Started celebrating early

Christmas felt like it started on November 22nd when Nolan was born.  That's when we got our favorite gift and Keaton got gifts very regularly from then through Christmas.

We were able to do a lot more holiday activities than I expected with baby Nolan thanks to dad being home and helping out a ton.

Keaton was very happy to sit on Santa's lap this year since he knew he'd get a candy cane after.  He REALLY likes candy canes!  His friend, Camden, wasn't as excited about Santa and the candy canes.

 

Here are some more of the fun things we did to celebrate the holidays: Visiting Swanson's nursery, ice skating, Seattle Center train, professional gingerbread houses downtown, making our own gingerbread house, checking out neighborhood light displays with visiting cousins Crystal/Emerald.

 

 

We had a great time on Christmas day opening gifts and having family over.  It was hard to get Keaton to open presents because he'd get so excited over what he just opened that he would want to play with it instead of opening more presents.  I don't think we will have this issue next year!  Keaton sure did get a lot of cars/trucks and related type items.  Even a car map shirt for daddy!  Manny seemed to think every gift was for him and was very excited about the ones that were.  Keaton said his favorite gift was the Lincoln Log train set...but I think it was playing with Aunt Claudia on Christmas Day.

 

 

Nolan was very festive in his Santa outfit.  Next year he'll be much more aware of what's going on and ready to enjoy the fun.

 

 

Some of Santa's gifts must have got lost on his way to our house since a package from Grandpa/Nana/Steve/Eileen/Wyatt arrived a few days later.  This was a good thing because Keaton (and Manny) were ready to open gifts again since it had been a few days with nothing new. They are going to be disappointed when we don't continue to get presents daily.

 

 

Here's the best gift!!!!!!!

 



 

 

 

Guess the Baby

Can you guess which one is Keaton and which one is Nolan?

 

 

There are some similarities between the two boys as newborn babies.  It will be interesting to see how Nolan changes over time since Keaton looks quite a bit different now.  It will also be very exciting to see how their personalities are similar and different.  So far Nolan is a good sleeper, which is similar to Keaton.  Hopefully he doesn't get as frustrated as quickly as Keaton does...but develops Keaton's charming personality! 

 

Keaton's doing so great with his brother.  The latest thing he says is "I love you too brother" implying that his brother just told him that he loves him. 

 

Here are a few more picture's from Nolan's photo shoot last night with the bear where he was very awake and alert.  Perhaps placing a tiny baby next to a giant bear is what it takes to wake them up!

 



AND Nolan

This blog started out all about Manny.  Then we added Keaton. Today I added Nolan.  Our family sure has grown since I started the blog in 2009. 

Nolan Edward Tarr joined this world on November 22, 2013.  He was due on Nov 28 so he was about a week early, the same as Keaton.  He came into this world very quickly.  Labor pains started around 2:30am, the little guy was here by 6:22am.  And would have been here closer to 4:30am if I hadn't been so lucky to get an epidural.  I was 10 cm when we arrived at hospital and that's usually when it's time to push...but I made it pretty clear to everyone that I wasn't moving forward without the epidural.

Aunt Claudia was a lifesaver to come to our house in the middle of the night to stay with Keaton.  And then papa came the next day to keep him entertained too.  It was so nice to know he was with two of his favorite people. 

Keaton loves his brother.  So far he has transitioned very well!  He certainly is doing a great job of being a "Big Brother."  And speaking of big, I remember when I brought Keaton home from the hospital and suddenly thought the dog looked huge.  Well now I think Keaton looks so big and he also really has grown up a lot in this past week. 

TJ is home from work through Christmas, thank goodness!  I have no idea how I'm going to do this by myself when he goes back to work.  But for now it has been awesome since he is so hands on.  Daddy watched Nolan for a few hours yesterday while Keaton and I went to play trains at Barnes & Noble. 

Everyone is doing great and we have had so many people so involved in our new family these past few days.  Thank you for all the food and gifts (especially for Keaton to keep him busy) and visitors!

