On Friday, 12/20, we flew from Seattle non-stop to DC.  Blaine only slept for an hour, which made for a rough rest of the flight…

Here’s Blaine post-arrival in Daddy’s old high chair from when he was little – so retro!

Gram also introduced Blaine to the piano:

On Saturday, 12/21, Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Michael arrived from Baltimore and Aunt Jody flew in from San Francisco.  In the afternoon we went for a walk and played at the playground.

We probably should have realized that Blaine was teething when he was chewing on the rusty playground equipment!

That evening, Gram and Granddad prepared a delicious Christmas dinner featuring turkey and gravy and even a yule log for dessert!

And, after dinner, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care…

Sure enough, the next morning Santa had come and we all opened presents.  Here’s Blaine trying out his new push toy:

Perhaps his favorite present, though, was this box:

In the afternoon Blaine got to see Fritz, Dorothy, Cam, Megan, Marcella, Jill, Jack, Ben, Tracy, Chloe, Keenan, Amanda and David!

On Monday we took it easy (Mommy was feeling a little under the weather) and Gram, Granddad and Auny Jody packed for their trip to Hawaii!

Thank you to Gram and Granddad for hosting us – we had a wonderful time!

Miss Kayla took this picture of the five kids from Infant 1 at daycare who all moved on together to Toddler 2.  We were feeling sad because Dylan (back center) left the center because his family is moving to Barcelona!  I still remember meeting Dylan on my very first day at Bright Horizons with Blaine when they were both so teeny tiny.  We’ll miss you, Dylan!  The other kids are Vesper and Blaine in the back, and Robert and Erich seated in front.

Here are some pics from when we hosted PEPS on 12/15:

On Saturday, December 14 we had a 24hr visit from Uncle Tim, who was on the west coast for work.  Uncle Jim and Aunt Denise were also visiting Seattle so we managed to get the group together for some Blaine time and dinner.

The next day we went out for a delicious brunch at Tillikum Place Cafe (yummy rabbit sausage scramble), where Blaine had his first ever taste of Nutella.  Here are some post-brunch pics where Blaine did his Virgin Mary impression for Uncle Tim… (I briefly considered how hilarious it would be to use this photo for our Christmas Card, but happily thought better of it).

Thanks for visiting, Uncle Tim!

This is proof that I was at least attempting to get a Christmas Card shot done in time for Christmas.  Of course, in reality, I just placed the order today (1/1 – Happy New Year!) so we will be wishing everyone a very belated Christmas this year.

At any rate, here are some pics of Blaine in what I thought was a very cute little Christmas-y outfit.  In looking back at the pics I’m not so sure; I think it definitely lands on the dorky side of the spectrum.  Sorry, Blaine!

Sorry this is coming a little late but technically it’s still your birthday here on the West Coast!  We all wanted to wish you a very happy birthday and let you know that we were thinking about you today!  We hope you had a fantastic birthday and that everyone enjoyed the dinner out after all the cooking on Thanksgiving.  We can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!

Love,

Blaine, Sally Ann and Andrew

We decided not to travel for Thanksgiving this year (time zone changes are rough), so, instead, we hosted a few friends for a feast here in Seattle!

Daddy started prepping on Tuesday night and had things so under control on the big day that we all went out for a swing in the morning:

Here’s the turkey before:

And here’s the “after” shot – compliments to the chef!

Daddy made turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes (Blaine’s favorite), dressing (aka stuffing), and green beans.  Mommy assisted with the cranberry sauce.  Guests brought pies and salad and croissants.  While everything was cooking Blaine enjoyed playing with Hannah (age 2):

And they both loved playing with the balloons that Gram and Grand-dad sent!

Here’s the table set for dinner:

Complete with flower centerpiece which I’m proud to say I put together all by myself (after being talked into it by the flower lady at Whole Foods):

Here’s Jason carving the turkey while Daddy finished up all the other dishes:

And here we are all ready to dig in:

Blaine loved his first taste of pumpkin pie:

After dinner the McAdams family (Nellie, DH and parents) came over for a visit while we all digested.  All the credit goes to Daddy for a fabulous Thanksgiving, though of course we’re sorry to have missed out on the Great Falls Westbrook gathering this year.  Can’t wait to see everyone at Christmas!

Blaine loves going down the slide at daycare head first!

Here are a few pics from the “Family Feast” day before Thanksgiving:

And here are some other random pics from November:

Happy Birthday, Uncle Tim!  It’s hard to believe you’re turning 30!  We’re sending you all our love from Seattle and wishing we could be there with you to celebrate the big day.  Can’t wait to see you again soon — hopefully on the 14th but if not then certainly at Christmas!

Love,

Blaine, Sally Ann and Andrew

This was Blaine’s first time in the bucket swing at the playground!  He also enjoyed crawling up the slide.