A visit from Nomi Ann

Eila’s NomiAnn makes such an effort to spend time with our little Eila and it’s always so wonderful to see her.  NomiAnn chose to exchange warm, sandy shores for Eila cuddles during her Spring Break.

A quick stop at Panera for a pastry and a chance to nurse.

NomiAnn flew in late on Wednesday night and was already volunteering for kid care duty Thursday morning.  It was a great treat to our wonderful daycare provider that NomiAnn was looking for lots of Eila time for the week.

NomiAnn really got more than she had bargained for.  Between Adam having class Friday night and Saturday morning while I had students performing at the Valley Region JH Solo & Ensemble competition all day on Saturday, NomiAnn was one overworked grandma.  In an attempt to make up for our lost family time, Adam and I planned a special night out for a seafood meal on the waterfront at Anthony’s.  Unfortunately, despite calling well ahead to put our name on the waiting list - we still ended up waiting an extra two hours for a table...and all for a truly below average meal.  At least the company was good!

  

The truth is that we were hoping to spend family time together - but the quality of such time was shoved into question when NomiAnn, Adam and I all came down with the stomach flu Saturday night.  This was the ickiest case of this sort of illness that any of us had experienced - and it seemed to last forever...or at the very least until the next Wednesday.

Zoe took good care of NomiAnn while she wasn’t feeling well.

I’m afraid our best laid plans to get lots done around the house were set aside in favor of tons of couch time and recovery. 

Even Eila looks chill and contemplative.

Our planned adventures to local eateries were postponed since appetites were nil.  Thankfully, things could have been so much worse.  As bad as the adults felt - we were exceedingly blessed that Eila did not catch our bug.  As you can see, her appetite remained just fine.

Mmmm - pug tail!

Our own appetites eventually returned and the restrooms in our condo were cleaned - leaving us all much happier and better company.  While we always love a visit from Nomi Ann - none of us hope for an exact repeat of this sort any time soon.  

Eila and Zoe “help” their NomiAnn pack her bags.

We love you NomiAnn and can’t wait to welcome you back to the Northwest...but hope to give you something more pleasant to remember us by next trip.

Casamiento with Cars

The final day of February introduced a positively GORGEOUS day to the Northwest - and an equally gorgeous Wilhoit family bride.  One of Adam’s cousins, Sarah Knapp married her high school sweetheart on their dating anniversary at the LeMay Family Auto museum in Tacoma.  I’m afraid that we were far to busy enjoying the festivities to pull out the camera, much - but here are a few highlights from the happy day.  We were so excited to share in Sarah and Ian’s special day and wish them all of the very best in the world.

Oma and Opa Wilhoit drove down from Anacortes and decided to stay with us for the evening since we live so close to the wedding venue.  Oma even helped Eila pick out what to wear.

The happy couple are big car fanatics - so the location was absolutely perfect for celebrating.
Wedding picture credit thanks to Sarah’s Facebook account :)

I mentioned that this was a WONDERFUL wedding, right?  The day was made even sweeter with this open CANDY bar full of delicious (though probably not dentist-approved) edible delights.

The beautiful bride and handsome groom and their cake.

Our tired little family as we departed for the evening.  It’s been a while since we burned any midnight oil for any reason that didn’t include feeding, burping, or changing a baby.  Did you notice that Oma picked out a dress for Eila that perfectly matched Sarah’s decor?

We were lucky to have the Sr. Wilhoits stay with us Saturday night, and even luckier that they were able to stay for brunch.  We also asked Uncle John and Aunt Kay to come down for munchies - so we had a full house for a few hours.  Eila had more hands willing to snuggle than time available for cuddling.

Oma got to pick out this festive outfit, too.  No one can resist a tutu!

Uncle John and his experienced doctor hands worked the giggles out of our munchkin.  

Quick family picture!

And the aftermath of such a fun and family filled weekend.  

Congratulations again, to the new Anderson family.  We hope you adored every minute of your Disney honeymoon adventure.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wilhoit and Aunt and Uncle Stimson for coming down to our little home for playtime.  We love spending time with you!

