All Moved In...well, almost.

Well, we have officially moved into our new house, and are still in the process of unpacking. Everything takes longer with kids, right? We finished painting Caleb's room, and once he learns how to sleep in there, we'll be good to go. :) We've got ourselves a lawnmower now and we are ready to do some serious yardwork...these boys are going to learn to weed!

I found the camera cords and was finally able to load some of the pictures from our time in the Uwajimaya Village apartments in downtown Seattle. The boys loved playing in the window sill.

The Adventures of K-Bob and Lee-mum

When last we saw our dynamic duo, K-Bob and Lee-mum (Caleb and Liam for those unfamiliar with the Liamese dialect), they were headed north in sunny weather. But, as they reached their destination (the local paint store), they were attacked by a random fierce hail storm, undoubtedly the work of their arch enemy, the evil doctor Indoorsio. Our brave heroes forged on through the elements, decided on a paint color (for K-Bob's batcave, of course), and even managed to locate the local toy store to rescue some Playdoh from deadly peril. And within no time at all the evil doctor's storm was destroyed and sunshine reigned supreme once again in the world of our fearless pair. And all before the midday nap! What a team!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Okay, so it's not Monday and it's actually not rainy either, but since it is Seattle that could change at any moment...well, the rainy part, at least. It's very weird because the move doesn't really feel quite real yet. Maybe it's because we are in temporary housing, so it just feels like a long vacation. Although, on no vacation would I choose to stay in Chinatown across from the major Bus and Train Stations in Downtown. Oh well. Chock it up to adventure, right?

We are in the process of purchasing a house...and boy what a process! The back and forth of signatures and revisions and approvals...and we haven't even gotten to the official title transfer sign-over thing-a-ma-process that takes place in the Escrow Office yet. Oy vey! But we found a house that we love, and we're very excited about it. So barring anything wrong with inspection next week, or any title problems, we will be homeowners soon (and, of course, "house poor"). We will close about a week after our temp housing arrangement is expired, so we will be homeless for a week or so...currently trying to figure out exactly what we'll do at that point. Oh well, one day at a time, right?

For those who were concerned (or joked) that Liam would not ever get to play outside because of the rain, you will be interested to know that on sunny days since we have been here, he's pretty content to climb into the window sill and watch buses and cars and people go by and yell instructions at them all (STOP, BUS! etc.), but on days when it is raining, he begins saying "My rain!" and clamouring to get outside and play in the rain and puddles. I think he'll be alright. :) Anyway, kind of a random entry but just thought I'd get some of the updates/thoughts etc. out while the boys are keeping each other busy. Love to all!

Goodbye, Sunshine! Hello, Rain!

Well, it's official...Pacific Northwest, here we come! We are so excited!! Andrew has accepted a job with Amazon in Seattle, WA and we will be moving in a little over a week! Ah, that's soon! Once the offer came, it has all gone rather quickly, but the company has a good relocation package and will be moving us, so much of the stress has been alleviated. Now, it is just all the finding things on the other end...a place to live, doctors, dentist, Target (bien sur), Costco, places we like to eat, parks for the kids to play, etc. This is out first move as a family (with children, that is), and probably the biggest, most-unknown move Andrew and I have made since we were married - we both did those crazy things separately, but not yet together. ;) Moving back to California doesn't count as scary, since it was not unknown to either of us. So, here we go! Great and scary times ahead! Wish us luck!!

A Sensitive Soul

People sometimes tease me about how particular I am about which animated movies Liam watches. In addition to avoiding the ones with truly frightening villains (final battle in The Little Mermaid, anyone?), I am also cautious about music/scenes that might be scary or emotionally very stressful. Call me a nerd and there may be those that think "They're all Disney kids movies, what's the difference?" But obviously, in our house, there is a big difference.