Here are a few pictures:

Fixing Papa

Keaton went to visit papa in the hospital quite a bit when he had knee surgery a few weeks ago.  We thought it would be a good experience since he will be visiting mommy in the hospital soon.  But I'm not sure he will connect the two experiences.  There won't be a bridge with stairs that he gets to walk over with a cane (over and over and over).  And he probably won't be totally obsessed with his blower and bring it with him to the hospital.  He will get to take advantage of the endless supply of food that can be ordered from Swedish (Mommy also plans on ordering as much as she can because once she gets home room service is over).

 

Once papa was home he was also a good helper. He made papa some foot cookies to help him walk better. 

 

Keaton brought his blower over to papa's house to help him with a giant tree that fell over...and was surprised to find that a neighbor was nice enough to cut it up a few days later.

 

 

We are glad that papa is moving around quite a bit better and seems to be recovering quickly.  We keep hoping he follows doctor's orders so that this is the last time he has to have this surgery.  "Dr. Keaton" did leave his doctor's orders at the hospital and is ready at any time with his doctor tools to help fix papa.  And his tools are quite appropriate (hammer, nails, etc.) given the giant incision of stapes papa has down his leg.  The traditional things like stethoscope, blood pressure pump, shot, etc. that came in his doctor kit won't work on his crazy papa!

 

Got a Southern Accent from my Boston Relatives????

Last week Keaton's Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Eileen, Uncle Steve and cousin Wyatt were in town visiting.  For some reason Keaton is now pronouncing many words with a southern accent which makes no sense...a Boston accent maybe, but Southern??...

We all had such a great time with them and got to do so many fun things.  I didn't participate in all the outings but I think this captures most: Woodland Park Zoo, Lincoln Park, Museum of Flight, Pike Place Market, Monorail from Seattle Center to Downtown, Snoqualmie Falls, Seattle Waterfront (where Keaton got his very own Totem Pole), Ballard Locks.  They did a lot more than I would have expected given size of the group that included two toddlers.  We often split up during the day but always came back together at night since everyone wanted to watch the world series...and the Red Sox winning the world series!

Keaton and Wyatt got along so well and had so much fun together.  It was so wonderful to see the similarities and differences between them.  They made it a whole week with no major accidents/injuries which was very impressive given the high energy level that never stopped. 

We had two firemen for Halloween.  Keaton was a bit more spooked than I would have expected when we went trick-or-treating at the West Seattle shopping area, Westwood Village.

 

But he sure did make a handsome fireman and would certainly be "Mr. October" in any fireman calendar out there.

 

 

We got a couple group pictures, which is wonderful since we don't all get together that often.  However now that we know Uncle Steve's parents have a swimming pool we will probably be back this summer!

 

I was happy to make it through a meal at the Cheesecake Factory without going into labor. The last time I ate at that restaurant I went into labor with Keaton the next day so I was a little concerned. 

 

They all made it home safely and Keaton/Manny are recovering from their absence and TJ from the embarrassment of driving a mini-van.

Second Time Around

I thought it would be interesting to see how months 3, 6, 9 compared the second time around to the first.  Luckily I have been very good about keeping pictures very organized so it was easy to dig up the ones from Keaton.  The first picture is my pregnancy with Keaton, the second picture is pregnancy with baby #2.

3 Months: I was a bit heavier to begin with so I had more of a tummy the first time.

 

6 Months: I definitely popped sooner the second time around.  Didn't stop me from putting on a bikini and going swimming :).

 

9 Months:  I'd say I'm about the same but the baby is definitely lower in pregnancy #2 which is usually a sign the baby is getting ready.  I've been convinced the entire time I was going to be early (was 1 week early with Keaton) and am guessing by mid-Nov the little guy will be here.  Of course this also means my children will have Husky birthstone colors (purple & gold) which is not ideal for a Cougar grad! :) 

 



Planning

The planner in me is definitely in full force now.  I spent 12 years planning, executing and analyzing the results of client's advertising campaigns.  Starting with setting goals/objectives, then research, planning/execution and finally recapping performance.

These skills aren't too much different from the ones required as a parent (except I got a lot more done each day than I do as a parent).  Every day is different and unexpected.  Deadlines are unreasonable.  Clients (like children) are unreasonable.  Organization and multitasking is constantly being perfected.  Media is always changing just like children. 

Since we aren't in the middle of remodeling a house, selling a house or trying to move and I'm not working I do have a bit of time on my hands to "nest" or plan.  I didn't do much of this with Keaton.

