With the beginning of Winter we decided to finally use our fireplace. To our surprise, it didn't heat up the room at all. Probably most people already know this but you have to have something in your fireplace that pushes the hot air back out to actually have it heat your house. We still have fires every now and then and the kids think that it's awesome, and it just looks cool.
In November, Kelly and I went to Spokane to go see Garth Brooks again. We saw him two years earlier in Salt Lake City. It was the same tour so the show was very similar, only this time it was better! He was recording for his live album during our show so he went all out. The show lasted over three hours. It was amazing.
We stayed in the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane so that we would be able to walk to the arena. We were just leaving the restaurant where we had dinner to walk to the concert when a pedicab pulled up, dropping off two passengers. He asked us if we wanted a ride, we said "yes," and he said "20 bucks." We looked at each other, shrugged, and we took a ride on the pedicab. The earlier show was just getting out as we were heading there so there were huge crowds of people on all of the sidewalks, the guy driving(?... riding?) the pedicab just yelled "HEY!!" really loudly and people had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit by a fast moving bicycle. It was hilarious.
We left the kids with my mom for two nights that weekend. It was the first time I left Jameson overnight, and I decided to wean him from nursing that weekend. I had tried before but he would cry and I would always give in. The first night, I felt homesick for him. I missed him so much and I couldn't believe I'd left him so far away from me. We called the next morning and he was having a great time with my mom and then I was fine.
Quinn met her cousin, Paisley and she was in heaven. She loves that baby. Just now she saw this picture and she shouted, "that's my cousin! I love her!"
With Jameson being weaned, he finally sleeps through the night consistently. For 18 months I survived on next to no sleep. He would wake up in the middle of the night and just be awake for like two hours. Ugh. Any mom knows that sleep deprivation is the worst. I'm so much happier, I get way more stuff done, and Kelly will probably tell you I'm not angry all the time anymore.
At the house where Kelly grew up, Jameson's hand inside of his.
These pictures were taken at Kelly's dad's house. We went there over Thanksgiving weekend. Quinn got to ride their pony, Buttercup. Jameson held (tortured) their cats. Jameson LOVES animals. Loves them. One of his first words was "dog." Only he only knows how to yell that word, "DOG!" If he is looking at a book that has animals in it, he is yelling the entire time. He used to call all of them a dog, or Ella, because that is my brother's dog's name, but he has learned cow, kitty, horse, and pig.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at Kelly's Aunt Lisa's house in Mattawa. The food was amazing, as were the decorations. Kelly and I were both grateful and amazed that neither of our children broke anything.
Her house is on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River, this is the view from her backyard. It's beautiful.
In December, I decided to attend another Les Mills instructor training. This one was in Seattle. I was pretty apprehensive about going for a few different reasons. I signed up at the last minute. I was nervous about leaving the kids and I was nervous about adding a third format so soon after adding a second. Quinn was bawling as I pulled away from the house that weekend, and I may have cried a little, too. I ended up having an amazing time. I stayed in an Airbnb in Renton. I figured out how to park in downtown Seattle. The gym where the training took place is called Soul Fitness and it was downtown in an old building. The picture above is the view we had from the window in the group exercise room. It was so cool. I always meet so many great people at these trainings and I learn so much. I'm actually taping for my assessment later this afternoon, hopefully things go well! I've taped once but I always tape twice for these things. Once I watch myself I usually facepalm a few times and also ask myself questions like "that's what my voice sounds like?" and "how do I have any friends?"
I currently have four classes on the schedule between both gyms. Last year at this time, I had just gotten one class on. So it's been quite a journey over the past year and I'm so grateful for all of the people that I've met and all I've learned. I love teaching and I can't wait to just keep doing it!
Hahahaha
My attempt at keeping them out of the tree by putting it in the corner behind the couches didn't work as well as I'd hoped.
We had a little Christmas with just us before we headed up to spend it with family.
Christmas Eve in their matching jammies. Finding them matching holiday outfits is one of my passions. I'm already looking at Easter stuff. This picture was taken around 11:00 pm so they are really out of it. We had just gotten back from a family party in Mattawa and the roads were really snowy so things were slow going. They look terrified but really they are just zoned.
Christmas Eve morning, Jameson wouldn't stand in front of the tree for a decent picture.
They both loved Christmas! We kind of had four Christmas over four different days, it kept the party going. Quinn loved everything about it. She loved decorating the tree, wrapping the presents, opening them, frosting cookies, eating cookies, etc. She was really upset when I took the tree down after Christmas.
We baked lots of holiday cookies.
These two pictures describe both of their personalities so well. Quinn is wearing her "fairy outfit." Her wand is a actually a toothbrush with a cap on it. She said she had a magical fairy glasses and a magical headband. She got that tutu from my parents for Christmas. Not pictured is the pink furry purse she also got. She takes that purse everywhere, and it is always full of stuff. She thinks the point of a purse is to have it full. She has like plastic food in it and chapstick and also little things from the Peppa Pig house she got for Christmas, like a mini toilet and a mini fridge.
Jameson is mischievous but so sweet. He gets away with a lot. That pictures was taken during a baptism. Kelly had to take Jameson out because he is so loud. He loves going to nursery, and cries if we walk past the room where it's held and it's not time to go in. He calls me "Monny" and he says it all. the. time. He says "what's that?" He loves to play with balls. "Ball" was another of his first words. He can throw really well, and he can also catch the ball sometimes. (Quinn just learned to catch the ball as well). Jameson is always hungry and he eats food so fast. He can down a banana in less than a minute, he just shoves it in is his mouth until his cheeks are full and it's threatening to spill out of his lips. I attempted to cut his hair and it looked so hideous. I ended up taking him to a friend to fix it but because I did such a terrible job she had to cut if pretty dang short. I think he looks adorable and grown up.
Both of the kids love when Kelly comes home, and they run to the door yelling "daddy!" I love hearing them do this because I remember doing it when my dad would come home.
We are looking forward to the weather warming up so we can play outside more often. Quinn has been begging me to go to the park but it's been pretty rainy or windy. I think this will be a fun summer now they are both a little older and we can do more things. Quinn just broke a beaded bracelet so I need to go pick up all of the beads before Jameson eats them.
