It hasn't risen above about 27F (-3C) here all day - reminds us of winter in the UK. Clear, sunny and damn cold!

Most of the snow we received on Sunday had melted off by Monday afternoon, and we'd had a couple of flurries throughout the day - but not enough to accumulate. By the time Andy got home from work last night, it had started snowing again, with some eerie orange clouds to add to the feel. Glad we weren't trying to get into Seattle for the Seahawks game last night, we watched the game on telly and there was an inch of snow on the field!

The skies cleared overnight enough to set all the snow to ice - Andy left a bit later for work, after having to prise the door open on the Durango!! He ended up coming straight home again and declaring a 'snow day' (see, wishes do come true!).

We've been watching news reports of abandoned cars and accidents all day - nothing like icy roads and hills to ruin your day. Lots of folks got stuck on the freeways last night coming home from the Seahawks game, some leaving their cars on the side of the road ... Andy noticed lots of cars off the side of the road on his brief foray out this morning.

There is more snow forecast for later this week ... glad we've got the pantry stocked!!

More firsts for Isobel this week - her first Thanksgiving, her first Ashes match, and her first snow day!!

Another lunch date with the wives on Tuesday, this time at Tubi's house - she made yummy pumpkin soup for us all, and Andy made some of his famous cheese scones (such a hit at mornos last week) for me to take along. Can't believe some of our friends are getting ready to head home already - a real sign that the end of the year is fast approaching .

Thursday was Thanksgiving, known informally as Turkey Day. Steve and Di were hosting this year, with their traditional tandoori chicken as well as the main bird. Yummy all round ... and lots of leftovers for sandwiches over the next few days . A bit of a special occasion, so we put Isobel in an outfit sent over by Great Granny, Great Uncle Bruce and Great Aunty Lea in Sydney - a perfect fit!

Andy was determined not to miss another Ashes series this year, but our cable provider didn't get the US coverage contract - so we had to find another option. Lucked out with the Cricket Australia website, as we weren't in one of the six countries that are eligible for their web feed. Ended up having to cough up for Willow TV and dig up a bunch of cables to hook up the main computer from the study to the telly - however the feed is pretty darn good (no ads!), and the time zone difference isn't too bad. Andy's still spluttering about having to *pay* to watch his cricket , but hearing Ritchie, Bill, Tony, Heals, Slats and Tubby again is strangely disorientating - it's not supposed to be dark outside when the cricket is on!! Isobel likes sitting with Daddy while he watches the cricket, and listening to him tell the umpires where they went wrong ... although it will take a little time to teach her that everyone is quiet when the cricket is on!!

Today we also had our first snowfall of the season - I will never get sick of watching snowflakes from our front door, despite the resulting road hazards it creates!! Thought we had a few flakes earlier this morning, but Andy decreed it wasn't officially snow unless we got accumulation - if it melted before hitting the ground, it didn't count . Sure enough, the temperature dropped later in the afternoon and we got our first snow on the house. Isobel wasn't sure what to make of it - she stared intently outside as the ground turned whiter and whiter, and calmly put up with Mummy dressing her up in a snowsuit for the obligatory photos outside to celebrate.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're officially on the countdown to Christmas - we've dug everything out of the attic, and made a start on putting the lights up both inside and out. Andy's got his fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow, but it looks like the snow has stopped for the time being ... he might just have to go to work tomorrow after all!

The time is flying - Isobel is now sleeping through the night more often than not, and her 'awake' times are getting longer and longer. Sometimes she'll even snooze for another couple of hours after a feed at 5am or 6am, so Mummy gets a sleep-in ... bliss!! Definitely making the most of that luxury while I still can ...

On Tuesday we were invited to a 'shower' for one of the Aussie wives here, she's adopting three American children with her husband and it's only a matter of weeks before the kids move in! The theme was favourite childhood books, and for all the people there we only had one double-up! So many wonderful memories with each present - Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables, Richard Scarry, Charlotte's Web, and lots of Disney stories. I think they're going to need another bookcase . Isobel was very social - it was the first opportunity I'd had to introduce her to many of the other wives, so everyone wanted a cuddle and Isobel took it all in her stride - not a single grumble the whole time. She even dropped off to sleep for a little while in her car seat, amongst all our chattering!

Last night we were invited to dinner with Andy's boss and his wife, as well as a couple of other friends from work. Packing for an evening out is an event in itself now - diaper bag and contents, bottles, frozen milk, the playmat, and of course Turtle. We had hoped Isobel would sleep for a while, but it was a little difficult with other small kids having fun in the next room, and all wanting to see the little baby! We did manage to get her to have about half a bottle while we were there, but she reached the end of her tether just after coffee and we had to beat a retreat. She was still really well behaved the whole night, just got a little tired towards the end.

