From the Mouths of Babes in July

Linus:  Can girls be in the army?
Me: Yes.
Eileen: Am I part of the army?
Me:  No, but you can be when you are a grown up.
Eileen: (very concerned) Can I still be Eileen?

Eileen:  (wearing a large bucket)  Look we have exoskeletons!

Eileen:  I have a water balloon. Boom boom boom.

Linus: (broom hoisted in air) Look mom, I'm an angry villager!

It's On!

OMG.  We are really going to do this.  Our house goes on the market today.  Dave and I have been working nonstop on the house for the last two weeks getting it ready.  Our efforts have really paid off.  The house is practically glistening.

Our agent is great.  She used to have a staging business on the side.  We didn't really stage our previous house in Mukilteo, just decluttered.  Our agent, Erica, has taken our house to an entirely new level.  If I didn't know we needed a larger house, it might be a little too easy to fall in love with it all over again.

I'm also ready to pass out from exhaustion.  Scrubbing walls, baseboards, and ceilings while trying to take care of three kids is hard.  Then telling them not to touch anything makes life nearly impossible.  My morning now consists of getting the house back into the staged look and running an entire load of laundry all before 9:30 am when Robin wakes up from his nap and we leave the house for the day until 8 pm.

It's amazing how much house buying and selling has changed in the 7 years since we bought our current house.  Redfin and Zillow allow us to no longer solely rely on the agent to find houses that interest us and we have lots of information about the houses at our fingertips.  No more big stacks of papers to sign.  Just an email inviting us to e-sign.  When we bought our first house in Mukilteo, we pulled over in a church parking lot to put together the offer and sign.  I prefer this technological advancement.

I'm interested to see how quickly our house sells.  I'm grateful I'm flying to Nebraska with the kids (minus Linus who is staying with grandparents in Tacoma) next week so I don't drive myself crazy trying to keep the house clean and children from touching everything.  I firmly believe in Dave's ability to not mess up the house too much in my absence.

In the meantime, I happen to know about an super cute house in the highly desirable Phinney Ridge/Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  It has lots of storage, a workshop, three bedrooms with a large master suite. Built in hutches in the dining room.  You could not ask for a more walkable neighborhood or friendlier neighbors, neighbors who throw block parties.  Plenty of kids of the street.  Kids who literally hop over and through fences to play in each others' backyards.  I know I know.  It's an amazing house and will make someone very happy.  Sad to leave but excited for the next adventure.

Everything is cool when you're part of a team

"Everything is awesome
Everything is cool when you're part of a team
Everything is awesome when we're living our dream" --The Lego Movie

This song is often running through my head.  These days it is also becoming more of a mantra.  Life is C-R-A-Z-Y here.  Why you ask?  Because we decided to put our house on the market.  I'll just let that sink in for a moment.

While we've thought about it not seriously off and on, about a week and a half ago we decided we were going to the sell the house.  Never to do things half-heartedly, Dave and I have attacked the process.  We are an awesome team.  We have done more on our house in 4 days than in the whole past year.  While Dave works like a man possessed on all the small home improvement projects, I have been cleaning/packing/decluttering and calling/arranging all outside help.  Linus asked us why I was making Daddy do all the work.  I was not impressed.  The Port-a-boxes arrived yesterday, announcing our plans to the neighbors. They are already filled and ready to go.

My days are now filled with deep deep cleaning the house, scrubbing baseboards and so forth.  If you ever have tried to move/take on massive cleaning projects with small children under foot, then you know that it is nearly impossible.  I feel like I am losing my mind.

Eileen is very good at undoing my work, as evidenced by a peanut butter and jelly covered railing.  Once we get the house on the market, I'm going to have to get extra creative on keeping the kids out of the house all day and into the early evening. 

Now to answer your big question.  Why move?

With 3 kids, the house has gotten a little crowded.  We have a small kitchen which was tricky to use before kids.  I yearn for a driveway the kids can play in and a larger backyard.  We looked at the looming projects/dreams for the house and decided we would rather just move into a house that was a little more turnkey.