We've all been working on setting goals and objectives for this new addition and life change.  Determining the adjustments everyone will need to make to achieve a well balanced, happy life with number 2. Applying learning's from Keaton to number 2 (i.e. sleeping in a chair for 6 weeks was insane), etc. etc.

We've been doing research to learn how to best transition a new baby into Keaton's life.  Research on how to decorate the baby's room, the best stroller for a toddler/infant, etc.  Lots of focus groups with friends to get advice.  Luckily we have so much already that there was a lot less research the second time around.  If anything, mommy is starting to research the things she wants to do with her life post-baby :).

We have been working on executing a lots of tactical things on my planner "to do" list.  Most of these things are totally unnecessary and as a second time mom I should know that but again the planner in me comes out. 

As far as evaluating how we do on all of our plans for baby number 2, that is something that we won't be able to fully evaluate for another 18 years or so.  Hoping everyone in the family has a more fulfilling life with the addition, hoping the little guy goes to college, doesn't borrow too much money, stays out of jail (or at least doesn't do anything too bad to get him in there), hoping him and Keaton become buddies, him and daddy become buddies, mom doesn't go crazy from being the only girl in the family, Manny doesn't need some expensive doggie depressant meds after this, etc.

Here are few pictures of Keaton playing in his brother's room:

We started putting up a few decorations. It was my idea to go with a monster theme so hopefully the little guy isn't scared to death by it. And no, he won't go straight into a twin bed, that's in there for cousin Wyatt's visit!

 

 

Keaton trying out the baby's stuff:

 

Keaton is very fond of the swing, probably because when he was little he spent many nights sleeping in it (while I slept on the couch):

 

Let the adventure begin!!  Well, hopefully not for a few more weeks. I have thought that I'd be early all along and it is looking that way from my last doctor visit.  Maybe there will be a Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy after all!

 

 



 

 

Pumpkin Patch Time

We had our annual trip to Bob's Corn & Pumpkin Farm this past weekend.  It was a completely different experience from last year (warm and sunny vs. pouring down rain) and everyone had a great time! 

We started our adventure by checking out the pumpkins.  Keaton has been watching the neighbors pumpkins grow and turn orange so he's very familiar with how it all works.  He's also been watching mommy's belly grow into the shape of a pumpkin but luckily it hasn't turned orange. 

 

 

 

This is our third year to Bob's. Keaton is growing up quickly!

 

We sure did have a great outing with our friends.  However, I think Keaton and McKenzie may have had different plans for the pumpkin patch meet up.  Kind of looks like they were on a date with all that smiling and hand holding!

 

Then back to Colleen's for some spooky snacks.  The Band-Aid crackers were the spookiest....

 

A Few of my Favorite Things in West Seattle

Keaton definitely has some favorite landmarks in West Seattle that he likes to go by daily, multiple times during the day if he's lucky. 

As mentioned previously, he became obsessed with totem poles during a Spring trip to Victoria BC.  There is a big one in West Seattle that he LOVES and he was very excited to have his picture taken next to it (even though the weather was horrible and the Seattle skyline is no where to be seen in the background like it is on a sunny day). Keaton showed me the smaller version of this totem pole at the West Seattle Trader Joe's. I would have never spotted it but he did and now we look at it every time we are there.

 

He also LOVES this peacock that is right up the street from us.  Yes, I realize it's not a peacock but that's what he calls it.  I'm a little worried the owners may request a restraining order since we drive by their house a lot...but these are the things you risk for keeping your kids happy.  A lady at TJ's work has a small statue of this (why I don't know?????) so it is possible for us to get Keaton his very own but I'd rather look at it in someone else's yard than my own yard.

 

Keaton is also really into scarecrows right now.  There is one down the street (but currently broken from the crazy weather so no picture of that one) that we walk by daily when walking Manny.  He loves it and has been lucky enough to get 2 for his garden (we didn't have much luck this year, next year we're sticking to strawberries and pumpkins).  He also got a scarecrow window hanging from Nana Tarr that he loves and moves from window to window around the house.

 

On the lookout for his favorite things in West Seattle....or maybe looking for the "BOOM"! He still talks about the BOOM and is trying to find it...the thunder from a few weeks ago!

 

 



First Day of School!

