Author: Michael Pellegrini

Yesterday morning Amy and Tom flew home to Colorado, meaning the five of us are officially on our own now. Amy had spent about a month with us, and Tom came to join her for the final week of her stay. As always, they were both extremely helpful in so many areas. Whether it’s watching the kids, helping out with projects around the house, or taking care of a meal, they always go out of their way to make things a bit easier for us; obviously we appreciate everything they do very much. It’s funny because I don’t remember being this focused on the fact that we were ‘on our own’ after Amy left when either of the girls were born. Maybe its different now because the kids officially outnumber the parents. I guess that has to play a part in it. I’m not worried or anything; we’re going to be just fine, but I have to acknowledge the fact that it really does feel a little different this time around.

Last week was a really busy week for me, mainly because in addition to working my normal schedule at Amazon, I also bartended at El Gaucho on Friday and Saturday night for their Valentine’s Weekend Cabaret shows. We did one show on Friday night and two shows on Saturday night, each of which was sold out. It had been a full year since I worked a bartending shift but it was cool; I had a lot of fun seeing my old friends. I must admit though, I’ve gotten pretty used to sitting at a desk all day, so being on your feet running around for 10-12 hours straight with no break wasn’t exactly easy. I was exhausted after each shift, but I’m glad I did it. I spent so many years in that industry that a part of it is forever engrained in me. Although I couldn’t see myself going back to it as my full-time career, I still love being able to go in every now and then. It’s a nice social outlet for me.

Tom and I spent the day on Sunday doing maintenance on Jessica’s van. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was due for service. Between the work I did on it by myself a couple weeks ago and the work Tom and I did on Sunday, we basically gave it an entire 100,000 mile tune-up. We did new rear brakes, all new spark plugs, serviced the battery, replaced the PCV valve, replaced the cabin air filter, and inspected a ton of other things. I learned a lot in the process, and it feels good to know that you’re doing good work while simultaneously saving a significant amount of money compared to having it done at a shop. I need to do some similar work on my Acura and now I know how to do all of it, so that’s pretty cool.

Monday was also an interesting day for me because I put in my notice at Amazon. Plenty of you who read this blog already know about my new job opportunity with Microsoft, but I guess now is as good of a time as any to say publicly that I am leaving Amazon to join Microsoft as a Software Engineer on the Azure Web Team, which is the team that owns Azure.com. I wasn’t unhappy with my job at Amazon at all, and I certainly wasn’t out looking for work, but a recruiter from Microsoft found me on LinkedIn and presented me with an opportunity that I felt like I had to act on. After speaking with the hiring manager I got pretty excited about the opportunity and decided to officially apply for it. The interview process was very difficult, and I honestly didn’t feel very confident about it when it was over, but to my surprise, they decided to offer me a job.

One of the most appealing things to me about this position is the fact that my title will be ‘Software Engineer 2’. As you may already know, last year I received a degree in software engineering. Getting that degree was a lot of hard work, particularly because I was working full-time while going to school, so it feels great to validate all of that effort with a corresponding new job and title. When I think about my long-term career growth, I feel better about moving forward as a software engineer than as a web developer. Another major benefit to taking this job is that Jessica won’t have to go back to work, or at least not on any type of regular basis. It’s likely that she would still work the occasional private party, just like I did last weekend, but that’s about it. This takes a lot of pressure off her and allows her to focus more on the kids, at least for now. As previously mentioned, having a third small child in the house requires a lot of adjustments, so I’m glad she doesn’t need to worry about work for now.

The act of putting in my notice at Amazon didn’t go exactly as planned. My manager was shocked (which didn’t surprise me) and he actually went out of his way to get me to change my mind. He confided in me that, although I wasn’t supposed to find out until April 1st, I have been approved for a promotion to a Web Developer 2 role. He contacted Human Resources to find out what my new salary would be in hopes that it would persuade me to stay. I wasn’t expecting all this, and it certainly felt good to know that I had earned a promotion, but in the end I felt that backing out on Microsoft would have been unethical. I asked him for an evening to consider my options, then later that night I wrote an extensive email explaining my decision. Obviously I would never want to burn a bridge, so I was happy to hear that I had his blessing and that I was leaving on good terms. There is no doubt in my mind that I’m making the right move for my family, as well as for my career. Plenty more updates coming soon on this once I get started.

Our first day without the help of Grandma and Grandpa was an interesting one. I worked from home so that I could be there for Enzo during his little procedure. We had a normal evening at home, but then Ava started getting sick in the middle of the night. She threw up five or six times throughout the night. The poor thing couldn’t even keep juice down. I went to the store in the morning and got her Pedia-sure, Pedia-lite, saltine crackers, and bananas. Unfortunately the timing of all this is poor because I’m going to a concert this evening with a friend of mine. I bought the tickets a month ago, mostly because Jessica encouraged me to do so, but then all this happens and of course I feel terrible to leave her alone for the entire day with the kids considering that Ava is not feeling well. I checked in with Jessica throughout the day and she said Ava was doing better; she was able to eat and keep everything down. I’m not sure what the problem was but I hope it was short-lived.

Now that we’re on our own I’m sure we will all get into a regular routine pretty quickly. Elise is still having sleeping problems, so it has become a nightly occurrence for her to crawl into bed with us at some point. More often than not I wake up with her wrapped up in my arms. It doesn’t bother me having her there but I’m worried that we’re encouraging bad habits which will be difficult to break.

Speaking of our bedroom, one of the projects Jessica and I worked on while Amy was in town was painting our bedroom. We spent time looking at paint swatches from Sherwin Williams and ultimately settled on a grayish-brownish color called ‘Flexible Gray.’ Well, lets just say that its much more flexible than it is gray. Once we got it on the wall it quickly became apparent that it was actually more of a cross between pink and purple than it was between gray and brown. I have to be honest by saying that I really don’t like the color, especially for my bedroom, but I can live with it. More importantly, we learned a great lesson, which was that you always need to get a sample of the paint and put a few brush strokes of it on your wall at home in order to be sure that you really like it. Later this year we plan on painting many more rooms throughout the house, so it was good to learn this lesson early on.

That’s about it for now. Here’s a few recent photos of everyone.

