Five Years and Counting!!!

Several years ago one lucky girl met an amazing, funny, handsome, self-less, and extremely modest guy.  She pursued and pursued him, and finally her persistence paid off.  OK, OK...in all honesty, she didn't have to purse that long.  She was hot, funny, and most importantly, liked birds.  What more did I need to know?  OK, so she didn't drink coffee, but I was willing to overlook that fact given the rest.

We were engaged shortly after.  And while it seemed quick in the scheme of things, it was a completely natural fit.  The first year was very busy, buying a house, planning a wedding, and having fun and living life.  Honestly, all of the years since have been just as great, too.  They've included trips to Italy, France, and Australia, as well as many trips within the states.  It's also been full of great family occasions and celebrations.

Of course, the arrival of Sydney was a great highlight and was the start of our nuclear family.  It's been a very fun adventure with her, and she's our little "Princess"....at least that's how she puts it :)  Time goes by a little too fast, and that can be seen as Sydney approaches four.

In just a handful of weeks, we'll also grow our family by one.  We'll have a little boy in the house, Sydney will have a little brother, and we'll start another new adventure (not directly talking dirty diapers, but those can be an adventure, too).  Again, we'll experience drool, spit up, vomit, and other bodily fluids.  We'll also experience sleepless nights and triple espressos in the morning.  We are looking forward to his arrival and all of the fun things that will come with it (I've already got him registered for soccer). 

I decided to reflect over the past several years because tomorrow is our 5-Year Anniversary.  It's been a great 5 married years, and I know all of the coming years will be just as great.  I'm lucky to have such a fantastic wife, daughter, and family :)
 

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary Babes!!!

The Oregon Trail

We recently made a trip to Florence.  No, not the Florence near Tuscany with the rolling hills of Italy, but Florence, Oregon.  This was a fun chance to make the 8 hour trek south to visit Sydney's Uncle Nathan, Aunt Amber, and cousins Desi, Alex (aka Pickle), and Lelend.

Lelend, of course, is her newest cousin and he still has that 'new car smell.'  Sydney got to meet him for the first time on this trip, as did the rest of us.  Lelend is quite a character...always smiling and laughing.  He must have also logged a few miles in his walker while we were there.  He was also given a baby blanket that has also gone through Nathan, Joe, and some of the other kids.  We'll see how much more wear it can take beyond the nearly four decades it's already been chewed, slobbered on, drug around, and used for various purposes.

Sydney and Lelend

While in Florence, we also managed to log quite a bit of time in the pool.  We managed to swim, float, bob, and play with any and all flotation devices until the pruned nature of our skin was quite evident (I think I shrunk about 3 inches).  Sydney also did great putt'n around the pool...no surprise there.

Other than that, we were able to hit the local farmer's market and just relax a bit at Nathan and Amber's house.  Of course, while we were there I had to educate the younger generation on the benefit of pure skill and experience when it comes to Mario Kart Racing on the Wii.

The trip, all in all, was great fun.  The end of the visit unfortunately meant returning to the confines of the car for a long drive back.  Sydney, during the return drive, repeatedly said that she wanted to see her cousins again.  She obviously had a great time and was already missing them.


My mature girls...


In other new, this week marks the end of Sydney's first soccer season.  It was a great experience, and actually was quite humorous at times.  I'm sure I'll have more to share about this next week.  Until then, have a great week!!!





Fun games...too bad Sydney
doesn't realize she doesn't have
batteries in her controller :)

Practice and Games

Sydney has continued to blossom in her new sport...futbol (soccer to you less educated folk).  Her skills have improved, and her vision for the game is unparalleled for her age group.  OK...I guess that's a little untrue.  Well, in fact, there's not much truth to it at all.  Sydney spends more time picking up cones and sticking them on her head, pulling her shirt over her head, playing in the dirt, playing with the grass, and picking random flowers than actually playing with any real intention.  But, I guess that's really the way it's suppose to be when you're three!!!  So, as long as she has fun (even though she doesn't usually know which direction her team is going), then that is what matters.  She's had positive experiences with all of her other sports and hobbies, so this shouldn't be any different.  Her practices take place on Monday nights and her games take place on Wednesday nights, so it has kept our schedule fairly busy, too.

In a few weeks, Sydney will flex her fins and re-engage her gills as she takes back to the water for swimming class.  She always enjoys it, and this time she'll likely have a couple of friends joining her in taking 'the plunge.'

In other news, we are preparing for a trip to Oregon to visit Sydney's uncle and cousins.  That should be a fun trip with our first chance to meet her newest cousin.  That's it for now, but we hope everyone else is doing well!!!

From Fan to Player

When Sydney was about a 18 months old I remember being woken up in the darkness one morning (the clock read 4am) to the chants of "Seattle!...Sounders!!!," the teams most popular cheer.  At that early age, I knew it was only a matter of time before she made the switch from soccer fan to soccer player some day.

She already had a rich history of watching the English Premiere League games and Sounders games on TV.  She's also attended a few Sounders games in person (loved every minute of it), not to mention countless of my own games.



Sydney's first Sounders
Experience.

She may have been prepared to play earlier in her life, but unfortunately there are no leagues for those under 3 years of age.  But now that she has hit that milestone, we look forward to Monday night practices and Wednesday night soccer games.  She's ecstatic because she also gets to be on the purple team.


GOOOAAALLL!!!!

She's been working on her kicking, dribbling, and shooting, but I expect next month she'll be ready for diving headers and bicycle kicks.  Actually, at this age it's more like 'swarm' soccer, or as I used to refer to it, 'the blob.'  Positions are really meaningless.  Strategy- not even a concept yet.  It's mostly an act of kids surrounding a ball and kicking at it.  In fact, most times you have to remind them to turn around and go in the right direction.


