legs with sand. and later he let me return the favor.

He was very interested by how the sand felt in between his toes. By the way, did you notice anything different in that picture. We'll for one thing it's me with Dade, and for another it's me with really short hair. That picture doesn't do my hair cut much justice, but I'm really enjoying having short hair again. Michael got a pretty good picture of Dade's curls. and of Dade letting us know that it was time to pack up
He decided to wear Daddy's sun glasses on the way home. Such a cool dude.
Monday Michael worked all day at Guitar Center, and I worked all day cleaning the house. I decided not to go anywhere since it was so busy everywhere. Then yesterday I had a really fun day with my friend Ely. We went to the aquarium where Dade proceeded to ignore all of the fish and even the larger sea mammals. oh well. It was fun for us at least.
Michael and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Monday. It's hard to believe that it's already been three years, but then again Dade is almost two.

a walk in the woods

2009-05-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

I heard about a fun short walk through the woods that is just a little ways from our house. A couple of weekends ago we decided to try it out. It took awhile to find the trail head, and so Dade wasn't as excited until he found a giant stick to drag around.

doesn't Dade make a cute hiker?

The woods were very peaceful and we were having a fun calm walk...until

Dade discovered the stream. He was mostly content to put his stick in the water, but I had to keep my hand on him so he wouldn't step in himself. Last smiles!!

birthday fun

2009-05-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Last year I almost forgot about my birthday, but this year I was reminded often by coworkers, friends, and family.

Last Wednesday I arrived at work to find my desk covered in streamers, balloons, and presents.

My new coworkers weren't too sure what I would like for my birthday, but they did a great job with cute frames, reed scent diffusers, and comfortable PJ bottoms.

Then on Sunday Michael made a yummy breakfast, I got a big chocolate bar at church (since it was mothers day as well), and then we went to my sister Sarah's house for dinner and cake. She made me Shepherd's Pie just like mom used to make. Then a delicious carrot cake for dessert.

She also gave me Twighlight the movie, and a cool book of patterns for little crochet patterns.

It was really nice to have everything drawn out over the week.

Now I'm going to get a haircut with birthday money. Hopefully my stylist and I can figure out a good really short style to try. A coworker is taking a head shot of everyone on Monday for the website, if that picture turns out I'll post a link.

2009-05-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

I had lots of fun at work today!

We have weekly chores that rotate, and this week mine was washing the windows. I decided to be brave and washed the outside windows too since my boss bought that windex outdoor scrubber. (It's awesome by the way if anyone has big windows) I did a good job I think even though I almost fell down on top of a car, and was chased around by a bee. Then later we had the door open since it's so nice today and a yellow jacket snuck in. I tried to be the brave one, and since it landed by one of the lights on the ceiling I tried to catch it. It fell in the cup that I was using, that I then dropped because it startled me. We closed all of the blinds so he couldn't see the windows, and turned off the lights and he went outside.

A very eventful day since I'm allergic to bees.

Warm days

2009-04-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here in Washington we've had a very slow starting Spring. Every week we'll have one or two decent days, then back to cold and rainy. Two weekends ago I took Dade to the Beach, which turned into less relaxing and more wrestling him away from other peoples things. First it was a shovel (even though I brought one with us), then a ball, then another ball, then a stroller. He also at one point wanted to run into the water. Next time we'll go on a less crowded day. But that does explain why the only pictures I really got were when we first got there and he was content to sit and dig with his own shovel.

The next weekend Michael went with us to a park where Dade loves to swing, and again play in the sand. I really don't understand why playground sand seems so much dirtier than beach sand.

The weather is very tricky. Right now it's looks really nice outside, but it's still jacket weather with the cold wind. We might go out to play later.

a good mother

2009-04-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

"Everybody know that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter, she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person n the whole world or in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children's hands from anybody else's clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her collar or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better. And often when a child wants her this is all a mother has time to give. She is always moving. She has so many things to do. She can't sit down in a chair and talk nonsense right in the middle of a busy day. Sometimes a child has a great urge to talk what its mother calls nonsense. Sometimes even a child's worry about death and about the beginning and the end of the universe seems like nonsense to the busy mother when she knows by taking one quick animal sniff of him that there is nothing wrong with him."