The girls wearing their Team Hagy shirts in support of our friend who is fighting breast cancer

Best Friends Forever

Superbowl Sunday

Baby Enzo

It’s hard to believe, but Enzo has already been home for a week. As I write this, it was exactly one week ago to the minute that he officially entered our lives. So far everything is going excellent. He had his first checkup on Friday and everything was spot on; we won’t have to go back for another checkup until next week but there is nothing to be concerned about. He is a very happy, healthy little boy.

Here’s a few observations that I forgot to share last week on my initial post about him: like his Mommy, Enzo was born on the 28th, and like his Daddy he was born on a Wednesday night. Like both of his sisters, Enzo was born on an odd-numbered year (Ava was born in 2011 and Elise was born in 2013). Like Mommy, Daddy, and Ava, Enzo was born at the end of the month, and like Mommy, Daddy, and Elise, Enzo was born on an even-numbered day. My mom took the liberty of plugging all the kids birthdays into a website and found out that Elise and Enzo are 34 days closer in age than Ava and Elise are. I’m sure no one is more acutely aware of that than Jessica.

Although it may be too early to tell, we’re starting to get the impression that Enzo will be our most laid back and easy going baby. He probably gets that from Daddy, who prides himself on such qualities. He hardly ever cries or fusses unless he is hungry, or we’re changing his diaper. Earlier this evening we gave him his first bath and even that didn’t really upset him. It was a far cry from Ava’s experience with her first bath. I’m sure our old neighbors still haven’t forgiven us for that one. Maybe he’s trying to make it up to Jessica since he was her most difficult pregnancy.

We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to visit with several family members and friends over the past week. Dana, Brad and Anna came over for a visit on Saturday, then Kristy and Madi came to meet him on Sunday morning. He slept through most of it, but he certainly never fussed about being passed around. We definitely have a lot more introductions to make, but all in due time of course. Right now it’s all about everyone adjusting to having a new person in the house. The girls are both dealing with it in their own ways, but overall they’re doing really well. It doesn’t help that we’ve all been a little under the weather this week, but all things considered we are quite pleased with the transition.

Today is my last day off work. Part of me is sad to be going back to work already, but I’m not exactly used to being home all day everyday, so getting back into my routine will be a good thing. At least I’ve only got two work days this week before the weekend. Luckily for us Grandma Amy is still here for about 10 more days. As previously mentioned, she has been extremely helpful. Anything Jessica or the kids need, she’s on it. Doesn’t matter if it’s house cleaning, fixing meals for the girls, running errands, whatever. We’re so lucky to have her, and I enjoy her company. Since Jessica is often resting with Enzo, it’s so nice to have another adult to converse with; especially someone who is so familiar with what is going on in your world.

Grandpa Tom should be out sometime in the next week for the final leg of Amy’s stay. I’m looking forward to his arrival so we can do some work on Jessica’s van and my car. A few days ago I changed the van’s oil and filter, replaced the air filter, replaced the windshield wipers, and rotated the tires. I still need to replace the PCV valve, cabin air filter, and spark plugs, but I’d like Tom’s help with that stuff. I want to do a lot of that same stuff on my Acura as well, so it will be nice to have an extra set of hands around.

Tomorrow night I’m taking Jessica out for her long-awaited sushi dinner. We’re just going to a little local place that was advertising on Groupon. We’ve both been looking forward to it for quite a while so I hope its good. Other than that we don’t have a whole lot going on. We try to make a point and get the girls out everyday for some activity, but we usually just play it by ear depending on the weather.

Plenty of updates coming soon, but for now here’s some recent pics, mostly of Enzo.

Our first walk as a family of five

Taking a nap with Dad

Up close and personal with Enzo

Enzo’s first bath

Hanging out after his bath

Well, she did it. Again. Jessica and I always make it a point to praise the girls for their toughness when they fall or somehow hurt themselves. Well by that rational I think its fair to say that Jessica deserves the utmost respect for the incredible toughness and dedication she displayed today. I can’t really put into words how proud I am of her, or how much I appreciate all the sacrifices she continues to make for our family, but that certainly won’t stop me from trying. For the third time, Jessica has brought a child into this world, and for the second time in a row, she did it completely naturally without any drugs or pain killers. Of the five years we have been married, she has spent about four of them pregnant, meaning she has dedicated not only her whole life to our family, but her body as well. To say I’m thankful for this would be an insulting understatement, but I suppose its a start.

Before I get into the details of how our day went, I’m going to backtrack a few days to tell a funny story about Jessica’s baby shower, which was held by our next-door neighbor Cara on Saturday afternoon. Since Jessica and Amy were going to be there for several hours, I decided to take the girls out for a day of fun. We started off at the park, then we went to Alderwood Mall to play, shop, and walk around. After leaving the mall we went to lunch at Taco Time, and I specifically made sure to eat at the restaurant because I knew the girls would make a mess, and I also knew that some of the ladies at the baby shower would be coming over to our house afterwards and I didn’t want the house to be a mess.

After finishing lunch the girls and I headed home, and I’ve got to admit I was feeling proud of myself. I had just taken them on a 3 hour adventure and things went so smoothly. They weren’t even dirty so I didn’t have to rush them into the bathtub when we got home. Since no one else was home when we returned, I decided to put on an episode of Thomas the Train for the girls to watch so that I could spend 5-10 minutes finishing the chapter in my new book. As the old saying goes, ‘Silence is golden’, but whomever came up with that statement must not have had young kids, because little did I know that while I sat on the couch reading my book and thinking that the girls were quietly playing behind me, they were actually making an enormous mess.

A few minutes later Jessica walks in the door with several family members and friends, and immediately yells out my name with a panicked look on her face. I say “what?” and turn around to see that in the five minutes we’d been sitting there, Ava and Elise had dumped almost all the dirt out of a potted holiday plant we’d received as a gift all throughout the kitchen. It was everywhere! All over the dining table, the window sills, the chairs, the floor, etc. They were having a grand old time playing with all this dirt, and I was completely oblivious to it, even though I was only sitting 10 feet away. An of course I had to discover it right as a dozen women come walking in. It was such a classic Dad moment that I will probably never hear the end of. Apparently Jessica had just made a disclaimer saying that although the house was clean when she left for the shower, she couldn’t guarantee anything since the girls and I were home alone. Everyone got a huge kick out of it, but I was obviously pretty embarrassed. Oh well, it made for a funny story that will probably live on forever.

