Dads and Sons

There's something special about the bond between a daddy and his son. Mike and his dad have a neat relationship- they don't need to talk every day and when they do, they don't need to say a whole lot but the mutual respect between them is palpable. My dad and my brother Nate are very similar- they're bonded in a way that's different from the bond my sister and I have. Not better, but different; special.

I cannot WAIT to watch the bond between Mike & Greyson grow. I watch the two of them now, at 2 1/2, and my heart swells. I'm not an idiot. I realize there will come a time when Greyson won't be able to stand the sight of either one of us, but until that time comes, I'm going to get (in the words of my most amazing photographer) 'schmoopy' every time I watch them together. I can literally smell the 'boy' in them; the sweaty, no-girls-allowed, 3rd and long, bases loaded, sudden-death testosterone. It smells amazing.

My favorite thing of all is seeing the pride in Mike's eyes. Greyson is his. Greyson's throwing arm is his. Greyson's left-handed bat is his. Greyson's 'please' and 'thank you', 'excuse me' and 'sorry'...all his. Mike is an amazing daddy. Just look at them together!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Did I mention that I love snow? I love almost everything about it; especially the large white flaky stuff that floats (it's falling outside my window as I type). I don't like old snow- the kind that piles up on the sides of the streets after dirty plows push it away over and over again.

SNOW DAY! I'm also not a fan of snow that prevents me from getting where I want or need to go. I'm working from home today not because I want to but because my car is stuck in the driveway. Mike is in San Francisco and hoping his flight isn't delayed tonight (me too!). The city of Seattle and its surrounding suburbs are absolutely paralyzed today. 6 inches are on the ground and most highways and bridges are closed. We're told this much snow is a rareity and have been warned that the locals freak out when it happens (they do) but selfishly, I'm happy to see it because it just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

If you haven't met our nanny, Sara, here she is with Grey. They're playing in the snow today and having a blast.



I also thought you might get a kick out of the neighbor who is clearing his car with...what else...a frisbee!

To those we'll be seeing next week, just know that we've been looking forward to it for months and will be ready to:

• Have a glass of wine (or 4)


• Kiss and hug our nieces and nephews


• Completely shun our parenting responsibilities while Grandma Janet, Papa Lee, Nana, Papa and Greyson's aunts, uncles and counsins parent for us


• Get a pedicure with Tina


• See a movie (Twighlight, anyone?)

Greyson is ready to take yet another plane ride, see if Giggles* really did tell Santa how good he's been this year and show all of you:

• He's got some new dance moves


• He can recite almost all of The Polar Express and Frosty the Snowman (and the songs too)


• He can identify songs by Mannheim Steamroller, Pearl Jam, his Papa and Paul Simon


• He sings a mean "Who let the Dogs Out"

*This is Giggles- he's Greyson's pixie elf and he visits us every morning after spending the night in the North Pole where he tells Santa if Greyson has been a good boy. Greyson loves waking up in the morning to find Giggles.

Merry Christmas to all!

Seattle doesn't know what snow is

Seattle got it's first taste of snow last weekend (a whole inch!) It was the talk of the town. This was the view from our deck on Sunday.

This is a strange place when it comes to snow. Another inch or two was forecasted for today so last night, every school annnounced it would be closed (and lo and behold, not a flake flew today)!

Greyson loved it though. He's into eating the snow and not wearing mittens. We had to bribe him ("hello, Santa?") He spent a good hour outside until the little snow we did have turned into slush. I wish the snow had come today just to see Grey play in it again. I'm a December snow girl and I can't wait to get home to see what I hear is quite a bit of it. (Wisconsin here we come!)

Mike & I recently celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary (gasp!). We took a road trip into the mountains with Greyson to visit a Bavarian village that celebrates Christmas with a beautiful lighting ceremony, Santa, Father Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and other familiar friends. Grey wasn't feeling great so we cut the weekend short but we did get to enjoy some of what the town had to offer. As beautiful as it was, we just can't wait to get home for the holidays.

Greetings from Seattle!

I've been trying to come up with a way to say hello, collectively, to our friends and family (mainly in Wisconsin, but we've got some people who care in other parts of the world as well) so I'm going to try my hand at blogging and see how it goes. I will apologize in advance for what will undoubtedly be boring, rambling and sporadic posts as I:

a) don't have time to call home, much less post
b) have a bit of a phobia of "internet" publishing (i.e. facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc)*
c) am not sure if our family and friends will have their own time to read, or access, this site

*disclaimer: the aforementioned phobia has been beaten down by the fact that I cannot say no to peer pressure and have thus caved to facebook and LinkedIn (MySpace will never happen- sorry Dad)

So, sit back, relax and enjoy the small window into this crazy thing we call life with the Guenthers.