Monday, December 27, 2010

Happy Holidays 2010!

Dear Family and Friends,



We have enjoyed your holiday cards and updates and I realized that if I did not send out something soon 2010 would be over. I am still refraining from the traditional Christmas card and am sending our holiday greeting via our baby blog. Jim actually suggested that perhaps "we" should start sending Christmas cards. I think this works just fine!



This has definitely been a monumental year for the Coyne household. As you all know, Will was born on May 2nd. Apparently he felt our family was a little too mellow so decided to bring a whole new level of excitement and chaos to our lives. After almost 8 months he is beginning to settle in but he still has his moments that cause the dog to hide and Josephine to cover her ears and say "make him stop." Luckily he is also quick to smile and giggle, and squeals with excitement whenever he sees his sister.



Josephine will be 3 in less than a month. She is thriving at preschool and according to Miss Natalie she is a "natural helper". She loves showing daddy her projects from school and frequently plays "circle time" at home. As you will see in the pictures she has taken over the title of princess (sorry Lorelei). She loves all things girly and glittery! Singing and dancing (usually in just underwear and dancing shoes) are a favorite activity. We are also proud to say that she is potty trained!



Jim not only completed pharmacy school but he passed his boards and got his dream job as a nuclear pharmacist. Most people have no idea what that means (I am still figuring it out) but in a nutshell he makes the radioactive injections necessary for PET scans used for diagnoses, staging and sometimes treatment of certain diseases. The downfall is that he has to work nights, but the upside is he doesn't deal with insurance companies or angry customers, oh, and he gets a paycheck! The company is called Petnet Solutions. There are only 1 to 2 pharmacists at each site and only one site per major city, so job openings are very rare. At the moment the Seattle site is "full" and we will be moving to Portland, OR when Jim finishes his 6 months of training, which will be around June. There is still a small chance that they will get approved for another pharmacist in Seattle before then, but we are told not to hold our breaths. If and when we do move we hope it will only be for a year or two. We never thought we would move for a job but the opportunity is just too great.




I am learning how to balance two kids, a household and a job. Some days I think I am succeeding very well and other days I feel like I am failing in all three categories. Luckily I am constantly reassured by family and friends that this is very normal, and welcome to motherhood! September marked my 10 year anniversary with Seattle Children's (Sept 11th to be exact). I am still working the weekends but am getting REALLY ready to give that up. Not the job, just the weekends. I have learned that working maintains my sanity, but our family life could use a little more together time, especially with Jim working nights. When we move to Portland I plan to take a 12 month sabbatical from Children's. If our time there is short I would hate to lose 10 years of seniority.




Most of our other activities for the year have been chronicled via this blog. Here are pictures from our last 3 months of 2010. We wish everyone a very Happy New Year and best wishes in 2011!




Love,


Browyn and Jim


Princess Josephine





and Baby Gorilla Will



Christmas morning. Josephine in her new jacket and slippers playing her new recorder.



A visit to our local nursery that has wonderful Christmas decorations.


Luca and Josephine. Friends since birth!


The nursery even had a live camel, donkey and two reindeer.


This is Josephine the morning of her preschool Christmas pageant.


Josephine and her preschool class sang 3 Christmas songs for their pageant.



Josephine and her reindeer hat.



Christmas cookie time!




Now we will move back to October. Here are picture from our trip to Massachusetts and Vermont for Uncle Joe's wedding. Will's first plane ride!



Josephine made good use of her portable DVD player.






Nennie and Josephine at the rehearsal dinner.



Cousins, cousins and more cousins!



Josephine dancing with Aunt Ellen.



Great Aunt Beth holding Will, Nennie holding Lottie and Aunt Kate.




The Coyne ladies!



Vincent and Josephine fighting over Sophie the giraffe.


Grandpa Tom and Will.



Uncle Joe and Will.



Will has become the photogenic member of our family.


6 months old



Guitar time with daddy.




The first tastes of food. He seems to like his bib as much as the food.



Halloween! Josephine the butterfly and Will the monkey.



Thanksgiving with the Parry/Coyne family.




Will loves his toes, and any one's toes for that matter.




The first snow of the season.



Will's first snow ever. This is my attempt of getting a picture with Will.



Jim post the Seattle Half Marathon. He completed it in 1 hr 38 min and placed 38th out of 400 plus in his age group. Not bad for a 36 year old! (He doesn't know I am putting this in the blog)



December 2010


Josephine almost 3 and Will 7 months


Monday, September 20, 2010

Our Summer Fun!

Will is now 4 1/2 months old and growing like a weed (or more like a St. Bernard puppy, drool included). At his 4 month doctor visit he weighed 16lbs 6.5 oz and was 25.5 inches tall. This puts him in the 75th-95th percentile. He is even out growing some 6 month clothes! If he didn't have two uncles over 6 feet tall and 200 lbs I might be concerned. He has become a very happy baby, especially since we started him on ranitidine for reflux, and gives huge smiles. This is a big improvement from a month ago when I went back to work. Jim had to work REALLY hard to convince Will that the bottle was not such a bad thing. He can still give his dad a hard time but there is far less crying these days.


It is hard to believe that summer is already over. We were able to do many fun things and it was especially nice to have Jim and I both home to play with the kids.

Our first adventure was 5 days on Camano island with my parents, Devin, Bridget, Graham and Wilson. We rented a house with fabulous views and a short walk to the beach.

Graham 3 yrs old, Josephine 2 1/2 yrs old



Will 2 months old



Zsa Zsa attempting to brush Josephine's hair.


Grandfather showing Will how it is done.


Two peas in a pod!



After Camano Island we made a trip to the Lord family "Cabin" in the Cascade Mountains. Great weather and relaxation.
Carrie Lord Daus with Josephine and her son Cameron (1 3/4 yrs old)

Chris Daus showing Josephine and Cameron how to play pinball.

Will ready for his morning nap after a not so restful night.

Josephine is big into hugs and kisses these days. I don't think Cameron minds :)


With two kids on opposite nap schedules we also spent a lot of time playing around the house. Thanks, Nennie, for the sidewalk chalk!

And thank you, Karin, for the bubble machine!


Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

Josephine "sharing" Will's toys


Here is a slightly better picture of the two kids together.


Bath time! Notice he barely fits on the sponge!





Will is finely getting a better view of the world with the help of the bumbo.


Being inbetween school and a job, Jim helped our friends Jeremy and Megan with their backyard project. This meant we were able to spend some fun afternoons at their house.


Josephine enjoying her first popsicle with Jeremy and his daughter, Beatrix.
Incase you are wondering about the outfit, he is from Kansas, haha ;)

Look at those sticky faces!

Jim staying far away from the sticky girls.


In August we joined the Howes on their second annual family gathering in the Pacific Northwest. Our visit was short, but always wonderful to see the Philadelphia crew and their growing family.


Pheobe, Reid, Josephine and Michaela enjoying lunch

Ben and Will with similar expressions.

Tisha, doing what a grandma does best, holding a sleeping baby.


Attempt number 100 to get a picture of the two kids.



Hello!

September brought a huge milestone for Josephine, Preschool!

Josephine on her first day of school.

Which, of course, was rainy.

Pheobe, Nuala and Josephine playing in the toy box. Aren't cousins great?!

Will, 4 months old, showing his strength!

And he can roll over too!