Now onto more important things. I’m going to try to recount everything that went on today with an appropriate level of detail. Jessica and I went to bed last night a little after 10:00, and although we both fell asleep quickly, she ended up waking up around 11:30 due to contractions. She didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of her 19 hour labor with Enzo Michael Pellegrini. She had semi-regular contractions for the next few hours, meaning she got very little sleep. I woke up at 3:30am and realized what was going on, so pretty soon I started timing her contractions. They were coming about every 10 minutes so our hopes were high that this would be the day.

Around 6:00am we went downstairs for coffee and breakfast, then a little later we decided to go for a walk. This had become a tradition for us when she is in labor so it seemed like the right thing to do. At this point Dana was on her way over to our house to watch the girls, but they (and Amy) were still asleep. What was supposed to be a short walk turned into a very long one (about 3 miles) but Jessica was feeling good and the movement made her contractions easier to deal with. By the time we returned home from our walk an hour later, Dana was waiting for us in the living room while playing with Elise.

At this point the contractions started slowing down and soon Jessica was feeling pretty bummed out. It was looking like another false alarm, and she wanted nothing more than to have this baby and be done with it. Luckily she had a regularly scheduled appointment this morning at 11:00, so even though things were starting to look a little grim, we decided to follow through with the appointment and see what the midwife had to say. Amy and Dana stayed home with the girls while I drove Jessica to her appointment. On the way there her contractions started getting more regular, so there was hope for us once again.

The birth center was very busy when we arrived, so we had to wait a bit before she could be seen. Once they checked her out they gave us the good news we were hoping to hear, which was that she was definitely in labor and today was our day. They also offered to break her water for her in order to speed things up, so Jessica gladly accepted. After that they told us to go get a bite to eat, and go for another walk. We followed their orders, but it didn’t take long after the water was broken for things to start speeding up quickly. By the time we finished lunch and walked down the block she was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, and they were getting more and more intense with each one.

At this point we called Amy and said you better get down here, so Dana was kind enough to load everyone up in the van and give her a ride. We didn’t want the girls to see Mommy in labor, so after dropping Amy off, Dana returned home with Ava and Elise for a fun day at home. Basically Jessica had labored for 12 hours before they broke her water, and then the real fun began. I’m just glad that Amy was able to be there all day with us because she was such a big help.

As many of you already know, this pregnancy has been pretty tough on Jessica, and unfortunately labor was no exception. Based on her experience with Elise, we thought we’d be delivering within about 3 hours, but that wasn’t the case. After breaking her water at 11:30am, Jessica went on a painful crusade that lasted another 7 hours before Enzo finally decided to make his appearance. Again, her toughness was remarkable. She later said that when you reach your mental breaking point its so difficult to keep going on, but she powered through it like a champ. The woman in the room next to us was screaming at the top of her lungs all day, and I’m certainly not judging her for this because I can only imagine what it feels like, but the difference between her and Jessica was like night and day. Even the midwives couldn’t believe how tough and strong she was. She doesn’t yell or scream at all; she has this incredible ability to internalize her pain and deal with it in ways that most people would be jealous of.

Long story short, Jessica powered through so many contractions before giving birth to our son Enzo at 6:19pm. Unlike her delivery with Elise, which was in water, Enzo was born in bed with Jessica on her side, with me helping the midwife by holding one of Jessica’s legs up while she commanded Jessica on when and how to push. Obviously this was a very emotional experience for all of us, but all I can say is that seeing your child come into the world is an experience that you’re extremely lucky to have, and one that you will never forget. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this 3 times now, and for that I will always be grateful. He ended up measuring in at 20″ in length and weighing exactly 8 pounds.

Although giving birth naturally is incredibly painful, the flip side to that coin is that she was back to normal almost immediately after giving birth. Watching her transform back into her normal self in such a short amount of time was truly amazing. At that point there are so many endorphins kicking in and so much adrenaline pumping through her veins that she actually seemed quite chipper and unaffected by what had just occurred. I could tell she was relieved to have it over with, and although I was having a hard time containing my own emotions, the fact that our family was now complete and such a major chapter in our lives was coming to a close was certainly not lost on me.

Luckily for us everything with Enzo was perfect, as it was for Jessica, so we only had to stay at the birth center for two hours after he was born, which is the legal requirement. Most of that time was spent making phone calls and sending text messages to our loved ones. We were all pretty hungry so Amy and I ran across the street to a Mexican restaurant to get some takeout. I had a bit of a scare while I was sitting there waiting for our food because I overheard the hostess saying that there was an ambulance outside taking someone from the birth center. I looked up and saw what she was talking about, then just about had a heart attack as I sprinted out the door and across the street to see what was going on. When I arrived they explained that nothing was wrong with Jessica or Enzo, and that the ambulance was there for the woman and child from the room next to us. Unfortunately things hadn’t gone as smoothly for them as it had for us and they needed some extra medical attention. Obviously I wasn’t happy to hear this, but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel a major sense of relief.

I want to send out a HUGE thank you to my amazing sister Dana for all her help today. She took the day off work to care for Ava and Elise throughout this whole experience and we are so grateful. You’ll never know how much we appreciate it. I also need to give my deepest thanks to Amy for everything she continues to do for us. This is a major transition for us and I seriously don’t know if we could do it all without her. In both of their cases I know that they are very happy to be able to do everything, but that doesn’t change how much it means to Jessica and I. We’re so lucky to have such an incredible family and support system.

I’ll never forget Ava’s reaction when we arrived home with Elise a year-and-a-half ago, and the same can be said for Ava and Elise’s reactions tonight when we got home with Enzo. The look on their faces was priceless. Elise just couldn’t get over the fact that there was a baby in our house, and both of them instantly gravitated to him. There is no question that both of the girls are going to have to adjust to having a baby in the house, but I know we’ll all be able to make that adjustment in no time. Jessica said multiple times this evening that even though this was a tough pregnancy and a tough labor, it was all more than worth it in the end. Seeing all three of our kids together in the same room at the same time was really special to me, and I couldn’t help but say to myself several times over “I have three children.” Even though you have all this time to prepare for it, there is something to be said for seeing them all together in the flesh for the first time.