The above is a quote from The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway. If you ever get the chance I would suggest picking up this book. It's an autobiography of a very insightful woman.

the benefits of blog surfing

2009-03-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

(you can click on the article to make it bigger)

I was following random links from my friend's blog the other day and found a really cool post that I wanted to share. I thought it was really cool and wanted to share it. Sometimes I can't figure out why I'm so tired at the end of the day, when I can look around and not see anything tangible accomplished. This is why.

happenings

2009-03-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

We received our tax refund last week and were really excited to not only pay all of our bills at once, but to look for a new couch. Unfortunately all of the couches that would be worth it to get are $500, which is just too much to spend on one thing right now. So instead we got a new computer chair from Target. I didn't take any pictures of the old chair for comparison, but believe me when I say that it was dead. Dade has found a new favorite place to play, and a new game involving being disobedient. He will stand on the arms of the chair and when you walk towards him to get him off, he will laugh hilariously.

In other news last Wednesday we had Dade evaluated for speech delay, and then today I took him to the Children's Hospital for a hearing test. He can hear just fine, but he does qualify for help with his speech. A therapist will come here once a week and "play" with Dade. They'll also help Michael and I learn how to help Dade more. I'm sure that he is just fine, but I really would like to be able to communicate with him better. And by better I mean Dade having more words than "Uh-oh", and "this".

Two weeks till Spring and this is what we had to deal with Sunday morning ~10:30

The snow flakes were huge and really wet. I found out the next day that there was a Saint Patty's day run - in the snow.
This next picture is the same day at around 4:30.Who knows what the weather will do next.

I got a job! yea! I am working in an off site medical billing office. I like my work for the most part. With any job there are always a couple of things that are necessary, but not fun. I also really like my boss, and most of my coworkers. And the last plus and the biggest is that as of March 20th I will only have to walk 1/2 mile to work. Michael is still working two jobs, and is staying up late every night to work on his side projects. Right now Michael and his business partner are trying to impress a band by mixing one of their songs so that they can get paid to mix the whole album. The good news is that Michael is being considered for a management position at Guitar Center -then he could quit Aaron Brothers. Life would be less stressful, and we would see him more. plus plus.

All in all life is going well right now. Busy, but I have been happier these past few weeks.

My next plan is to start working out 3 mornings a week. Nothing big, just 30 min on the elliptical before work. We'll see how I do.

I'll leave you with a video of Dade rocking his way. He loves to do things his own way.

SNOW!

2009-03-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

As I was walking out to my car to go to work this morning it started snowing. Apparently it is supposed to be Spring in just two weeks, but I don't buy it. It wasn't snowing at work, but around 10 AM it really started coming down. Up North in Lake Stevens (North of where we live) they actually had to close some roads down. By the time I left work at 4:30 it was sunny with no snow anywhere. It was really funny driving home to see cars coming from the North covered in snow, and all the cars from the South free and clear. There was about an inch on the ground in Lynnwood, but I'm sure it will be gone tomorrow. I don't think I could want a warm day anymore than I do now.

More on my job and other recent happenings later on this week.

growing up is hard to do...

2009-02-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

I'm looking ahead to when Dade will be able to understand reasoning. Like, "if you throw your food on the floor, than you are done eating", or "when you pull up the drain on the tub, the water drains, then bath time is over." I know that Dade is growing by leaps and bounds. All I have to do is visit my Sister and her brand new baby boy to see how far a year and a half can take you. I just feel like if he could only understand me, and could communicate with me what he wants, life would be less stressful. My not so great attitude may have something to do with the fact that Dade woke up 3 times last night. Once Michael sat with him, then I rocked him for an hour before laying him back down. He's been sick this week, or we would have let him put himself back to sleep. Saturdays are also the longest day of the week, since Michael works all day, and its hard to go out because everyone else in Lynnwood is out. The bright side of today was the walk that I took with Dade (even though it was cold), we went down a side street and all I could hear was the wind and the birds. The moment made me really miss the quiet out by Clinton Lake in Lawrence.

Now for family updates, the biggest is that Michael now has two jobs. Most of the week he is at Guitar Center, and the rest he is at Aaron Bros Framing. He is also starting a recording/mixing business with a former classmate from the Art Institute. If your interested you can check out their my space page at www.myspace.com/penguinaudioservices.com

I've been job hunting the past couple of weeks, and finally have an interview on Tuesday. It's for an offsite medical billing office. I'll probably be doing to same kinds of things that I did at my job in Texas, I just won't be in a Dr's office. I think that will take the stress down a few notches not having patients and front office people. I really hope that I do well in my interview since I've gotten really lucky getting my last couple of jobs.

The biggest news of all is that Michael shaved his mustache. He just felt like it was time, and I wasn't about to argue.