We've noticed she's really started to chew on her Turtle toy - not the rubbery end bits designed for chewing, but his snorkel and eyes, of course! Turtle needs to go through the wash a bit more often as a result . There's been a lot more drool this week, and coupled with the turtle-chewing we have a funny feeling she might be in the early stages of teething ... already!! There's a slightly-more-prominent bump in the middle of her upper jaw, but she's not showing real signs of discomfort yet ... we might have a couple more weeks up our sleeves. Her little gummy smile is so cute at the moment, it will be a little sad to see a tooth there so soon if she is teething already - our little baby is growing so quickly!!

Isobel had a rough start to the week this week - her two-month checkup with Dr Tiffany on Monday. She's up to 12lbs 5oz already ... seems so long ago we were just pleased to see her break 8lbs! She's also grown further, now around 23in long so a lot of her newborn onesies just don't fit anymore. Seems really sad to have to pack away some of her clothes already, but there's a lot more cute things in her wardrobe for her to grow into yet!

There was a downside to the appointment though - four shots, two in each thigh. Mummy had to hold her hands and try to distract her while the nurse kept her legs still - bang, bang, bang, bang - all done. There was a slight delay after the first shot while Isobel figured out it was painful, then she let rip and screamed til her face went purple - poor thing. Still, she was down to whimpering by the time I'd got her into the car, and asleep by the time we got home again.

She was very quiet for the rest of the day, and then slept for TEN HOURS after we got her to sleep around midnight ... bliss!! I actually had to wake her up for a feed, so I could get us both into Seattle for lunch with some of the Aussie wives. Miserable weather so the traffic was terrible, but the food was good and Isobel charmed everyone - she's always on her best behaviour when we go out!

Another milestone for her this week - she's starting to consciously bat at some of the dangling toys on her play mat! Andy and I were both amazed - at first it looked like a coincidence, but she kept bopping away at the toucan toy and gurgling with laughter when the bell inside jingled. Of course this means she's probably right-handed (can't win 'em all!) but she's having much more fun on that mat now.

We're also continuing her 'tummy time', she's so determined to crawl but her body's just not strong enough yet. Her face is a picture of concentration, but she often gets frustrated quickly ... she's going to be into everything when she starts moving. Maybe we'd better start kid-proofing now ...

We're also definitely on the countdown to Christmas here - Starbucks have swapped over to their holiday flavours already. Mmmm ... eggnog latte!!  Very tasty and warming with the record rains we've been having this month ... just wouldn't be the same if it was sunny and 30degC outside.

Well...it looks like everyone's email servers have a spack with 13MB files...so in the interests of family harmony this is an attempt to link to the promised video on my web server...

A big milestone for us this week - we left Isobel with a babysitter on Friday night to attend a Dining-Out for my boss at the Museum of Flight. We ended up sharing the sitter with another family and their four-year-old son, which saved me a lot of stress trying to find someone on my own for the first time!

We had a wonderful time at the event - I finally got the opportunity to see inside one of the aircraft after working in the office for 18 months! Unfortunately the weather was typical Seattle for this time of year - quite windy and drizzle-y, so the planned group photo in front of the aircraft had to be moved inside ... in front of the SR-71 instead!

Andy was shepherding the company photographers for the early part of the evening, making sure they took photos of the guest of honour and his wife with the visiting senior officers, as well as some photos of the other guests and their partners. That meant I was on my own for the most part, but I knew nearly everyone and they all wanted to know how both Isobel and I were doing. Everyone thought we were very good leaving her with a sitter so soon - we probably could have brought her along to the dinner, but she's a bit older and more active during her 'awake' periods, and I didn't want to have to duck out during a speech if she got stroppy.

The food was pretty good, the banter was a bit light-on - Andy stole the gavel and left it with Mr Vice, only for him to return it to the head table and apologise ... you can't get good help these days! Lots of speeches, as you'd expect - lots of laughs, a fitting occasion to recognise 20-odd years of service and 10 years working on the project.

We made it home to the babysitter at five to midnight, which was perfect timing. Isobel was sucking down her third bottle and looking very content - even the sitter noticed she just LOVES having her nappy changed, grins and giggles madly, are we raising a naturist?? After not feeding Isobel for nearly nine hours I felt ready to pop, so I fed her again when we got home - she was in bed by about 1am, and then didn't stir until 8am!!! That's SEVEN HOURS!! Just bliss ... and just as well, as both Andy and I were whacked after our first real adult night out in two months.

We've bought her a new toy this week as well - a Fisher-Price play-mat with lots of hanging toys, flashing lights and music. It matches the mobile we bought for her portacot downstairs last week, which she loves ... she played for over 40mins in it yesterday, just entranced with the flashing lights and even recognised the same rainforest music from the mobile!!

Another busy week for us next week - Isobel has her 2-month well child appointment on Monday, and I'm expecting four shots ... hopefully Isobel will do better than Mummy!! Another lunch date with some of the Aussie wives in Seattle on Tuesday, then the new mums group in Issaquah on Wednesday. Plus I still have to do a checkride with Andy in the Durango, to get used to the extra size compared to the Jeep ... busy busy!!