Sydney's second annual trip
to the Sounders!

There's no pressure from us...we actually just want her to have fun.  If she wants to do it again, that's great.  If not, I'm sure she'll have 100 other interests to pursue!

More to come activity surrounding this new sport activity for Sydney.  In the meantime, we hope you all have a good weekend!!!



Sydney gets in the mix and dazzles
with her amazing skills!





Dad tells Sydney the secrets to
a good slide-tackle!

Summer Fun

This year has been extremely busy and summer shows no signs of slowing down.  June found us in Montana and August will find us in Oregon.  But this didn't leave July as an inactive month, as we recently enjoyed some house guests.

The Eastman’s (Chris, Jillian, Reina, and now Kaiya) recently made their annual return trip to the states from Japan. It’s always the perfect time to catch up and have fun when they visit. Sydney and Reina are only weeks apart in age, so their interests are pretty similar. They also tend to Skype every few weeks, so having her actually here (in person) is quite exciting for Sydney.

For lodging purposes, the two girls elected to sleep in tents in Sydney’s room. No one really knew what to expect from that. After they were put to bed the first night we were curious if they were actually sleeping. If you listened closely, you could hear two little high-pitched voices talking about whatever it was they were discussing. It was the 3-year old version of the slumber party. Bed time for most of the nights after that evolved into a marathon of requests, questions, and other excuses to be out of bed…I need to go to the bathroom…I need a drink of water…I need to be covered up…I’m too hot…I’m too cold. In the scheme of things it wasn’t too bad, but it was entertaining to see the dynamic of two 3-year olds and the logic they employed.

This trip also gave Sydney a taste of (and a little practice for) being a big sister. Kaiya gave Sydney the chance to experience what it would be like to have a baby in the house. Overall I thought she did well when she interacted with her, but obviously her attention was primarily on her peer.

The 4th of July also provided an opportunity for the girls to celebrate, eat good food, and use sparklers. They both approached it very differently but had fun and asked to do more.

In the next post I'll share one of Sydney's new endeavors.  I'll give you a hint, she's joined a team sport.  It also happens to be the best sport on the planet!  Stay tuned...

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

 Year 4

The girls having fun at the park!

Wedding Bells

Last week Karen, Sydney, and I went to Montana to attend a wedding for one of Karen’s friends from school.  Ok, I attended and viewed Mary and Jake’s wedding, but Karen and Sydney were in the wedding.  Karen was a bridesmaid, and Sydney was the adorable flower girl.  Sydney was very excited to assume these important responsibilities.

Like any three year old, Sydney definitely had behavioral moments during the week that had us nervous about how she would do during the wedding, both in walking down the aisle and also in standing up front during the ceremony without talking or jumping around.

Surprisingly, as soon as her dress went on so did her “game-face.”  She became very serious and quiet prior to the wedding, and she was not going to drop the ball in the big game.  It actually was funny how she transformed into this quiet little person we rarely ever see.  Of course, after the ceremony we headed to the reception site where Sydney (having accomplished her duties) became her extravert self again and got her groove on.  She spent quite a bit of time shak’n what her momma gave her on the dance floor, and she would have stayed all night if we would have let her.

Beyond the wedding itself, this trip to Montana gave us plenty of time to spend with Nana.  There was some fun the pool, as well as some nice down time at Nana’s house.  This included playing the piano (or really randomly hitting keys) and also getting some dog time in with Alex.  All in all it was a great trip (even with the heat!).

This week we are looking forward to Reina and her family joining us from Japan.  Reina and Sydney are only weeks apart in age and they always have a great time together.  More to share on that in the next post! 

Have a great week!!!

The Baby is a....

We went in for our 20 week ultrasound.  That tends to be a big visit, as it reveals really what you are expecting in there...if you know what I mean.  That really puts the 'ultra' in the whole ultrasound visit.  The tech searched and verified, and just as I suspected, it is human!  At least as far as I can tell.  I had a weird sense that Squishy was humanoid, with arms and legs and digits.  That's more than I could ever ask for considering the situation with it's mother (ha ha, only kidding babes).  So, I'll be a happy father to another human being.  OK, so beyond the fact that it is human, we did find out that we were in fact getting a boy :) 

I wasn't too concerned ahead of time about specifically wanting a boy, or definitely another girl.  I was truly fine either way, but somehow it does seem to be a nice balance having both.

Sydney needed to make some adjustments to the news.  We had thought Squishy was going to be a girl, so Sydney was preparing to have a sister.  She did start to warm up to the idea of having a brother, but she specifically indicated that she wouldn't mind a brother as long as it was a girl.  She's not quite getting the whole message there, but that's OK.  Since then, she's really looked forward to having her brother join us this Fall.

In other news, we're looking forward to going to Montana in June for a wedding.  Sydney will get some quality time with Nana from Montana, and we'll also get to attend Mary's wedding (one of Karen's close friends from high school).  Although I'll be attending the wedding, Sydney and Karen will actually be part of the wedding.  Karen will be a bridesmaid, and Sydney will be an adorable flower girl.  Both are very important roles.  I'm sure they will excel in their responsibilities and not buckle under the pressure of meeting expectations of a perfect wedding.  I may be assigned bachelorette party duties, but I haven't done exotic dancing in a while, so I'll need to brush up on my moves :)  Ha ha, I'm only kidding...it was recent, so I'm always ready to go.  Poor Squishy...he has no idea the family he's getting into.  In advance of his birth, I apologize for all of the embarrassing things that I will do, I will make him do, and that we'll do together.  I think his DNA will be programmed to understand, and possibly even respect and admire the talent that goes into being...let's just say 'unique.'

There will be much more to come.  The summer is packed full of many more fun events.  Stay tuned!!!

Have a great weekend!!!