Last Friday Michael was off and so we went to the Bellevue children's museum. It is free after 5 pm on Fridays so we felt it would be worth it. It is smaller, but full of fun areas. Dade really loved the music room, and patiently waited his turn on this drum set. Then we took him over to the water area where the aprons were all one size, huge. He had fun painting rocks with water, but couldn't bend down to pick up anything because the apron was so stiff. It was a funny sight.

Can you see the curly hairs on the back of his head? I can actually play with his hair now, its very exciting.

This next picture I took a few weeks ago and is Michael's current favorite. Dade really loves his books, and also loves to climb.

Lastly here is a video of Dade's new hideout. Just an FYI after this video I cleared out everything metal, so now Dade has a fun Safe place to play.

The Life of a Day

2009-01-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

In December I went to my sister's book club, where everyone brought a poem to share. One of the books that my sister chose from was; Good Poems -selected by Garrison Keillor.

I used to listen to Garrison Keillor read poetry on NPR as I drove to work in Houston. I've never been much of a fan reading poems, but it's always good to expand your horizons. I borrowed the book from my sister and have found a favorite that I wanted to share.

Its called The Life of a Day by Tom Hennen.

Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can easily be seen if you look closely. But there are so few days as compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it would be surprising if a day were not a hundred times more interesting than most people. But usually they just pass, mostly unnoticed, unless they are wildly nice, like autumn ones full of red maple trees and hazy sunlight, or if they are grimly awful ones in a winter blizzard that kills the lost traveler and bunches of cattle. For some reason we like to see days pass, even though most of us claim we don't want to reach our last one for a long time. We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this isn't one I've been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the next , when, we are convinced, our lives will start for real. Meanwhile, this day is going by perfectly well-adjusted, as some days are, with the right amount of sunlight and shade, and a light breeze scented with a perfume made from the mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak leaves, and the faint odor of last night's meandering skunk.

I still prefer poetry that isn't too complicated. Here is one that Sarah read at the meeting that I also like. It's called I Stop Writing the Poem -by Tess Gallagher

to fold the clothes. No matter who lives

or who dies, I'm still a woman.

I'll always have plenty to do.

I bring the arms of his shirt

together. Nothing can stop

our tenderness. I'll get back

to the poem. I'll get back to being

a woman. But for now

there's a shirt, a giant shirt

in my hands, and somewhere a small girl

standing next to her mother

watching to see how it's done.

I copied this poem as printed because I'm sure that the author had her reasons how she organized the lines.

With most books that I read it's pretty straightforward what everything is intended to mean. With some poetry there are many different levels, and it's interesting to have Michael read the same poem that I've just read and talk about it.

The good parts of vacation....

2009-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here is the happier post that I promised. Now that Dade is feeling better(apart from still taking his medicine) I've had time to download the trip pictures. Unfortunately most of the pictures didn't turn out since our camera isn't really the greatest. Also I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted since Dade got so sick.

Here is Dade and Brielle playing in the airport play area since everyone's flight was delayed.

Here is Grandpa Thurman, Poppa Bob, and Uncle John fryin' a turkey. When in Texas...
The turkey looked a little scary after, but it was really yummy.

Here are some pictures of the family. I really wanted to take some with everyone gathered, but I ended up upstairs with a screaming Dade Here is Michael and Dade meeting new cousin Xander held by Cousin Katie.

We went to Dallas to see my brother's family and my parents.

Here is Michael reading to Joel's daughter Maeve.

Here is my brother Joel and his wife Cynthia with my newest nephew Jude.

And here is my mom working her magic with baby Jude.

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of my Dad, Michael's mom, and most of Michael's sisters. If anyone has any good pictures of family from Christmas week I would be very grateful if you could email them to me. someday I'll have a camera that takes decent pictures all the time, and not have a sick child. We loved spending time with our families this Christmas and look forward to our next reunion. love to all.

Vacation?