It's is hard to say goodbye to our house.  It is so cute and has a wonderful vibe.  I love love love my bedroom.  It's my own personal refuge.  We are surrounded by amazing neighbors.  I love that Linus plays with the neighbor boys behind us all the time.  We will never find a house in a more walkable neighborhood or with more storage.

We're hoping we will be able to keep the kids in the same school.  We've really built a life there and within the larger NW region of Seattle.  The goal is to stay in NW Seattle.  That may be easier said than done.  We may have to venture to the eastside of I-5.  I think Maple Leaf would be okay.  I'm willing to go as far north as Shoreline.  I don't care if I could buy a giant house with a giant yard, I'm not moving to Everett or Snohomish (no offense to people who live there).  I love Seattle. I'm a stay-at-home mom who needs to be able to get out of the house.  I need activities, coffeeshops, like minded people.

So really, our house hunt may become our own great white whale.  We hope to put the house on the market very soon which may be problematic in terms of having a place to live after selling.  The housing market where we live is red hot (another impetus to sell).  It would be amazing to find a place that better fit our needs and also gave us a lower mortgage.  I'm trying to stay positive and not worry.  Meanwhile, I just psychotically sing to myself, "Everything is awesome....."

9 Months

I must say that Robin's 9 months outside the womb has gone much faster than the 9 months he spent gestating.

He has had a bit of a checkered past.

Robin got to go to his 9 month check up today.  He and I were both relieved that it was a shot-free visit.  Robin has a ton of stranger/you are not my immediate family anxiety these days, but he was kind enough to only give the doctor a furrowed brow versus the tears and crumpled face most people get.

Here are the stats:
Weight:  17 pounds 10 ounces, 15th percentile
Length:  27 inches, 5th percentile
Head Circumference:  17.8 inches, 51st percentile

So he is a little on the small size, but he is still the biggest of the big boys to us.

When he isn't scared of everybody, he is a super happy baby who loves life.  Things he especially enjoys are:
Playing with blocks.  He squeals with an evil glee when you knock them over and say "Oh no!"
Being tickled
Kicking in the bathtub, splashing in water
Chewing on zippers and buttons
Rolling his wrists and ankles
Eating mum mums and puffs.  Ice cream is probably his new favorite food.  He likes you better if you are willing to share yours.

Robin is cutting lots of teeth, so watch out!  He now has two on bottom, two cutting through on top.  With another 4 close behind.

Robin's most endearing quirk these days is his head waggle.  He does it when he feels like being silly or he likes something.

We love our baby Robin bird, even if he still won't sleep through the night.

Photographing the Family Fourth

I hosted my family this year for the 4th of July, a first for me. Having just come off of vacation, it was a low key affair.  Really the day was hosted by the Target dollar bins and Aunt Costco. 

Linus decided against red, white, and blue and opted for his "army clothes."  Eileen was somber yet festive.

My dad loves being a grandpa, especially when it involves cute little babies.  He's really softened in his old age.

Gwennie the Pooh and Christopher Robin are proving to be great friends.  Although Gwen is 3 months younger, she's the same size as Robin, but weighs less,

Last year we tried unsuccessfully to watch the fireworks in Tacoma.  This year we took advantage of my sister, Sally's Lake Union apartment for some rooftop viewing.  Beth and I opted to stay home with sleeping babies and watch Pitch Perfect. Now I can't get Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" out of my head.

This morning I took the Rousseau clan to a nearby park to take photos.  I have zero photography training, but Dave has a nice camera and I really believe everyone deserves to have a decent family picture.  I am very affordable.  I pretty much work for coffee.

Here's a couple of my favorites.

We finished out the day swimming/napping at Kandle Pool in Tacoma with my brother.  Wooh.  After a week of vacation and then the holiday weekend, I am beat.  No rest for the weary, but maybe I will be able to sneak in a nap tomorrow.

Nerd Vacation. Fossils, Ghost Towns, and Chelan-- Oh My!