It turns out our little boy (who's not so little anymore) is a sensitive little soul, and is greatly effected by what he watches (like his mom). He was watching an episode of Little Einsteins on Playhouse Disney the other day, and the "team" was helping a little lost monkey find his parents. For those who are unfamiliar with Little Einsteins, they use a few bars from a classical piece of music throughout the episode and introduce the composer (as well as art and dance, etc.... an attempt to educate children culturally). Anyway, it was a very moving piece (Moldau by Bedrich Smetana) and everytime the monkey was "talking", his "voice" was this bit of music (played by a violin...very tragic sounding). For a sample of the song, click on the second picture in the Video Bar to the right or go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zuCPYxnqH4

Anyway, the little corners of Liam's mouth started to turn down when the monkey was "talking" and pretty soon his eyes welled up with tears and he started to cry. The first time this happened, I immediately turned it off, but when the same episode came on another day and he had already started to watch it before I realized which episode it was, Andrew wanted him to watch the whole thing so that he could see that the monkey found his mommy and daddy alright. So he did, with his dad sitting next to him and holding him and as he watched, his little voice would tremble and he'd say "Monkey, sad" and "Mommy Daddy Monkey hi-ing" (that's hiding for those that don't speak 2-year-old). It was so heart-wrenching, and so adorable all the same time. He's our sweet sensitive little soul.

New car

We finally did it. After only 13 months of research, numerous test drives in multiple states, heated conversations with salespeople, hours of intense online research and forum troving, collecting of personal contact surveys from friends, colleagues, etc., a whole lot of moaning and whining (mostly by me about high car prices and shady dealership tactics) and a great deal of perfectly justified frustration and pleading (mostly on the part of Kathy after month 2 of what has become known around here as "The Hunt") we finally got one. Here are the details: 2008 Honda Pilot VP with 4-wheel drive. It's dark gray, seats 8, has a 3.5 ltr. 6-cylinder engine and is great, spacious and powerful. And the safety ratings are so high that it's actually costing us less to insure this one than for our 2004 Nissan Altima. Mostly, we just needed a second vehicle. And they had some great sales over Presidents' Day weekend. I'll post more pictures with the family later, this is just what we had last minute. Come on down to the L.A. and we'll drive you all around!

Liam Loves to Clean

Liam loves to clean. His favorite activity is to do dishes with Dad...which mostly consists of filling bowls and cups with water and pouring into other containers, and most of the water not making it in the sink. After doing dishes one night, Liam kept reaching for something, so my dad handed him the dish sponge, and then...

Disneyland Feb 2008

We made a trip down to Disneyland to see Linda and John and the kids, who were there for the weekend. Liam was very excited to see his cousins, Matthew and Caitlyn. Although, he has decided he doesn't like having his picture taken anymore, so getting him to show his excitement...well, that's another story. Andrew's Dad was in town that weekend, so he came down with us, and Liam had a lot of fun with is "Bonka" (that's Liam-ese for Grandpa).

Joining the 21st Century

Well, it seems as though everyone I know has a blog, so I guess it's time for me to join the rest of the world.

The latest and greatest in our world was the arrival of Caleb Alexander Griffard on Friday, September 3, 2007 at 10:12pm. The little chunker weighed in at 9 lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long. We went in to the hospital to be induced at 6am that morning, and not a whole lot was happening until 9pm when the nurse finally said things were starting to move along. And boy did they ever...just over an hour later Caleb was born. Won't get into to detail or anything, but it was rough! I'm just glad it's over and he's here and healthy...and I can stop throwing up now. :)

Andrew just got a promotion at work and has moved from the Touchstone/Miramax Team to a position as Senior Brand Manager on Television titles (that's still at Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment). Should be a an interesting new adventure for him.

I'm just trying to manage at home with the two boys. Liam really likes his younger brother and wants to hold him all the time. Makes for a lot of fun times. :)

Testing

Well, we finally decided to join the blogging world. Easier to get out family info than mass emails, I suppose. Right now, I am just testing it out to see how it all works, and how I want it to look.