As one would expect, Jessica was beyond exhausted by the time we got home, so as I write this, she and Enzo are fast asleep beside me. These next few days are going to be full of adjustments for everyone in our house, which again is why having Amy here is such a big help. It dawned on me this afternoon that this would probably be the last time I’m ever in a birthing room. I wouldn’t expect either of my daughters to want me in the room when they are giving birth, which I completely understand, so it was important to me that I really soak it all up and not take anything for granted. Having a child makes for a special day that you will never forget. These are the great days of your life, and its what you live for, so I couldn’t be more thankful to have been able to experience this three times over. Our family is complete now, and tomorrow we move onto the first page of another new and exciting chapter. Not only do I have three children that I love more than life itself, but I have the best wife in the world who is not only my spouse, but also my best friend, confidant, and motivator. I don’t know what more I could ask for, but I will always be thankful.

Laboring in the tub a couple hours before Enzo’s birth

Holding my son for the first time

Grandma Amy holding Enzo for the first time

Enzo getting weighed

Ready to go home

Meeting his sisters for the first time

Elise giving Enzo a kiss

I’m actually surprised that little Enzo hasn’t arrived yet. Although Jessica’s official due date isn’t until Sunday February 1st, we’ve been prepared for him to come early due to his size and positioning. Last night at 7:20 Jessica started having contractions 12 minutes apart and we thought this was it. Pretty soon the contractions sped up to 9 minutes apart, so we decided to wait until 10:30 before we started notifying people. The contractions stayed consistent until about 9:45, but then they started slowing down, and by the time the clock struck 10:30 she was no longer having any contractions.

We were all a little bummed because we’re so ready to meet this little guy, but there’s nothing you can do but be patient. It would have been cool if he was born today because today is my parent’s anniversary, but that also would have meant that Jessica would have had to miss her baby shower, which our next-door neighbor Cara is throwing today at noon. I guess it would have made for a funny story if Enzo was born on the day of the baby shower, but Jessica would have felt bad because Cara has done so much work to set everything up.

Even before we knew her due date, Jessica has been saying throughout this pregnancy that she expects the baby to be born during the Superbowl, therefore it didn’t come as much of a surprise when we found out that the official due date is Superbowl Sunday. To make things even more interesting, the Seahawks are making their second consecutive trip to the Superbowl after making the most incredible comeback against the Green Bay Packers in the final 5 minutes of the NFC Championship Game. I’ve never seen anything like it and couldn’t believe we won.

The funny part about that whole experience was that we were in the car listening to the game on the radio when they won. The girls stayed the night with Kristy and Madi the night before so that we could attend the Amazon ‘Post Holiday Party’, and since Amy was flying into town on Sunday at 3:00, we just decided to hang out at Kristy’s house to watch the game. The game wasn’t going well at all and we all thought our season was over, but in the final 5 minutes of the game things took an incredible turn for the Hawks. As we were getting ready to leave for the airport, the Seahawks scored a touchdown, then recovered an onside kick. I couldn’t believe what was happening, or that we were leaving, but listening to the local radio broadcast in the van was actually pretty fun because unlike the national TV broadcast, these broadcasters are unabashedly pulling for the Hawks. Jessica and I were going crazy on every play while the girls were fast asleep in the back seat.

Right after picking Amy up we won the overtime coin toss, and only a few minutes later we won the game with a touchdown. People on the freeway were honking horns (myself included) and holding Seahawks gear out their windows. It was pretty amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so excited while driving, but it was pretty memorable. To be safe, I recorded the game at home, so as soon as we got back I turned it on right where we left off at Kristy’s and watched the rest, even though I already knew what was going to happen.

I should also mention that we had a great time the day of the Amazon holiday party. We made a full day of it after dropping the girls off with Kristy and Madi. First we went to the Olive Garden for soup, salad, and breadsticks, then we went to the movies and saw ‘American Sniper’ before heading to the party. The highlight of the party was seeing Weezer, whom I’ve been a fan of for 20 years but had never seen live until then. We don’t get time away like this all that often so we made the most of it and had a great time.

Although I’m fully expecting Enzo to be born on Superbowl Sunday, I’m still holding out a little hope that he will arrive before then. Only time will tell, but for Jessica’s sake I hope its sooner than later.

Today our sweet little Elise is officially a year-and-a-half old! Time has definitely flown by, but I can’t help but think about the fact that by the time Enzo arrives, Elise will be approximately 6 weeks younger than Ava was when Elise was born. I’m sure no one is more acutely aware of that than Jessica, but I still think about it too. Speaking of Enzo, as of this week Jessica is considered ‘full-term’ in her pregnancy, so he could arrive at any time and there would be nothing to worry about. The sooner the better as far as we’re concerned. Jessica had another checkup today and everything looks perfect, so we couldn’t be happier.

We’ve got an exciting weekend to look forward to. Saturday night is the annual Amazon ‘Post-Holiday Party’ at the Century Link Events Center. Last year we had a lot of fun so I’m sure this year will be the same. We’ve actually got some good music this year, thanks to the fact that Weezer will be performing. I wasn’t sure if Jessica would want to go considering the baby, but she was all for it, so we’re going. The girls are going to be spending the night with Kristy and Madi at their house, which we are extremely thankful for. Kristy says Madi is really excited about having them over, so it works out perfect.

The party doesn’t start until 8:00pm, but I think we’re going to drop the girls off around 3:00, then enjoy having some time to ourselves. The plan is to get a bite to eat, then go see a movie, then go to the party. If there is one thing we’ve learned since becoming parents its that you need to take advantage and make the most of any free time you get. Assuming Enzo doesn’t arrive that night it should be a lot of fun. I guess either way we’d be in for an exciting night.

Grandma Amy is coming back to town on Sunday afternoon, and we already have to go to the south end to pickup the girls at Kristy’s house, so we’re going to hang out there for a while and watch the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. One more win and we’re going back to the Superbowl! Can’t wait for that. As the game is ending we will head over to SeaTac Airport to pickup Amy, then we can all head home for the evening. It’s hard to believe that we’re so close to the birth of our son, but certainly very exciting. I can’t wait to take Jessica out for a sushi dinner right after he is born. She’s been craving it lately so I’d say it is well deserved.

