February: Snow and Sun

 

Sophie and Cameron (and D and E) have been busy this month playing in the snow and enjoying the remarkable sun and early signs of Spring!

Doug and I can't get over how old and how beautiful Sophie is in this photo. 

She's a REAL skier! And she's REALLY good!! And she REALLY loves it!

Exhausted after a busy day of preschool and afternoon skiing. 

 

tank top weather in February!!

This boy...

First outdoor picnic of 2014



Running along the Boise Greenbelt

 

Being a little bro is tough when big sis has a friend over.

Having exhausted all good parenting ideas, I resorted to photographing his tantrum.

Sunny walk with a friend

This short month has cruised by, and we have all been filled with excitement for the coming Spring.  We've already had skinned toes and knees, spilled bubbles, tasty ice cream cones, patio happy hour with neighbors/friends, and evening bike rides to get the mail.  Cam is racing through his final months as a 1-year old, and he is going out with a bang! Great efforts at communication and experiments with words and the alphabet.  Epic "Terrible-Two-Worthy" tantrums.  Melt-your-heart kisses and expressions of love including "I l-l-l- momma" (I love momma) which is always followed by a slobbery kiss.  And borderline-obsession with and emulation of "Gaga" (Sophie). I can't wait for all the outdoor adventures in store for us in the coming months!

Love You Forever

The baby grew.  He grew and he grew and he grew.  He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house.  He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet.  Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!" [...] Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the ZOO!
(excerpts from Love You Forever by Robert Munsch)

Cam-man is driving me crazy.  Crazy with embarrassment.  Crazy with stress.  Crazy with love.  Crazy with laughter.  Crazy with gratitude.  Just plain crazy.  So crazy that I'll either sell him to the zoo or I'll end up at the zoo like some wild and crazed animal.

Within a 24 hour period, he shoved 5 "googly-eyes" from the arts and crafts bin up into his nose.  Then, despite a nasty bloody nose to remove the eyes, he did it AGAIN later that night with more googly-eyes.  He also made me turn beet red at his Little Gym class during the welcome song.  The toddlers were meant to say his/her name (which he doesn't yet...) and then point to a body part.  Parents would respond by singing a welcome song like "Sing hello to Elizabeth and pat your head..."  Cameron chose to lift up his shirt. Initially, everybody laughed at him sticking out his belly.  But then his hand reached down under his pants, under his diaper.  And he stood there beaming with pride as he grabbed himself.  Did he think we were meant to "Sing hello to Cameron and grab your private part..." Did I mention that he had climbed up onto the top of these giant gymnastic mats on the far side of the gym so he was standing higher than all of us while he rocked back and forth grabbing himself? All of the other kids were sitting in their mom's laps... this kid is driving me CRAZY!!!

But then, we have snow days like we did yesterday, and my almost-two-year-old is adorable and adventurous and curious...he keeps up with older kids.  He idolizes his sister. He squeals with joy and runs around the house, clutching a toy car in each hand.

For several months, his favorite party trick (besides his new fondness for grabbing himself) is to bend over at the waist, stick one leg and his arms out behind him and squeal "What Why."  "What Why."  The words are clear, enunciated, and completely out of context. And the three of us always laugh, so he does it again and again and again.

Cam cuddles with me and gives monster hugs.  He gobbles down warm cookies by the fire and smiles his trademark grin when he says "wo-mo" (one more) and shakes his index finger.  After 15 times of "wo-mo", he gets frustrated when I finally draw the line and then a Cameron-sized throw-down tantrum ensues.  But for those moments of absolute sweetness, he's my wonderful baby boy.  

But at night time, when that two-year- old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed, and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  While she rocked him she sang: I'll love you forever/I'll like you for always/As long as I'm living/my baby you'll be.

(excerpts from Love You Forever by Robert Munsch)

Year of the Whitfield

One year ago this week, Doug and I flew from Seattle to Boise on Operation: Check out Boise.  We spent two days driving around the city, searching our favorite neighborhoods, visiting preschools, testing out the best beers and the coolest bars.  And we knew in our hearts, in our guts, and in our brains (before, during, and after the beer tasting) that this move to Boise was the right move.

From that decision on, everything has fallen into place. It has truly felt like the Year of the Whitfield.

And this past week, another major milestone occurred in the Year of the Whitfield: the sale of our Bellevue home.  We had a renter in the home, but when we started conversations about putting the house on the market, an offer was handed to us on a platter.  It was easy and straightforward, like every other decision/logistic has been for us this past year.  We are thankful because we have seen years that felt like they were Year NOT of the Whitfield.  So, we appreciate these blessings and joys.

We spent this past week in Seattle, visiting special and missed friends, enjoying playdates with kids and dates with adults, and returning to our favorite tourist spots like the Market, the Great Wheel, the Aquarium and the Museum of Flight.  Doug and I tried out new restaurants, and I made him play games like "What was your favorite memory in our Bellevue home?" and "What was your second favorite memory in our Bellevue home?"...... and I cried as we walked through our old home for the last time.  A builder will be demolishing the home and a new, foreign house will greet us the next time we drive by.  I'm sentimental and reflective, so although I'm beyond thrilled at how wonderful this sale is, I'm also flooded with memories about the blood, sweat, and tears that went into restoring the home.


Some of our favorite memories at the old home: the first few months of home ownership when every waking moment was spent on renovation and Home Depot shopping, the first Halloween when we only had 3 trick or treaters, playing croquet in the backyard, greeting Doug at the back door with positive pregnancy tests, sitting on the kitchen floor telling Doug and Sophie that baby #2 was actually a boy.... Sophie learned to crawl, to walk, to talk in that house.  We learned how to be parents! We learned how to be good spouses and friends to one another.

So, we officially closed that chapter this past week during our Seattle stay-cation.  And it made us more appreciative of Year of the Whitfield (watch out Chinese New Year, we're coming for you...).  We pulled a U-Haul trailer back across Washington state to return to Idaho.  As we pulled out of the driveway, we all yelled "Goodbye, Bellevue!"  (Cam even gave that sentence a good Aussie try and sputtered out "by bu-vu!").

We're back now in Boise with snow on the ground, surrounded by wonderful friends, and thankful for the joy that this past year has brought.

Love, E


PS.  Doug would also like me to state that the Seahawks' Super Bowl win is included in the Year of the Whitfield.  It is only appropriate in his mind that a year filled with such blessings was capped off with this monumental success.  I was the one who cried saying goodbye to our home in Bellevue, and Doug was the one who cried watching his team win...