"What you talking 'bout Willis???!" Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus and he lives in OHIO! Well after the last 6 months of ups and downs of the financial industry and the situation with my work at WashintonMutual and the collapse of the company last fall, things have worked itself out for the better and we have received a great offer for a permanent position with JP Morgan Chase in Columbus, OH. So we will be required to move out of the city we've grown to love here in Seattle and head on out to Columbus to make a new homestead.  Fortunately, we have lots of flexibility and can move anytime between now and this the fall - so we'll take our time to get our house ready for sale and start to look around the city of Columbus.

I'm in Columbus this week and Norma and Mateo will be joining me later on this weekend to get a lay of the land and get a chance to see some of Columbus' neighborhoods. The company will also fly us out for a few more familiarization trips to get to see more of Columbus and do some house hunting as part of the move package. Needless to say in researching the city - the cost of living is very very cheap compared to the places we've lived in Seattle or L.A.  A house of our size would be half the cost with twice as much land and a basement in most cases. Gas is running about $1.60 a gallon, so driving to work won't be so bad since we've grown accustomed to the Seattle public transportation here (its great btw!).

So we're excited as we get ready to start this new phase of our lives and explore a place of the U.S. and the portion of the Midwest that neither one of us has had a chance to see.  So 2009 brings new opportunities, new jobs, and a new home - but things will still stay the same since it's our friends and family that matters most and we promise to stay in touch (and visit often!)

So the little one got a bath cuz he was kinda stinky after 3 poopie-diaper changes. While on the changing table he asked 'Father, wouldn't this pose look great on my website??' - I was dumbfounded that his first words would be so articulate. I snapped this photo to oblige. More here in the gallery.

Took our Valentines Day date to head over to the Seattle Aquarium in downtown. We thought we'd escape the crowds but I guess we weren't only the ones with the idea for a low-cost cheap date :). The Aquarium isn't very big at all unfortunately, I think we opened the front door and hit the back exit by accident it was so small. Unlike San Diego's Seaworld or the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, this just had some small coastal fish and some sea lions.

But it was fun nonetheless and Mateo had a blast and was talking up a storm as we were walking through. That couldn't be said for the ride home since he was kinda grouchy. Maybe he realized he didn't have a Valentine's sweetie for today :(

More Pictures here in the gallery.

We just got done eating dinner when Mommy and Mateo started to strike up a conversation of how his day went at DayCare. I had to grab the video camera since Mateo was just talking up a storm. Here's a snipet of more than 5minute conversation they had - just too funny:

Well our little guy is eating like a sumo wrestler these days and gaining weight every day. He's giving my biceps a work out lately by carrying him around the house - I may actually get into shape that way. I thnk he's definately close to 14lbs, if not over.  He goes tomorrow for his fourth month Dr. visit with Dr. Egee - so we'll know for sure.

He's laughing quite a lot as well and responds quickly to his mommy when she's talking to him. I think we're over the hump since instead of crying at diaper changes, baths, and putting on clothes - he's laughing during all those times now. He's starting to vocalize/mimic a lot of sounds he hears from mommy & daddy. Lots of cooing and ahhs as if he's trying to tell us something (likely, "What's a baby gots to do for some food?!").

Here are some of his recent pics.. more are here in his 4mo gallery.

Hilda, Diego and Brianna came to visit us from LA. It was great having family around during the holiday season. Titi Hilda took super special care of Mateo and he loved every minute of it! D and Bri also had an opportunity to spend some time with their little cousin Mateo.

For the new years countdown, Jay, D and Bri were batteling it out on Wii Fit! Who knew getting fit could be so much fun? Bri won on the ski jump and D needed to ice his legs after a long run : ) Thank you for visiting! We miss you already.

The rest of the family visit photos can be found here in our gallery

Our first Christmas as an extended family - so we were home, snowed-in and celebrating the good fortune we've received this year and hoping next year brings us just as much joy. Mateo opened all his gifts that came from Santa, Family and Friends (thank you all for your genorousity). It was quiet and fun and we're excited for Auntie and cousins to arrive tomorrow to visit for the holidays.

Well 2 years ago during the last winter wind storm - we got lucky and only lost power for a day and a half while some of our next door neighbors were out for a week at least. So it looks like that tomorrow will not only be worse than the 2006 storm, it's about to dump 1-2' feet of snow with wind gust up to 90mph. Scary no doubt.

But flashlights/candles are ready - fridge is stocked - and I'll be picking up some propane for the BBQ in case we have to cook on it and ice for the cooler.  So we'll be getting the rest of our emergency kit/supplies ready tomorrow and if it gets bad - we'll head to a hotel further south if need be.

UPDATE:

It aint getting any better. The wind wasn't as bad as forecasted and we kept our power on throughout the big storm but the snow hasn't stopped in any way shape of form for the last 24hours. There's over a foot of snow just in our complex and not a snowplow in sight. It will be another day working from home and hopefully we'll dig out before Christmas. On a funny/not-so funny note - this video from Portland about cars trying to make it up a hill says it all.

Needless to say - this picture should describe the extent of the snow-ice mix we've been getting for the last week. I'm just glad I got the tirechains on early enough to not freeze putting them on when snow was falling heavy.  We both stayed home from work today since the accidents on the freeways were terrible and buses either got stuck or just didn't show up at all. Time for the hot-chocolate!!

Well it looks like we got our first snowfall of the year and man it's cold! It was 24 degrees this morning and the wind is blowing 20-30miles an hour so the wind chill is in the low teens, single digits. We hardly ever get any signficant amount of snow here in Seattle, but it looks like this week is going to be different. Last time we got stuck at the bottom of the hill heading up to the house when the snow froze over - so I'll be putting the chains on the SUV today to avoid that mistake again, but also to laugh at the stuck motorists as we drive by like they did to us last year :)

The dogs are loving it tho - they would probably sleep in the snow if we let them, but they got to play out in the park with the ball for a few minutes this morning chasing each other around. Mateo even got dressed up and all snugly for the snowfall but as you can tell from the picture, he wasn't as excited as we were obviously. Nonetheless, cuteness over function always prevails at the 3 month stage, so maybe next year he'll enjoy it some more and we can take some pictures on the bunny slope at Snolqualmie Pass.