The girls have been doing really well lately, although bedtime has turned into a nightmare (pardon the pun). Only a couple months ago bedtime was no big deal, but things have taken a drastic turn for the worse. I don’t know exactly what to attribute it to, but its like they take on a different personality when its time to go to bed. Elise, who is normally so happy and sweet, turns into a little demon around 8:00 every night. She suddenly has all this energy and wants to run around like a crazy child. Ava generally just wants to stay up and watch one more episode of Thomas the Train, but unless she falls asleep in the middle of an episode (which is rare), she always gets upset when we turn it off. More often than not we end up having to lay down with them and stay there until they fall asleep. It’s not uncommon these days for bedtime to last 2 hours! Sometimes it takes all I’ve got just to stay up longer than they do. I’m sure its just a phase that they will outgrow, but with another baby getting ready to enter our house, it doesn’t look like anyone is going to be getting extensive amounts of rest anytime soon. The joys of parenting…

Other than bedtime things are great. Ava loves going to school on Mondays, and art class on Tuesdays. Jessica continues to keep them busy with regular outings to museums, parks, etc. Elise is talking up a storm. I remember thinking that Ava spoke a lot at that age but I honestly think Elise talks even more than Ava did. She is getting really good at communicating what she wants, which helps in terms of not getting as frustrated. The other cool thing is that the two of them play a lot more together now. Up until recently Elise was still too young to be able to play with Ava, but now they are much more able to entertain each other, which is a lot of fun to watch.

Jessica and I have been keeping busy at home this week with painting the guest bedroom. I think we’re doing the last of it tonight, so it will be good to have that done before Amy arrives. Next up we’re going to paint our master bedroom. This will be a bigger task, so it’s good that we got some practice on the guest room first. We’ve got several house-related projects planned for this spring, including new floors and painting downstairs. One realization I’ve come to since becoming a home owner is that there is always something to work on. I don’t mean that in the sense of something that always has to be fixed (although that is sometimes the case) but there is always something that you want to upgrade. I don’t mind it though because every time you do something it makes the house that much more personalized, plus its nice that you don’t have to ask permission from anyone to do what you want.

Not sure if there will be another post before Enzo arrives, but I’m sure there will be plenty once he is here. Here are a few recent photos of the girls. Won’t be a family of four much longer…

Monday morning I took my Mom and Uncle Terry to the airport, which basically signified the end of the holiday season for us. As expected, we had a great time during their visit, particularly on Sunday, which is when Mom, Jessica, the girls, and I were joined for the day with Jim, Brenda, Kristy, Terry, his daughter Kayla, and her daughter Jayla. This was the first time I had seen Kayla since she was about 2 years old, and it was our first time meeting her daughter.

Jayla is only about 8 or 9 months older than Ava, so it didn’t take long for them to hit it off. The rest of us enjoyed what I think of as the 3 F’s of the holiday season: Family, Food, and Football. The family part was great because although my Mom and Terry see each other regularly, neither of them get to see Jim, Brenda, Kristy, or my family very often. Then when you add the fact that we were visiting with Kayla and her daughter for the first time, it made it that much more special. From a food perspective, there was lots of good stuff to snack on all day, plus a nice ham dinner with garlic-asparagus, rolls, stuffing, and salad that evening. As far as the football goes, the Seahawks got the win and locked down the #1 seed in the NFC, giving them home field advantage through out the playoffs. All in all it was a great day that meant a lot to each of us.

Today is New Year’s Eve, which means you can’t help but reflect a bit on the year that is coming to a close. We’ve continued our streak of doing big things this year by buying a house, and that streak will live on into 2015 as we welcome our son Enzo into the world. This is kind of a big day for us simply because tonight will be Jessica’s last night working before Enzo is born. In her last two pregnancies, Jessica worked until a little closer to her due date, but in so many ways, this pregnancy has been different. This one been harder on her physically, and as far as I’m concerned she should have stopped working weeks ago, but based on the time of year that simply wasn’t an option. December is the busiest month of the year at El Gaucho, so she had no choice other than to suck it up and make the best of it. The good news is that January is the slowest month of the year, so there will be no reason for her to have to work again after tonight. It’s important to me that she takes a longer maternity leave this time than she did with either of the girls. I have a feeling this is going to be our biggest adjustment yet, so I want to give her plenty of time to ease into things.

Earlier this month I started going through all of our old website posts and backing them up. Although I have our web hosting account set to automatically backup all of our content, my greatest fear is that if I were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, Jessica wouldn’t know how to maintain the databases and all the other technical stuff, and one day the site would just disappear. Ultimately I want this site to live on for generations, so I’m a little paranoid in making sure that it stays safe. Therefore I’m going back through every old post and copying them over into their own Google Doc in my Google Drive. If you’re not familiar with Google Docs its just a cloud-based suite of office applications that you can access from anywhere. I’m going out of my way to catalog everything very specifically, so that you could easily navigate to a specific month of a specific year and view just the posts from that time period. You can certainly do this on the website as well, but I want to be as thorough as possible.

The funny thing about looking at all these old posts is how much shorter they used to be than they are now. When I first started writing posts they were only a paragraph or two in length. Just enough to share a quick thought about what was going on in our world. Over time the format has changed, however, and now I feel like I’m cheating if I write anything less than 1,000 words. Maybe we’ve got more going on now and more to talk about. Maybe I just get on a roll and like to wax poetic about my loved ones. Probably a little bit of both. Either way I love how the site has grown over the years, and I can’t wait for the day that our kids sit down and start to take a real appreciation of it. I can’t imagine how cool it would be to sit down and read a detailed history of my parent’s lives throughout the years before I was born, and on through my childhood. Most of us will never have that opportunity, but I’m so glad that our children will.