Last week was Keaton first day of preschool at the Admiral Mon/Tues Two's co-op preschool.  We did co-op preschool last year but started mid-year so it didn't feel like a first day of school.
He goes two days a week for two hours each day.  I work in the classroom one of the days.  Co-op preschool means parents are involved and help run it.  At first that sounded like a great idea but now that I have number 2 on the way (and just assumed new baby could tag along) I'm not sure what we are going to do.  Trying to convince dad to go to work late that day each week so he can watch baby or work at preschool...we'll figure something out.

I have been very lucky that Keaton is one of those kids that you can pretty much drop off anywhere and as long as they have fun kid stuff he's happy.  So I had no worries that he would do great by himself and he did.  He is actually much better behaved at school than at home (doesn't stand on chairs while eating, follows directions, is more mellow, etc.). 

It is fun to ask him what he did at school and see what he says.  When I would ask him what he did at his babysitters/daycare he would always say "Eat ice cream cones".....I was a bit suspicious and asked one day and was of course told "do you think I'm crazy, I'm not going to feed all these little kids messy ice cream cones full of sugar"....but I did find out she has pretend ones that must be pretty good!

I resisted from being the crazy person who photographs their child's every move (well I resisted this time but have done it many times before) but did take a few pictures on the first day of school.

The house across the street had decorative stones in the yard that he was very interested in.

 

 

A few more years till the real thing!  And then about 13-14 more before he can drive (which he is already very excited about) and then, fingers crossed, college in about 16 years.  

Over and Over and Over....

Keaton is definitely at the age where he likes to do the same things over and over and over.  For the past month or so he has been obsessed with playing cars on his car mat.  He likes to have someone pretend play with him, his cars and little characters (like smurfs from McDonald's, little people, etc.).  He could do this all day long if he found someone willing to play with him for that long.  I'm SO tired of playing "cars" and even tried to hide the mat yesterday but then he kept asking for it so it came back out.  It does keep him very happy and he has quite the imagination.

 

There is a lot of construction action going on at our neighbor's house today so I'm hoping that will keep him distracted from wanting to play cars.  When he's not playing cars, he's looking out the window to figure out "what that noise is" and then wants to go find the firetruck, ambulance, garbage truck, etc.  Or if he hears tools (like he will today) he will become focused on wanting to get his chainsaw to cut down branches or tools to build a dog house or need to fix something.  And he's very quick to correct me on what the sound is "no mom, that's a drill, not a hammer".

 

He is a busy little guy with so many interests and is always telling us that he needs this or that and has so much to do!

 

Fair Fun

I haven't been to the Monroe Fair in years but thought Keaton would be old enough this year to enjoy it.  He even dressed for the occasion wearing his John Deere tractor shirt.  I noticed right away that nothing changes at the fair from year to year (the same corn dog/cotton candy stand was in the same place as it was 20 years ago when I worked at it).

Brian came with us on Two Dollar Tuesday and good thing admission was only two dollars because we needed all our extra money for the fair rides.  I didn't think there would be more than one or two that Keaton could go on but he was just tall enough for quite a few.  He even went on his first roller coaster.  I thought the motorcycle would be the highlight but by that time in the day he was hot and tired and not looking too good..

 

I thought he would enjoy the animals since he tends to get more excited about domestic/common animals than he does the exotic ones at the zoo.  He thought the baby pigs were pretty great and fed them hay.  We saw a one day old goat which I thought was pretty cool.

 

 

The drive home turned out to not be very much fun....hot and over tired Keaton screamed the whole way from Monroe to Seattle.  I figured he would take a great nap but no nap.  Instead once we were home he got his second wind and was crazy for the rest of the day!  Two days later he told his dad about the animals and rides at the fair...not sure why it took him two days to bring it up...

 

Keaton's Funnest Week Ever

A few weeks ago it seemed it was one fun thing after another happening for this 2 year old.  He has been so into "playing trucks" on the car mat that Nana Tarr gave him that this was a nice change for me to do some different things :). 

We have been wanting to check out the Everett Children's museum for a long time and finally made the trek up there with Grandpa Morgan.  It was well worth it and better than the Seattle or Bellevue ones we have already visited.