2008-12-30T07:05:00.001-08:00

We left Seattle last Monday for Houston. Our plane was supposed to take off at 6:06, was delayed till 7, and didn't leave the ground until 8. The only good part about being delayed was that our friends the Streadbecks were there too, and we got to hang out for a bit. We landed around 2AM on Tues and haven't had a full nights sleep yet. Dade had some eye goopies that first night, but we weren't sure what it was. He wasn't acting too sick, just cranky to be in a new bed. Then on Thursday he started to cough, and not sleep at night. By Friday he had a fever of 104 even with regular doses of Tylenol. That night Michael and his Dad and brother-in-laws gave Dade a blessing, and he slept well that night. The next day we were supposed to Drive to Dallas to see Joel and Cynthia's baby boy be blessed, and to see my parents. Saturday Morning Dade seemed better so we went. We had a really nice time with my family and left right after lunch on Sunday for Houston. Dade's sickness was getting worse, and even with Curious George playing he cried all the way home. Yesterday Michael's sister Laura called her pediatrician and got us in. We now know that Dade has horrible ear infections in both ears most likely caused by a nasty virus. The virus has also caused him to have a horrible croupy cough, stuffed up nose so it's hard to sleep, and a low fever. This is a new experience for Michael and I since Dade has never been sick before. The only time he's had Tylenol before was when he got his shots. We're now dosing him with three different medicines several times a day. We leave Wednesday at 5pm, as long as there aren't any more winter storms with delays all around. Hopefully the antibiotics will have taken affect by then, and the plane ride won't be miserable.
I know that was a whole lot of not fun stuff, and really its been wonderful to be here with Michael's family. They have all been extremely helpful with Dade, even taking care of the sicky so Michael and I can go out alone. I just wish that Dade wasn't so miserable so that Michael could be more relaxed on this "vacation". I'll definitely post some family pictures and talk about Christmas later on when we are back home. Hopefully the next couple of days Dade will feel better and we'll get to sleep more.

2008-12-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while since I've been able to update since our PC busted. I'm now using Michael's Mac and it's taking some getting used to. Right now if I had my way I would be on a good old lap top, but it's not really worth the $200 it would take to fix it.

Today was Michael's graduation day from the Art Institute. Unfortunately due to inclement weather the school canceled the ceremonies. They are allowed to walk in the March graduation ceremony, and I think Michael will. After all what good is a cap and gown unless you walk across a stage and pick up your diploma. Here is Michael explaining, and Dade's first walk in the snow.

We took our laptop to Best Buy for data extraction so that we could save all of the pictures and videos of Dade. We would have been really sad to lose memories. Such as these pictures...

Like Dade talking on the Streadbecks play phone,

getting ready to go out. ;)

and being just oh so cute.

My friend Heidi let us borrow her nice camera and tripod to take our own Christmas pictures. We went to Howarth Beach in Everett, and even though it was a little chilly the sun was out. I'm not going to post the picture that we chose since that would ruin the surprise of our Christmas card, but I will post a couple of cool pictures from that day.

Dade had fun until he fell down in the wet sand, and got really cold.

I think this will do for now. We'll be leaving for Houston on Monday, so I'm not sure when I'll get another chance to blog... So Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

word of caution

2008-12-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. Michael and I have been trying to save all the pictures and videos off the laptop that crashed last week. One day I turned on the computer and it just wouldn't work. Michael tried taking it to some friends from work, who said that they have never seen a virus like it. Not good news since all of Dade's videos, and most of our recent pictures are on that computer. We haven't given up hope yet, but I haven't had any new pictures to publish. So as a word of caution -Back up ALL your important files off your computer.

then and now

2008-11-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago in late July, while I was still pregnant, Michael and I took a family self portrait at Martha Lake. It was just a couple of weeks before Dade officially joined our family.

Then a couple of weeks ago we took another family portrait in the same spot.
It's pretty fun to think of all that has changed in a little over a year. I love my little family, and try to remember how blessed we all are.

Halloween

2008-11-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of fun this Halloween season starting with a church playgroup party on the 22nd. It was a soup and bread potluck, and we brought our yummy veggie chili-though only Michael ate it. There were so many cute costumes with lions, elephants, cowboys, and princesses. Dade dressed up in his fisherman overalls, carrying a bamboo pole with a salmon attached. Though he didn't keep his hat on for longer then this picture, he was still pretty cute.
There was also a set of bowling pins that was very popular.

After the party we helped put everything away, and Dade helped sweep the gym. When Dade saw this huge broom he was so excited. His most favorite thing to play with is any broom, so you can imagine how sad he was to leave.

This past Monday we went as a family to a u-pick pumpkin patch that was pretty well picked over. There were a lot of cool things that would have been open on the weekend, but on Monday afternoon we were almost the only ones there. Michael tried to let Dade ride in the wheelbarrow, but he wouldn't have it. Proving what a strong boy he is he tried to push it himself. Michael helped a little.