As we close out another year I can’t believe how much the girls have grown and matured. Ava is a full on little kid now, rather than a toddler, and Elise continues to amaze me with not only her growing vocabulary, but her increased understanding of the world around her. They’re both such amazing kids, and I often tell myself I don’t know how I got so lucky; so it will be interesting to see how adding a third child to the mix affects the dynamic. I think its going to be hard on Elise at first, simply because she’s used to being the baby of the house, but she will adjust. She’s still going to be a total Daddy’s girl, and will continue to get just as much love as before. Ava is getting big enough that she might actually be helpful when it comes to caring for Enzo. Obviously we’re not going to task her with anything major, but fetching a diaper or a bottle is probably within her abilities at this point. I think Ava will be intrigued by the baby, but she’s already got so much energy and imagination that I don’t think it will phase her all that much. She continues to grow into her role of ‘big sister’ and I’m sure the arrival of her baby brother will help expedite that transition for her.

In addition to buying a house this year, this was a big year for me personally due to the fact that I finally graduated from college. I hope my kids learn from my experiences and go to school when they’re young. It’s certainly a lot harder to manage college when you’ve got a family and full-time job to balance at the same time. Part of the reason I never finished when I was younger was that I placed too much emphasis on the connection between my studies and my career. Although in the end I ended up with a degree that is directly related to my career, I don’t think that is a necessity. Therefore I always plan to stress to my kids that they don’t need to know what they want to do for a career by the time they’re entering college. That’s a lot of pressure to place on an 18 year old kid, and its not necessary. I just want them to study something they enjoy or have a passion for, and not worry too much about their career. One thing I’ve found out over the years is that careers can come and go, so they should study something the love without too much regard to its future applicability. Personally I’d love to see at least one of them study something related to the arts: music, theater, fine art, art history, English, etc.

Since finishing school I’ve had a bit more time to do things I love, which basically means I’ve been playing lots of guitar. I love having that type of creative outlet, and luckily for me, the girls have really gravitated to it. Exposing them to music at a young age is important to me, so we’ll see if it sticks. With Enzo arriving soon I can’t imagine there will be much extra free time in our world, but when you love something you can usually find a little time to fit it in.

There’s no question that 2015 will be a great year for us, so I’m eager to get on with it. Welcoming Enzo into our world will mark the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. I think there will be a certain sense of closure this time around because there is no question that our family is done growing. Although I can’t say having this large of a family was part of our initial plan, I can certainly say that we are thrilled and wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been tough to see Jessica struggling more than expected throughout this pregnancy, but in the end it will all be worth it. I just can’t wait to see her holding that baby boy for the first time. Luckily for both of us, that moment is only a few weeks away. To all of our friends and loved ones, we wish you the happiest of new years, and look forward to spending lots of quality time with you in 2015!

Today was exactly the type of Christmas you could ever want: quality time with family, plenty of presents, lots of good food, and some very happy children. We didn’t get off to the greatest start, mainly because Ava spent at least 20 minutes throwing a fit this morning because she didn’t want to wear her pajama pants, but she eventually got over it and figured out that there were a ton of presents to open, so things quickly got better. The funny thing about opening presents this morning was that the girls would get so excited about a particular present that they wouldn’t even care about opening anything else, so we would have to take an extended break from opening presents to allow them to play with their new toy. Consequently it took half the day just to get everything opened.

We got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa in Iowa this morning and they seemed thrilled to get to see the girls opening their presents. Ava is old enough to get it now, so this was a pretty special Christmas for her, but what made it even more special was the fact that we finally got to spend a Christmas with my Mom. We were long overdue for that so I’m very grateful to have her here with us. My cousin Kristy and her friend Edgar picked up my Mom at the airport, then came up to our house to spend the afternoon watching basketball and hanging out. In addition to opening more presents, we had a nice dinner and just enjoyed having a nice relaxing day.

The evening has been pretty laid back, but we’re getting ready to participate in our annual Christmas tradition, which is to watch ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little dose of Griswold. Before I go I just want to thank all of our family members for so many thoughtful gifts. The girls had a great day, and that’s the most important thing. This is the last Christmas for us as a family of four, and its hard to believe that we’re only a few weeks away from Enzo’s arrival. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll make up for my brevity in this post with plenty of photos documenting our day. Merry Christmas!

Elise showing off her new necklace in front of the tree

Ava sporting her new hat

Mommy and Elise checking out the new pink pig

Funny face from my sweet girl

Is that Elise, or an explosion of Pepto?

Ava taking a break from opening presents

Elise opening gifts from Nana and Kristy

Ava and Nana opening gifts

Elise and Kristy checking out the new wall stickers

Ava loves her new camera from Uncle Joel and Aunt Melanie

Ava wearing Nana’s glasses – as usual

Last week I spent Monday through Wednesday in the great Canadian city of Toronto. I was there for a work trip, and it was my first time ever visiting Toronto, so I was fairly excited to check it out. Based on our last two trips to Vancouver, I felt that there was a good chance that I would like Toronto, but honestly even I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it. In my opinion it was like a smaller, safer, friendlier, and cleaner version of New York. It certainly had that East Coast feel, which was immediately noticeable to me based on how nice everyone dressed, meaning I couldn’t help but feel slightly out of place in my usual Seattle attire consisting of Levi’s, North Face shirt, and Van’s sneakers. It didn’t matter though; just like in any big city no one really cares what you look like, and I was just happy to be able to walk around and explore a bit.

The work portion of the trip went really well. It was a nice opportunity to meet a bunch of people that I regularly correspond with via email, and we made some nice progress in planning for projects to get started on in January. I also gave the same CSS presentation that I gave in Seattle a couple months ago to the team of developers out there. We bribed them to come by providing free lunch, meaning that not surprisingly, I was presenting to a full room. Generally speaking, free food goes a long way with developers, so they were all too happy to attend.

Monday night, which was our first night in town, we got checked into the Hyatt Regency Hotel on King Street West, which is right in the heart of the financial district. It was easily the nicest hotel I’ve stayed in on a work trip. We were all pretty hungry so we set out on foot after dropping off our bags and ended up finding a place called Wurst, which was an interesting combination of a modern, dark, hip restaurant, with old school German sausages and beers to choose from. You go up to a counter and order from their selection of 20 different types of sausage, then grab a seat at one of the long picnic tables in the main dining area. I went with a spicy Italian pork sausage on a toasted roll with sweet red peppers, fries, and a green peppercorn parmesan dipping sauce. Everyone agreed the sauce I chose was best, but more importantly we all enjoyed hanging out, telling stories, drinking beer, and having a good time. Work trips like these are a nice way to get to know your co-workers on a more personal level.