 

We also went to the Pacific Science Center with "Uncle Brian."  Another place we have been wanting to check out and it also turned out to be a great place!  Keaton got to see his first movie, a 3-D IMAX show about butterflies. 

 

The same day we visited the Science Center I learned a very important lesson....open your child's mail before he does :).  When Keaton woke from his nap he opened his package and it was a really cool red car floaty for the pool from his Aunt Claudia (we walked by the Ferrari dealership earlier this summer and he was set on getting a White Ferrari so the note was that hopefully this will do until that Ferrari comes).  Of course he wanted to go swimming RIGHT NOW and mommy was tired from being at the Science Center all day...but we packed up our stuff and took the 2 minute drive down to the wading pool to try it out.  It was definitely the most fun he has had all summer at the wading pool.  He paddled around, filled it with water and even filled it with sand....and it still holds air and floats!

 

Then we got to go swimming at the Mount Lake Terrace pool with some cousins that were in town for the big birthday party.  I didn't get any pictures since I was too busy keeping an eye on this guy who thinks he knows how to swim.  The week ended with a birthday party for my Uncle Dennis. My dad's family has a tradition of having a big party when someone turns 65.  The 9th and last sibling turned 65 this summer.  Keaton never turns down a party...or cake!

 



Summer "Bucket List"

I created a summer "Bucket List" things I wanted to do this summer.  By mid-July I realized I hadn't accomplished much.  Luckily for Keaton (and Manny), they have a mommy who likes to stay busy and do lots of fun things...and a daddy who is usually willing to participate also :).

Not all these activities were on my initial summer bucket list but fun things are always popping up.  Here are a few of the things we've been up to the past few weeks:

SWIMMING!
We've learned that Keaton prefers real swimming pools to backyard plastic ones, community wading pools or spray parks.  Manny still hasn't been in the water yet this summer (he's been fighting some bodily rash issues...no need to go into detail).

GARDENING!
Our garden is growing...well sort of...we got a few green beans from it, which Keaton wouldn't eat.  My mom was definitely the gardener in the family, followed by Becky. 

 

ICE CREAM!

Keaton and I took the West Seattle Water Taxi downtown to get ice cream.  It's about a 10 minute ride, the perfect length for a 2 year old. 

SEAHAWK FANS!
We decided to jump on the band wagon and get Seahawk gear one morning.  I have no idea what inspired me to do this....probably one of those random/crazy things you do when you are pregnant.  Keaton wouldn't leave the store without a football.  Now he wants to play football all the time....and even has a huge football injury on his face (ran into wall and scraped his cheek) but that's not keeping him on the sidelines!

TRADITIONS!
We're keeping the tradition going of participating in the Swedish SummerRun each summer to honor Leah and Kay.  It feels so good to participate in this.  We got motivated and did t-shirts this year!

 

FUN IN THE SUN PART 2!

We made it to Jetty Island a second time.  This time we brought a kite and Aunt Claudia, which was a lot of fun.  Keaton and I are both getting some tan lines from all the fun in the sun.

 

ADVENTURE!

 Somewhere I read about this adventure playground they have at a park on Mercer Island.  Keaton is so into tools and building/fixing things that I thought it would be perfect.  But I didn't realize it was serious business at this place.  The only rule is no open toe shoes.  Otherwise anything goes and the woods are full of forts that kids have made.  Dad learned very quickly that things weren't built to his standards when the ladder he was climbing broke, leaving him with a big scrape on his arm. 

ART!
We spent a morning indoors at a kids art studio in West Seattle.  It was a great find!  Keaton made tons of projects that he got to bring home like painted rocks, decorated Cd's, a tree made from a paper bag, etc.  They also have a giant room where the kids can paint on the wall with all sorts of things.  It was a dream come true for a little kid....just need to make sure he doesn't try it at home.

 

CAMELS!
Oh, and we rode a camel at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

 

 

FRIENDS!

And spent a really fun afternoon with our buddy Camden and his awesome mom, Lynn!  Keaton's best friend is still probably his pup, Manny, though. At least for now.  And I think Manny is really starting to take a liking to him since he gives him food and plays fishing pole with him.

We've got some more stuff to do before the sun goes away....but we're also looking forward to Fall and getting a routine in place so we are a bit more predictable.  At least that's what I'm saying now (probably the whole "nesting" thing).