Then he helped us pick out just the right pumpkin.
We never ended up carving the pumpkin, but Dade loves to roll it around and sit on it.
Last night we were going to go to the ward's trunk-or-treat, but got a call from the Spujts saying that it was already winding down at 7. So with Dade already in his super cute monkey costume, and Michael and I in cowboy attire we headed to the Mill Creek Town center for trick-or-treating. There weren't too many stores still handing out candy by the time we got there at 7:30, but really I just wanted to show off how cute Dade was. As parents it's nice to hear even if you already know it.
The pictures that I got of Dade in the house were not that great thanks to poor lighting, and a cheap camera. Also its hard to take a good picture of a moving target.
Here is Dade with his favorite broom, and another of Michael the cowboy and Dade the monkey.
Just in case you were wondering Michael's mustache is the real deal. he and a few friends from school decided to grow mustaches this semester. We'll see how long it lasts, but it really doesn't look bad. It definitely works with his costume.
Sorry this post turned out to be so long, but we had a lot of fun this year.

Beach Cookout

2008-10-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Dade and I were invited to go with the Streadbecks and Spujts to the beach for a cookout. It was my first time at a beach bonfire and I really had fun. We got there around 4:45, with the sun nicely up and warm, and stayed until the sun was gone. We went to Richmond beach that had a firepit at the shelter, so we weren't directly on the sand.

Here are Brielle, Dade, Amie, Madilyn, Heidi, and Hyrum by the water. I was pretty proud of all the kids for not running into the water. Dade just stood at the edge and watch the waves. While we were playing by the water, the Heidi and Amie's husbands were making fire. Michael had to work that Saturday, or I'm sure he would have been playing too.

Somehow hotdogs cooked over an open flame taste better. At least that's what Dade must have thought since he stole Hyrum's hotdog.
Later we roasted marshmellows for smores, and the boys took this opportunity for more fire.

Here is Russell coming back with just enough wood ;

We had to wait for awhile for the flames to die down to coals for roasting. By the time we were done the sun was gone, and putting out the fire was a little tricky.

As the sun was setting I witnessed the perfect Seattle moment-

Goodbye Summer

2008-10-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

The tree outside our window is bare, which can only mean one thing...The End of Summer!

Because so many of the trees up here are pine trees, we don't really get the full Fall effect. It just starts getting colder and it rains more often.

I haven't posted in awhile and wanted to catch up on some pictures that I didn't post yet. Michael's bro-in-law John surprised his wife Julia with a trip to Seattle and we got to visit with them. Dade really liked his Aunt and Uncle.

That visit was at the beginning of August, but I have been remiss in posting that cute picture.
On Labor Day we got together with our friends from the ward for an end of Summer bash. The food was good, the weather was nice, badminton was fun. The only bad thing was that Michael got ~15 mosquito bites on one arm. Luckily they weren't enormous Texas mosquitoes, but then he would have seen them coming.

Here is Dade with his friends Gabe, Maddy, Hyrum, and Briele (SP?).
Here I am playing Badminton with Paige, Heidi, and Amy. It was funny the difference between how we played and how the boys played. Mostly we would stand still and watch the birdie fall, while the boys went all out as you can see below.

Recently Dade and I went to the zoo with the Spujts, Streadbecks, and Paige. We had lots of fun watching the animals. I was most excited about finally seeing the miniature cows!

It might be kind of hard to tell how small they were, but this next picture shows that I was actually taller then the cow. pretty cool huh?

I've been thinking about babies a lot recently since I know so many women who are pregnant. I just want to end this post with a picture of Dade from his very first day.
Okay, maybe two.

On another note I wanted to let everyone know that Michael got straight A's last Semester and is on the Dean's list. I'm so proud of all the work that he has put into his schoolwork. I guess the big secret is to find something that you love doing.
love to you all.
Joy- and family.

Good clean fun

2008-09-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

I was kneeling in front of the computer (since Dade won't let us sit on anything higher than the floor) when I looked to see what Dade was up to. I found him in his toy basket playing with his most favorite thing ever

a computer mouse. Its fun when Dade discovers new tricks that are way cute. Though not as much fun when he figures out tricks like climbing into chairs, and on top of ottomans. It's the good clean fun of climbing into toy baskets that I like the best.
Michael only has two weeks left in this semester and the stress level in our house has shot up. He doesn't have finals really, just a lot of projects that he has to finish. Unfortunately when he is home during the day it's hard for him to work because Dade just won't stand for being left out of playing on the computer. We may have to move Michael's computer into the bedroom for a little while.
This past week has been beautiful with every day sunny and ~70. I think it's pretty safe to say that Summer is over here in Washington, not that I'm complaining. Just as long as Fall lasts more then a couple of weeks.
I recently bought some cloth grocery bags from Fred Meyer. Now I don't feel awful grocery shopping because it doesn't take 6 plastic bags to get home. Also because they are so strong we can use them for all sorts of things like trips to the beach, and as an indoor swing.