The next night after work I went out for a beer with a friend from the Toronto office. I was supposed to meet up with my co-workers later on for dinner but lost track of time and didn’t have the ability to send them a text message because I intentionally kept my phone on airplane mode the whole time we were there just to be sure I didn’t incur any international data charges. Consequently I ended up going out on my own that night and had fun walking around Queen Street and Chinatown. I ended up having a nice sushi dinner, which is something that Jessica and I can’t enjoy at home these days due to her pregnancy. After dinner I found a local sports bar and watched the ends of the Raptors and Maple Leafs games.

Wednesday was a really long day because we put in 6 hours at the office, then went to the airport early to catch our flight home. We heard nothing but horror stories about Toronto traffic the whole time we were there, so just to be safe we left 3.5 hours before our flight. As it turned out there was no traffic and we arrived at the airport in about 30 minutes, but that’s fine with me. We were then able to take our time getting through customs and security, as well as enjoy a pretty decent dinner at the Molson’s Grill near our gate. We were fortunate enough to have a direct flight home, but it’s a long flight (5.5 hours) and it was probably the bumpiest flight I’ve ever been on. In addition to all the turbulence, they had to abort the landing in Seattle on the first try due to heavy winds. It was actually a bit scary because we were coming into land like normal, then all of the sudden the pilot hit the gas and pulled up, which thrust everyone back into their seats. A couple people were freaking out, but the pilot quickly got on the microphone and explained what happened. The second landing attempt was fine, and I was more than happy to be home.

I had a town car waiting for me, but rather than have them take me home I had them take me to El Gaucho. Jessica was working and I wanted to see her, plus I felt like a boss telling the driver to take me to El Gaucho as soon as I got off the flight. Strangely enough this was the first time I’ve ever sat at the Gaucho bar when Jessica was bartending, so that was pretty cool, plus it’s always nice to see all my old friends and co-workers. Although I enjoyed the trip, I was very eager to get home to my girls. Now that this trip is behind me I don’t have to worry about traveling anymore before Enzo is born. There’s no way I’m leaving Jessica at this point.

Amy went home the following morning, which I’m sure she was ready for. She always keeps very busy with the girls when she’s here, so I’m sure she was ready for a rest. The rest of our weekend was very relaxing. Both girls have been a bit under the weather all week, so we didn’t do much. The highlight of my weekend was playing music with my nephew Kallan. He’s been practicing on the drums for several years now, so on Saturday afternoon I brought my guitar and amp over to his house and we had a great time jamming. Surprisingly we actually sounded pretty good. During the 2.5 hours that we played we came up with a few tunes, but more importantly it was just a ton of fun hanging out with him. He’s such a good kid, and we’ve always been close so there’s no one I’d rather play with.

Today was a bit interesting at work due to there being a bomb threat at one of the Amazon buildings. As it turns out it was the building directly across from the one I sit in, and because I sit by a window, I actually have a direct view of that building all day. I never did find out exactly what happened but there were plenty of police outside. When I was leaving work I saw some K-9 units as well. I think it was all a false alarm but it’s certainly not something to take lightly; I’m just glad no one was hurt.

Our house is fully decked out for the holidays and Ava is in quite the Christmas spirit. She really gets it now, and can’t stop talking about Santa Claus. Jessica took them to see Santa while I was gone, and even though they seemed excited ahead of time, they were less than thrilled to actually sit with him. The only way to get the photo was for Jessica to sit in with them, and even then they were pretty freaked out. I’m just glad the photo turned out as well as it did.

We’re looking forward to a visit from my Mom and Uncle Terry for Christmas this year, as well as having family over for a nice holiday dinner the Sunday after Christmas. Plenty of Christmas photos coming soon, but for now I’ll leave you with our annual visit to see Santa. Happy Holidays!

Jessica, Ava, and Elise with Santa, 2014

Today is Grandma Amy’s birthday and we’re fortunate enough to be able to celebrate with her in person. She was kind enough to stick around with us an extra week due to my work trip to Toronto tomorrow morning. As with all of her visits, we tend to get a lot done around the house, and this trip has been no exception. I can’t believe how much better the bedrooms are looking, as well as the whole house overall.

I kept busy this morning doing some touch-up painting in various rooms around the house, as well as getting the curtains in Enzo’s room secured. If you’ve ever been to our house you know that practically every wall is a different color, which is something that Jessica hates, but so far we’ve just dealt with it. When we moved in there were tons of different cans of paint in the garage, but they’re not all labeled so figuring out which wall they each go with has been a bit of a challenge. Since the guest bedroom needed some touching up, and I was in full-on ‘painting mode’ this morning, I decided to add that to my list of duties. I thought I had the right shade of green picked out from the garage, but as it turned out I didn’t. After touching up various spots and letting it dry I came to the unfortunate realization that I now need to re-paint the entire room. Lovely. Luckily the guest bedroom was the only room where I accidentally applied the wrong paint. The rest of the rooms look really nice, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Since I kept busy with house projects this morning I was more than fine with relaxing this afternoon and watching football. Amy, Jessica, and Ava spent the day out and about shopping, making/painting pottery, and going out to lunch, while Elise and I relaxed and watched the Seahawks beat the Eagles. The girls will be home soon, but only momentarily so they can drop Ava off with me, then they’re heading back out to meet Laurel at the movie theater and see ‘Gone Girl.’ I’m just glad to be having one of those Sundays where I never leave the house, especially when you consider how long each of the next three days will be for me.

I’ve got a car picking me up at 6:00am tomorrow morning, which may be a little early considering my flight isn’t until 9:00, but you just never know with Seattle traffic and I’m one of those people who is overly phobic of missing a flight. I’d rather arrive early at the airport and read my book than have to rush and deal with a bunch of stress. We’ve got a layover in Chicago, so when you combine that with the time change, you end up spending one entire day just traveling. Tuesday and Wednesday will both be really long days, then we fly home on a direct flight out of Toronto on Wednesday evening at 7:00. Due to the time change, we’ll be landing in Seattle a little after 10:00pm local time, but it’s going to feel more like 1:00am to me, which I assure you is well past my bedtime these days. It’s all good though; I’ve never been to Toronto before and am looking forward to exploring the downtown area a bit, as well as getting to work in person with so many of the people that I’ve built up a long-distance working relationship with over the last couple years.

