Emerson Duard

Emerson is the best baby. As long as I keep him fed and changed, he is the sweetest most mellow little guy ever! 

I love his feather-soft hair that sticks up everywhere (Harry Potter-style). Elise is constantly telling me I need to brush the baby's hair because "it's cwazy!"

He was a complete night-owl at first, but I've slowly convinced him that staying awake during the day beats the late-night rendezvous every 20 minutes. 

Elise loved bath time as a baby (and still does), but Emerson prefers to remain dry at all times. After we came home from the hospital, Elise sat holding him and told me sweetly, "Em-uh-sin smells like stwing cheese". You know it's time to bathe your baby when your toddler compares his scent to a dairy product! Grandma Young happily gave him his first at-home bath. 

The transition from one to two kids was interesting, to say the least, but I can already tell they will be so close. Elise is the best big sister, and Emerson is a very patient and forgiving little brother. I love to watch them interact with one another. Elise runs to check on Emerson every morning when she wakes up, and Emerson coos and gives big smiles when he sees his big sister or hears her voice. 

I am so blessed to have these two little miracles in my life! 

Sunny San Diego

One day last winter Elise and I were discussing colors found in nature. When I asked her what color the sky is, the poor child insisted the sky is grey. Technically she was right - the sky in the Northwest is consistently cloudy and overcast from about September to June - but oh, July and August!! However, for the majority of the year it is drizzly, wet, and dark.

Exibit A: Do you see the overcast sky? This picture was taken on a "nice" day.
(Please ignore D.J.'s ridiculous Movember handlebar mustache.)

Everyone told us to take a vacation in February. That is about the time cabin fever sets in and sitting near the kitchen stove with the oven light turned on feels pretty marvelous. So we escaped the never-ending cloud cover and flew to California.

We stayed in Carlsbad; right on the beach.

See the blue sky?!

Elise kept us busy filling buckets with water and building sandcastles.

We spent a couple of days visiting D.J.'s cousins,Tii and Nathaniel. Tii and his fiance, Teresa, took us out for Thai food, and Elise made fast friends with Nathaniel and Janitsy's two adorable boys while we visited at their home. 

Arrgh! Scurvy pirates!

While in Carlsbad we won tickets from our hotel to the Birch Aquarium, which worked out perfectly, because the rainy weather followed us from Seattle for part of the trip.

See the shark eyeing Elise on the bottom left?

My Mom and Dad, and youngest siblings Emily and Tyler joined us at the end of the week, too. We went to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center...

Tyler and Elise got to dress in period clothing, and Elise struck it rich panning for gold. 

Then to Knott's Berry Farm... 

Even Grandma and Grandpa rode the roller coasters!

...then on to Disneyland! 

We were all magically exhausted by the end of the day.

So we got our fill of California sunshine and fun! It was so nice to see family there, too. When's our next vacation?

Hello Again

Baby Brother
Photo by Elise

The past year whizzed by and here I am finally updating our blog, thanks to my sister Ashley's request.

So many things merit mentioning, but there is no way I can do it all in one post. The biggest event by far is the arrival of our new baby! Emerson Duard Crandall was born on May 1, 2012. 9 lbs even and 21 inches long. He is a happy, healthy, bundle of chunk. Elise adores him and can barely contain the urge to smother him (literally!) with hugs and kisses. 


Miraculously, both of my children are asleep at the moment. So while I should clean up the dinner dishes, or finish unpacking from our most recent trip, or fold the tower of laundry on my couch, I will finally update our blog. 


D.J. continues his job at Amazon.com as a Product Manager with Amazon Green. While he mainly works at Amazon's South Lake Union location in Seattle (he has an amazing view of the Space Needle from his building), he travels occasionally to different Amazon fulfillment centers and other vendors' facilities - he visited Frito Lay last year and got to see how Cheetos are made. 


I am home with Emerson and Elise and we keep busy with playgroups, swimming lessons, yard work, doctor's appointments, gymnastics, and errands, among other things. 


We love living in Seattle (Kirkland, really), and while our first winter here was an eye-opener (I had no idea I could go so long without seeing actual sunlight), we love the mild summer weather and thank our lucky stars for it while the rest of the nation cooks in record heat!


The baby just woke up and my miraculous free moment is over, but I plan to be much more diligent in updating the blog in the future. Here's hoping!