I don't think you can tell from this picture by Dade now has hair all over his head. It's still very light, but in the sun it looks a little red. Maybe he'll actually need a hair cut by the time he's two. ;)

The Funnies

2008-08-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of comic stips that I read regularly online. One of them is on Comics.com called Boy on a stick and Slither that usually makes me chuckle. It's definitely not lighthearted and maybe a little cynical, but still pretty funny. One a couple of days ago made me laugh, so I decided to post it. Enjoy!

(There is also the official website www.boasas.com if you wish to read the older strips)

and another just because.

Doctor visit

2008-08-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

Dade and I just got back from the Dr's, and the official numbers are in. Dade is 24.04 lbs, and 30.5 in tall. He is still in the 75% even though it feels like he is in the 90th for weight.

The visit went okay because we both really like Dr. Reese, but shots are no fun. He is a pretty brave boy though, he only cried while on the table. As soon as I picked him up he started to calm down, and then eating a rice cake helped the rest of the way. Before the shots I tried to demonstrate Dade's cough by running him up and down the hall, trying to tickle him, and have him jump on the table. I felt pretty foolish since it didn't work, but she listened to his lungs anyway and didn't hear anything bad. I'll just pay attention better to what exactly brings on his coughs, and next time maybe we can demonstrate.

We had our Summer here last week when it got to 100 in some places. Here is only got to ~90, but it was plenty hot. Right now its back to normal at 72 and it's supposed to rain all week. It's really nice not to have all the fans on anymore, and not be sweaty all the time.

Here is the address to my youtube page with all sorts of fun videos of Dade. Including his newest video that shows just how good he can walk. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/user/joylwatson

Dades Birthday Days

2008-08-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today is Dade's first birthday and I can't really believe it. It doesn't seem like it has been a year. He has gotten too big really, and he is walking all the time now. I can remember just a couple months ago having bad dreams about Dade walking because that would mean that he is growing up. I know how silly that sounds, but I promise I am trying to enjoy everything now and not just worrying about whats to come.
We had a party for him last Saturday that we invited ward friends to. We had it at the apartment complex clubhouse since our apartment is so small. We had ~20 people come and really had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures including Dade's cake that I made. I found the recipe online and I think it turned out pretty well.

Above you see Dade's cake, and below is Dade with his cake. We couldn't light any candles, but we sang him Happy Birthday.

This is the craft table that we set up for the older kids. Everything was jungle themed, and they had pictures of lions, hippos, monkeys, etc. to color and decorate.
I have to say that without Sarah I don't think that the party would have turned out as well. She may not feel that she did much, but just having her there to turn to with questions calmed me down immeasurably.
Today was pretty laid back since Michael had the car at school all day. Mostly we just played with Dade's new toys. Here is his newest cute face that Grandma Donna taught him while she was visiting. She bought this fire engine for him that goes by itself when you push the driver. He is wearing his new PJs from Grandma April which are really cute.

When Michael got home around 5 we all went to dinner at Claim Jumpers. We got a chocolate cupcake to take home since I really didn't feel like making another cake. Here is Dade enjoying his birtday treat.

Thank you to everyone who sent us cards, and called to wish Dade a happy birthday. I'm positive that if he knew what was happening he would say thank you himself.

Love to you all.
Joy, Michael and Dade

Jetty Island

2008-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I usually don't take Dade to the Church playgroup because its during his morning nap. This week they went later so I got to join them on an adventure to Jetty Island. Jetty is a man made Island just off the coast of Everett (which is ~15 min North of Lynnwood). The beach is really sandy and the water is very shallow and warm. When we got there it was low tide and the water was really far away, as you can see here.
The sand out to the water was really mushy and hard to walk in. Also, there was seaweed all over farther out. Dade didn't really like the water too much because he couldn't walk very well in the mud, also the waves kept pushing him around. My friend Tammy took this picture of Dade and I.
After the other kids came down he had fun playing with them in shallower water, and then later he enjoyed playing in the sand. The return ferries were booked solid, but the playgroup had already gotten tickets home, or else we would have been stuck on the beach for 4 1/2 hours. As it was, we were there for ~3 hours and the kids were starting to melt down. Here is a picture of Hyrum and Dade playing together, and of Dade with his favorite beach toy-Notice how close the water is now, the tide came in really fast.

