Matthew (and Jon) in California

A few pictures from Matthew and Jon in California:

San Jose Discovery Museum - I've never been, but Matthew has been a couple of times. It sure looks like a lot of fun. This trip was especially exciting for Matthew because he got to ride on the lightrail to the museum. Yes, we've raised a great lover of public transportation.


Froggie Swimming Pool - This was one of Matthew's many purchases on a shopping trip with Grammy and Heidi to Toys R Us. Note that Jon single-handedly pumped up this entire pool with a stability ball pump.

Graduation!

Another huge highlight this week was law school graduation! After three long years, we finally made it. Grammy and Grampy Isaacson come up Thursday evening and stayed until Monday to help us celebrate. Grandma and Grandpa Goodwin were also able to make a quick trip on Saturday to be with us too.
With the Grammy and Grampy we were able to enjoy some of our Eugene favorites for possibly the last time. Friday morning after a trip to the Duck Store (We want to make sure we move back to Seattle well-equipped with Oregon Duck paraphernalia) and the law school Grammy, Grampy, Jon, and Matthew went to feed ducks. Matthew was probably the bravest he'd ever been with the ducks and geese who are not shy around people. He was a little hungry, so he made sure that he got a few bites from each piece of bread before sharing them with the ducks.
Later that afternoon, we went to one of Matthew's favorite parks, "the one on Oakmont." This park combines two of Matthew's loves- sand and water. He had fun splashing in the sprinklers and filling his bucket and dump truck with water. To be honest, I think that we were all a little jealous. It was surprisingly hot in Eugene this weekend.
Saturday was mostly consumed with graduation festivities. We all tortured Jon with the requisite million pictures in the very hot cap and gown. He was very ready to let that thing go! Matthew survived the actual ceremony very well, especially considering it was right during his naptime. He was able to squeeze in a little sleep on my lap during the commencement speaker and about a quarter of the graduates names. Fortunately he woke up in time to hear Jon's.
After graduation we changed clothes and went to dinner before Grandma and Grandpa had to head back to Seattle.

We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us these years in law school. We feel so blessed to have made so many friends and had so many opportunities to grow over these years. We have gained so much from this experience and learned so much about life, ourselves, our family and of course, (at least for Jon) the law.

Public Works Day

Last Thursday was one of our favorite Eugene events - Public Works Day. We went for the first time last year and decided to make it a family tradition (for one more year). Although, next year it might be worth the 5 hour drive down from Seattle. On Public Works Day all the public works departments in Eugene bring their big machines to the public works yard and put them on display so kids (and/or parents) can try them out. They also put out several exhibits for you to learn about all the things that the different departments do around the city. As you can imagine it is a little boys dream to be able to "drive" trackers, police cars, police motorcycles, street sweepers, pumper trucks and to see dump tracks, excavators, and mini bulldozers in action.
This year Matthew's favorite machines were the red ones. Red has become his favorite color . . . you know, "Red like a fire truck." Luckily there were plenty of red machines to be found. We went after preschool, right during lunch time, so there weren't many lines to ride the machines. Matthew had free reign to bounce from machine to machine and ride them multiple times. At first even an ice cream bribe couldn't get him to leave, but after some more heat and exhaustion and the promise of a goody bag at the exit, we prevailed.
Matthew brought home several new treasures from the day, including another hard hat. So, with his hard hat from Kevin and Mary, the one from Public Works day last year, and the one from Public Works day this year, the whole family is equipped with hard hats. Let us know if anyone runs across a tiny hard hat for Little Brother. We wouldn't want him to feel left out come July.

Our New Home

Jon and Matthew made a quick trip up to Seattle on Wednesday to be at our new townhouse on Thursday for the inspection. We had looked at these townhouses during Spring Break but had originally ruled them out. But after our first offer on another townhouse fell through (thank goodness!) we decided to give these ones a second look. Acting as our eyes, my Mom and Michelle visited the townhouses and we decided to make an offer. This offer was easily accepted under conditions that were much better than the first offer. So, we are feeling that this is really the place where we are meant to be. Hopefully everything else will fall into place too. We are very excited to finally have a place of our own!

Since I couldn't go to see the place again, Jon was nice enough to take lots of pictures. Here are a few of them:

The backyard (Not very big, but actually not too bad compared to most other townhouses. We will also be right across the street from a large park to compensate for the small backyard.) They will be putting in sod.
The entry, looking into the first floor bedroom and backyard. We intend to use this as a playroom.
The kitchen.
The living room.
More living room.
Third floor bathroom.
Master Bedroom.

Little Brother

I always intended to start the blog with the announcement that we were expecting, but I just thought that I might get around to it sooner. With Matthew we sent out the mass email after we found out that he was a boy and that was my intention with this little one. However, it's been about 8 weeks since we found out that we are having another boy and I'm just getting around to starting the blog now.

We have been pretty stumped when it comes to finding a name for this little one. We are very good about eliminating possibilities, but less effective at pinning something down. Since we have no idea what his name will be and also because we are trying to get Matthew used to the idea of a new baby, the baby has come to be known as Little Brother. We've started to joke that may end up being his given name because we can't decide on anything else. I think that it's just proof that our lives still revolve around Matthew which makes me worry how he is going to handle sharing the spotlight.

Currently, Matthew seems to be okay with the idea of a little brother. He talks about all the things that we will teach Little Brother to do like climbing, walking, making cookies, playing with trains. He also likes to give suggestions for names which usually consist of a bunch of jibberish. I'm clinging to the fact that Matthew has been pretty adaptable in the past. He put up with us working on various schedules, summers away from home, lots of short trips, different babysitters, and now even preschool. He's been through a lot of change in his short life and this summer will be no different. I hope we are all ready for all that will happen in just a few short months.

Without further ado . . . ultrasound pictures of Little Brother: