Andy ended up with a snow day, after coming home early a couple of weeks ago - he tried making it into work, but the end of our street was slippery and the main roads were covered in black ice. He made it as far as the turn-off to the freeway, and called to say he was coming home again - there were too many idiots on the road trying to push themselves and their cars too far. The snow lasted most of the week, with near-freezing temperatures through to the weekend ... and our unique little backyard that seems to block out the sun in the winter months.
Last weekend we finally decided Isobel had enough hair to warrant a haircut ... or at least a bit of a trim! Her fringe was getting a bit straggly, and she had lots of floaty bits around her ears that needed taming. Our nearby shopping centre has a kids hairdresser, so we popped in on Saturday and made a booking for the afternoon. Isobel was not impressed at all ...she didn't want to sit in the special airplane seat, or the other special fire engine seat. Andy had to sit her on his knee, and even then we ended up in tears as soon as the hairdresser started misting her hair with water.
We tried distracting her with toys, books and the contents of my handbag ... all to no avail. The hairdresser managed to get a few snips in here and there, and after what seemed like only five minutes she was done. They put a few snippets of Isobel's hair in a clear envelope for us, with a printed photo on the front of Isobel bawling her eyes out ... just to remember the occasion
. And how much for all this??!! $25. That's more than Andy & I pay for our haircuts 
We joked afterwards that we received a $25 photo with a free haircut, but we were still a little surprised at the cost. Moral of the story ... ask first!! Either that, or don't mention it's a first haircut 
.I had another appointment with my OBGYN on Friday, I'm about 19wks along now. Baby is doing well, and my doctor says I'm doing better this time than last time ... at least I know what to expect now! We'll be back this Friday for the mid-term ultrasound, and with a bit of luck the peanut will cooperate and let us know whether we need a whole new wardrobe or not
.On Sunday we headed into the city for the Seattle Mariners' Fanfest - a chance each year before the baseball season starts for fans to get up close and personal with the local MLB team. You can get autographs from players, tour the facilities, have a chat with coaching staff and generally wander around at Safeco Field without the usual throng of people you usually get on a game day.
One great thing about the Fanfest is the focus on kids - there are 'stations' all over the baseball field where kids can go out and throw a ball around, have a bit of a hit, and run around the diamond between first and third bases. Isobel's still a bit young for playing with baseballs and gloves, but she does enjoy a bit of a walk ... so we made our way to the appropriate line and waited our turn. We took a bit of a wide line, as there were a few school-age kiddies intent on setting speed records and we didn't want her bowled over. She took her time, toddling along in the clay with a huge grin on her face
. We finally made it to third base, and quickly swept her up and out of the way before the next wave of speed demons came in for a sliding finish. We grabbed a couple of photos down in the dugouts, and then wandered through the team rooms to finish the tour. Isobel had a great time ... and we had a bit of fun too 
. I'm glad we managed to get to one of those fan weekends while we were here - pity Isobel wasn't a bit older, but she can still say she's run the field at Safeco.We had another couple of inches of snow overnight - beautiful fine powder where we live, but much less coverage a mile or so up the hill towards the nearby shops. After ducking out for a bit of shopping during the day, we took Isobel for a walk down to our communal mailbox - she kept letting out little yelps and squeals of delight, and it was so funny to see her little footsteps in the snow alongside ours! The little hill between our lane and the street is a bit steep with the snow and slush, so we carried her along for that part ... but by the time we got back to our laneway she was much more confident. She even started picking up chunks of snow and carrying them over to Daddy for him to make snowballs.
We have more snow forecast for tonight - maybe another couple of inches if the conditions are right
. Of course we have our fingers crossed ... this might be the last snow of the season!