I covered Dade with sunscreen, but of course stupidly did not put any on myself. Suffice it to say, I am burned pretty bad. The back of my neck is the worst since my hair is so short. Michael was nice enough to go get me some Aloe Vera and it already feels better.
All-in-all it was a really fun trip, and I'll definitely try to go back this Summer with Michael. It's especially worth it since the ferry is free.

2008-08-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

We are now officially back in school mode in our house. Michael got an internship at a post house downtown called Clatter & Din. So far he has gotten to rearrange cupboards, get the clients lunch, and file paperwork. Hopefully within a couple of months he will actually get to sit in on meetings, or at least help in the studios. He is actually working there till late tonight at a party that Clatter & Din is having for clients. Mostly he'll be serving and cleaning up, but he will get a chance to get to know some big wigs.

My mom came to stay with Sarah and Jon's family from the 12th to the 29th, and dad came up from the 24th to the 29th. It was more fun than I can say to see them both. Dade loved his grandparents, though he was a little cautious at first. He is always shy of new people though.Mom stayed with me for a couple of days and I tried to show her my daily routine, but because Dade was so sleep deprived from being trucked around for a week, he wasn't really himself. Mom and I went to Richmond Beach with Dade and had a great time. It was cloudy that day and a little cold, but the fact that it was low tide made up for all of that. We got to see all sorts of Sea Anemones, clams, barnacles, and as we were leaving we saw a sea otter. We didn't see any live crabs, but plenty of crows looking for them. Here is mom helping Dade walk around the beach. He really liked to sit and throw rocks around, and taste them of course.
When Dad was here we all went back together with Sarah's family to play in the water. It was a really nice day and Madeline had fun splashing around. Poppy and Dade didn't like that water too much after a cruise ship went past and made really big waves. Poppy got knocked down and Dade just thought it was too loud. Here is a picture of everyone.
and here is a picture of the cruise ship that caused the huge waves.

We also all went to Snoqualmie falls, though only Michael and I actually went by the water. The rest of the family had gotten up early to work on the yard, and didn't really want to scale down huge boulders. (who knows why ;)

here is Michael getting a better view of things. We also went to the Seattle Science Center where Mom and Madeline sat on huge chairs, Michael tried to see how strong he really was, and the kids had a blast in the play area.

These pictures aren't really in order of when they happened, but the important thing is that they did. All in all it was a really great couple of weeks. And because mom said no pictures of herself here is just one more of my beautiful mother watching over baby Dade.

You may notice that I was missing from all the pictures, but that is not my fault. Being the unofficial photographer in this group, there just weren't any pictures of me. Not that I'm complaining.
Hope you enjoy the update.
Love to all
Joy
P.S. Dade now stands up in the middle of the room without using his hands, and then walks to where ever he wants to be. He doesn't always succeed, but he is getting mighty close.

Last Week Before School

2008-07-11T14:51:00.001-07:00

For the longest time we thought that Michael only had 2 weeks off between semesters, so imagine our excitement in discovering that he had another week off. Because he didn't know he had this extra time off he wasn't scheduled to work so we got to have fun this week. Dade was already in love with his dad and this week really made him more attached to Michael. It is especially good that Michael is home this week since Dade has been increasing his steps every day. Today he is up to four steps at a time! It's almost impossible to get a video though since he walks at such random times. If we try to stand him up to walk to the other parent, he just plops down to crawl.
So here is what we have been up to the last week or so. Last Thursday we went to the Seattle Art Museum to visit the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit. For the first time I listened to the audio clips that they have explaining the paintings, and I have to say that I got a whole lot more out of the experience. Michael was great and mostly wrangled Dade. He said that the guards glared at him all the time, which is just ridiculous since Dade wasn't even screaming.
On Friday we went to Sarah and Jon's house for the 4th. Michael bought a little $10 grill from Lowes so that we could grill up some chicken kabobs that we put together.
Here is a picture of Michael trying to light some charcoal (with Madeline's help). We brought some little fireworks for Madeline, but found out after we got there that they are illegal in Redmond. So we just did a few sparklers, snappers, and snakes.
On Monday we went to the Seattle Zoo and had a really great time. Dade was a lot more interested in the animals this time around. Especially the petting zoo. Michael helped him not grab hold of the goats too hard. He was just cracking up the whole time that he got to pet them. It was fun because all the ladies that worked there were laughing too. I enjoy Dade so much, and it's fun to see other people smile at him.