I've been lucky enough in my adult life to take a vacation every summer.  Dave and I tend to agree on a few vacation requirements:  it must be warm, there should be a beach, there needs to be opportunities to swim/lounge by the water.  Last year we went to Seabrook.  We had a great time, but it was a little chilly and the beach was very far away and complicated to get to (cross a highway, descend steep rickety stairs).  We decided to return to Chelan this summer instead.  Of course, we improved the vacation by getting in touch with our nerdy side.

Google is a godsend when it comes to planning activities.  A quick search revealed fossil hunting opportunities in Republic, WA.  Looking for other activities nearby, I learned there was a ghost town.  We began our vacation in the remote town of Oroville, five miles from the Canadian border. The drive is quite lovely (and long).  Dave and I were both struck by the beauty and entertained by highway signs like "High Kill Area."  It's a good thing we learned last summer that Linus gets carsick and now keep a puke bucket in the car because Linus was throwing up about 3 hours into the trip.  We moved him to the middle of the car from the back and that seemed to help.

Things about Oroville--cheap lodging, lots of empty storefronts, wide streets, and you find yourself saying things like, "We need to find a bigger town.  I know, Tonasket!"  The kids liked the motel, especially the pool.  When we went to the room, Linus exclaimed, "It smells like Uncle Tim's house!" Hmmm.

After a long day of driving, we were up early the next morning to drive to the Stonerose Interpretive Center.  As suggested we brought goggles with us.  It's a short walk from the center up to where you can dig.  You just bring down what you find so they can sort through it, let you know what you found, and see if they want to keep anything.  Linus ended up with about 70 fossils, kept 15 (3 per paid admission), and the center kept 3.

The next day we headed to the ghost town of Molson (about 25 minutes from Oroville).  The old school serves as a museum and then a quarter of a mile down the road is the remains of the town.  The museum has lots of creepy mannequins that Eileen quickly took notice of.

Linus was a bit grumpy that day.

From Molson, we headed to Chelan.  Dave and I stayed at Campbell's resort back when we were dating and then again when I was pregnant with Eileen.  I've learned that the key to vacationing with young children is convenience.  Campbell's is located in the center of town next to everything you could possibly want/need.  It has two pools, two hot tubs, and private beach areas.  It also has several condos.  We stayed in a two bedroom with a kitchen.  Life is much easier when the kids sleep in a separate area and you don't have to constantly go out to eat.  We were also were steps from the beach and pool, thus we could hang out on the beach and still hear a sleeping baby inside.  It was awesome.

All Eileen wanted to do was build sand castles and Linus just wanted to be in the pool.  Piece of cake.  I got some cool new sand toys before we left for the trip.  The bucket came with little knights, flags, and horses, so the castles were epic.

We even snuck in a little mini golf.  

I bought a groupon for the water slides.  Linus had no fear and went down every one that he could.  I was fine with just going twice.  Robin and Eileen found it exhausting and passed out under a tree.

 Robin enjoyed hanging out with Mama all day on the towel.

Dining al fresco

Eileen insisted on wearing her hair like Cinderella for the entire trip.  Fine by me!  Much less time consuming than Elsa or Anna hair from Frozen.

 We rented a kayak.  I forgot how much fun it is to be out on the water.  Eileen was less sure.

 On our last day this guy turned 9 months.

I love vacation.  This was our best one with kids in terms of stress level.  I even managed to squeeze in an amazing massage at the spa at Campbells.   We will definitely do a trip to Chelan again.

From the Mouths of Babes in June

Robin coos and babbles.
Eileen:  The baby Robin bird is tweeting.

Eileen:  If you give three kisses you turn into hearts.

Linus: (sings) "With a heave and ho and a mighty throw we defenestrated mommy."
(5 minutes later) Hey mommy (giggle giggle) do you want to come with me upstairs?

Eileen: It's. Not. Happening!!!

Eileen to Linus:  Don't eat my brain.  You might get in trouble.  You should probably eat my brain tomorrow.

During a game of Frozen versus Harry Potter
Eileen: I'm not a muggle.  I'm just a queen with ice powers.
Linus: (singing) Let it go. Let it go.
Eileen: Hey that's my song! Linus stole my voice!

Linus shuffles in naked except for underwear
Me:  What are you doing?
Linus:  Being a cave man.

These guys just crack me up.