Our house is all decked out for the holidays now. Earlier this week we picked up a Christmas tree, then yesterday I put up Christmas lights on our house. What seems like a simple task of putting up a few lights always turns into much more of a production. First I ran out of staples for my staple gun, so I go to Lowe’s and buy more. I get home and get back to work, only to realize that the 1/4″ staples I bought are too short to hold the wires to the house, meaning I have to go back to Lowe’s a second time to buy longer staples. In the end I’m happy with how it turned out; I used every light we had, and I didn’t have to risk my life up on the roof. I don’t have much Clark Griswold in me, but luckily we don’t live in one of those neighborhoods where everyone gets really competitive with their decorations. I’m not really into all that, but regardless I think our house looks nice and festive.

Jessica and the girls did a great job decorating the Christmas tree, and she had a great idea (well technically it was Pinterest’s idea but so what) to make a felt Christmas tree, complete with its own set of felt ornaments, and put it on the wall for the girls to play with. The idea is that this would discourage them from messing with the real Christmas tree, and so far its working out pretty well. I’m happy to say that Ava has only broke one of our ornaments this week.

I’m especially looking forward to this Christmas because my Mom will be coming into town to stay with us. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this will be the first time Jessica and I have ever spent a Christmas with my Mom. I feel bad about that, but more importantly I’m just glad we’re going to be together this year. She will be flying in on Christmas day, and my cousin Kristy will be picking her up at SeaTac, then coming up here for a nice afternoon and dinner. My Uncle Terry is also flying into town with her, but will be spending most of his trip with his daughter and granddaughter. I’m planning a nice big family dinner the Sunday after Christmas so hopefully we can get a bunch of people to come over.

Happy Holidays to everyone and looking forward to seeing many of our loved ones soon!

As expected, we all had a great Thanksgiving holiday this year. We hosted dinner and were joined by Amy, Tom, Rick, Chris, Dana, Brad, Butch, Carol, and Kallan. The house was full, the food was delicious, the wine was flowing, the girls were very well behaved, and the Seahawks beat the 49ers. What more could you ask for? We had been looking forward to this day for a while and we couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. To all of you who attended, thank you for making it such a great day, and to all of you whom we weren’t able to spend the day with, we send our love and hope that you enjoyed the day as much as we did.

The rest of the weekend has been pretty busy for us. Normally when we get a visit from either of the Grandpa’s, Jessica makes a list of home-related projects for them to work on. In this case we were lucky enough to have both Grandpa’s in town at the same time, so there was plenty of work going on around the house. Since we recently moved Ava and Elise into a new bedroom, there was plenty to get done in there, including mounting the TV on the wall, hanging chandeliers, moving their closet over from the old room, and decorating. In addition, we reorganized the laundry room and moved chandelier in the kitchen so that it was out of the way and people wouldn’t continue to hit their head when standing up from the table. Mom and the Grandma’s also did some really nice crafty work around the house in preparation for Christmas.

The girls are both doing really well, and of course they’ve been keeping everyone busy at all times. Elise’s vocabulary is literally growing by the day, and I can’t believe just how much she’s talking now. Ava has been enjoying playing with her new birthday presents, and is continuing to do well with potty training, but we’re still having problems with sharing. The general rule of thumb goes like this: there are more toys in the house than Ava could possibly play with at one time, but if she sees Elise playing with something, she becomes immediately obsessed with whatever Elise has and ends up throwing a fit if she can’t have it. We’ve been working on sharing, as well as the concept of trading toys, and it’s going okay, but there is definitely some room for improvement. I love the idea of them learning the barter system at such a young age, and for the most part they have been successful with it, but its to be expected that sometimes you end up with a temper tantrum or some type of outburst.

Yesterday we woke up with two inches of fresh snow on the ground. If you’ve ever lived in our neck of the woods then you know that snow is a rare treat for us, so it really added to the whole holiday theme for the weekend. I didn’t expect it to last past the afternoon, but it’s been unseasonably cold around here lately, and the skies were clear, so as I write this on Sunday night we’ve still got a decent amount outside. None of it stuck to the roads though, so driving wasn’t an issue. As far as that goes I’m more concerned about ice than anything else, but I doubt we’ll have any issues.

Last night Amy and Tom stayed home with the girls so that Jessica and I could go out to see a movie. As the parents of small children, it’s not all that common for us to get out on our own to do something like that, so we were pretty excited. We ended up seeing Mockingjay, which is the third part of the Hunger Games series. Although I was unexpectedly impressed by the first two movies, in my opinion the one we saw last night was a dud. Jessica liked it, mostly because she read all the books and was much more familiar with the storyline than myself, but in my opinion it was boring, hard to follow, and lacking excitement. A far cry from the first two installments of the series. It doesn’t matter though; just getting out to do something on our own is a nice treat and we always have fun no matter what.

Tomorrow is ‘Cyber Monday’ and its our busiest day of the year at Amazon. That shouldn’t really mean anything for my team since we don’t own any software, but it’s important to have all hands on deck just in case we need to provide any type of assistance to an engineering team that owns a critical application. You work all year at Amazon in preparation for Q4, and in particular for this day, so hopefully it will go off without a hitch. I’ll be in town all week this week, then flying out the following Monday morning for a work trip to Toronto. I’ve never been there before but am looking forward to visiting the Amazon office out there. I regularly work via phone and email with several teams in that office, so it will be nice to finally meet them all in person. Although it will likely be extremely cold, I’m still looking forward to seeing the city. No more traveling for me after that though (unless its just a day-trip) as I need to be nearby for Jessica while we await Enzo’s arrival. Only two months to go…

Thanks again to everyone who joined us for Thanksgiving and making it such a great day. Below are a few recent photos of the girls. The ones of Elise were taken on Thanksgiving, and the rest were taken by my good friend Leon at Ava’s birthday party the previous weekend. He’s giving me a CD with quite a few more photos from that day, so I’m sure we’ll have some more good ones to share very soon. Happy Holidays everyone!

Elise on Thanksgiving

Photos from Ava’s 3rd birthday