And here is a picture of the whole family that a nice lady took for us. It's nice to actually have a picture of me with the family since I'm usually the one behind the lens. This picture definitely shows just how pale the Watson's are. You can't even really see Dade. oh well.Dade also got to ride the Carousel with Michael, and loved that as well. I think it's funny that he doesn't get scared with new things that are loud and move fast, but if you laugh too loud all of the sudden he will cry.

Then on Tuesday we went to Howarth Park in Everett. We parked in the wrong lot for going to the beach and had quite a hike through the woods carrying bags and wearing sandals. This was Dade's first experience in the Puget Sound, and even though the water was freezing he had fun for little while.

I think that Dade had just as much fun on his Dad's shoulders after we got him dressed as he did in the water. Really Dade loves to people watch and meet dogs. On Tuesday night I went to Redmond to my sister Sarah's book club and had a really good time discussing Queen Noor's Autobiography. Then last night I went to my own ward's book club and voted on what books to keep on the list and which to change. I really like having two groups of really amazing women to discuss literature with. Tomorrow I plan on making Strawberry pie, and maybe we'll go back to the Green Lake wading pool.
It's been a great week and I'm not looking forward to Michael being back in school. I think he is kind of ready to get back to work because he is so close to finishing.
Lets end this post on a positive note - My Mom flies in tomorrow to spend two weeks with Sarah's family and us. I'm sure I couldn't be more excited.
Love,
Joy

Here is a video of Dade's first time in the water.

Fun at Green Lake

2008-07-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Michael, Dade, and I all went to Green Lake Park to try out the wading pool. Dade loves being in water, so he enjoyed himself. The only drawback is that the bottom was pretty rough concrete so his knees got a little scraped up. I'm sure that when he knows how to walk he will love the wading pool even more. Since Michael and I didn't really get to swim with Dade we all went to the apartment's pool later in the day. I took Dade to the pool by myself last week and I have to say it was a lot more fun with both of us there to play with him.

Here is a video of Dade and Michael walking around.

Some of you may have tried to watch Michael's video that was on earlier, and were unsuccessful. The video is just way too big to post here so we'll have to figure out something besides making a DVD and sending it around to everyone in turn.
We are going to be pretty busy the next couple of days getting ready for the 4th of July. Hope that everyone has a safe and fun holiday.

Joy

Joining the bandwagon

2008-06-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Michael and I decided that joining the blog sphere might be a good idea since most of our families live so far away. This way we can share pictures and videos of our baby Dade as he grows, plus Michael can post his projects from school. I'll probably be updating more often than Michael just because I'm home more, but it's still a family blog.
I thought that I would just tell a little about each member of our family. Let's start with the youngest and by far the cutest -

Here is our 10 1/2 month old son Dade Robert. Right now some of his favorite things are pushing around anything that he can stand up on, opening and closing doors, his dad coming home, being chased, strawberries, and the TV remote. Some things that he hates are other people closing doors so he can't cause mischief, taking naps, and having his diaper changed......that's really the worst one.

Here I am with Dade in Oct '07. I know that it's not the most recent picture of me, but this is one of my favorite pictures of us. This is how Dade used to sleep all of the time. We weren't very good at the sleep training thing until a couple of months ago. For the first while in this little guys life he would only sleep on people. I feel extremely blessed to be able to stay home with my son all day. I get to see all of his new discoveries, and even help him make some new ones. I like going to book club, walking at Greene Lake park, and watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Ellen".

Here is Michael in early Jan '08. I'm going to let Michael tell you about himself - Hello all, and welcome to our blog. I hope you find it informative and frequently updated with news, pictures, and videos. I've officially starting my second year at The Art Institute of Seattle this July. That's one year down and 6 mos to go! Currently, my time is occupied by school and all of my many projects. If you want to know what I do, just check out this blog for multi-track music recordings, film sound replacement, and even commercial voice-over ads. So in addition to my projects, I enjoy playing with Baby Dade, cooking for the family, occasionally going out to a movie, and especially playing the drums in the studio.

I hope that everyone is enjoying thier Summer so far. I took Dade to the pool today, and on Monday Michael and I are probably going to take him to Greene Lake Park to the wading pool. He just loves the water

Love to all

Joy, Michael, and Dade