A Very Musical Valentine’s Day

Never say music teachers aren’t romantic.  Here in Washington State, members of the National Association for Music Education come together the 2nd weekend of every February for our All-State music education conference.  For the last two years I have been the choir manager for the Washington Jr. All-State Mixed Choir that is comprised of roughly 90 7th and 8th grade musicians selected by audition from across the state.  Given its timing each year, it’s no surprise that we often end up celebrating Valentine’s Day with our colleagues instead of our cuties...but this year I got to do both!

The world’s best husband, otherwise known to the universe as Adam volunteered to take a day away from his own demanding job and class schedule in order to accompany me to Spokane for this years conference.  While I know that Adam would have been more than capable of taking care of Eila on his own for a few days - the truth was that I was the one who wasn't ready to leave her for that long.  Besides - it was great timing for a beautiful, WMEA sponsored, family hotel get-away.

While I was off wrangling rehearsal and performance spaces, Adam got to scout out downtown Spokane.  The weather was gorgeous - a real blessing when your wife steals the car.  Here are the buddies in front of the Spokane Falls.

Best friends!

Hey!  Look who’s back from being a workaholic!

Adam was on his own for half a day Friday - but SATURDAY - well, let’s just say I left the hotel room before 7 am and didn’t get back until after 9 am.  The good news for Eila was that her daddy’s the BEST and took her on a Valentine's whirlwind tour of the city.

Checking out the turtles.

Making circuits at the Spokane Science Center

Giant baby solving a wood puzzle.  She’s so smart!

Playing with musical circles in honor of Mom’s musical day.

Adam was even brave enough to put on the Ergo and bring Eila downtown to our final concert Saturday evening.  While I don’t think Eila’s quite ready to take the stage yet, Adam was really patient with her and kept her moving in and out of the concert to keep her sociable.  Apparently she’s great with the music - it’s the applause she doesn’t love.

After the concert and clean-up (including the redistribution of my 90 cherubs to their rightful owners), my perfect little family took me out to a delicious late night dinner at a cute local burger joint.  It was all we could all do to keep our eyes open.

Eila might be the one who’s sleeping here - but it’s her mom that’s really ready to pass out.

Thank goodness for enormously comfortable giant hotel beds!

Sunday mornings were made for lazying in bed.

With all of the fun and excitement of the the All-State choir, the conference, and the holiday, we didn’t really get a chance to take an official Valentine’s Day/3 month birthday picture.

Awkward family Valentine’s picture attempt.

A bit better.  

Happy Heart Day!

Cloth windows to the past

We are SO fortunate to have a family with slight hoarding tendencies.  Adam and I have purchased nearly nothing to dress our wee babe thanks to the bins upon bins of clothing that has been lovingly collected, washed, and saved by our families.  Every time Eila moves into a new size I get to dive into a new tub of wearable wonders and find treasures both old and new.

I’m told this Sunday dress was once my own.

I’m sure Eila’s ruffley bum is cuter than mine ever was.

The nice thing about such well-made Sunday clothes is that you can even go for Sunday walks on the water in them!

A family selfie at Chambers Bay on a sunny Sunday.

Hopefully you noticed the super awesome Ergo baby carrier that was sent our direction from the Grosch family.  They apparently loved this carrier as they carted Franklin around a few years back - and we figure that if it was good enough for Big Sky country - it’ll certainly hold up around the Puget Sound.  It’s certainly quite a bit easier to wear than the carrier my own mother lovingly made for me three decades ago.  She must have known that someday I would have a baby with a train fanatic.

Love, like homemade treasures, never goes out of style.  

This retro outfit was purchased by yours truly more than ten years ago for my first born niece, Brooklyn.  It’s been through each of the ladies in our family, since.  

Here’s another ruffley blast from the past.  At first glance I thought I’d be overwhelmed with Eila in so many layers of lace - but it turns out she just became exponentially cuter.

Sunday in Style

Her papa just can’t resist a ruffle bum shot.  

Speaking of Eila’s papa...how’s this for a side-by-side comparison that proves her apple didn’t fall far from her tree...

There’s no mistaking those blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and double chins!

Meet the Pinkstaffs!

Almost exactly a year ago to the day one of my very good friends (former co-worker, roommate, and literally the gal who sat at my side while I met my future husband for the first time), Ana, brought her family to Puyallup to have pizza with Adam and I at our favorite pizza joint.  The very first thing she did when she arrived was lift up the table cloth to check out my belly to ensure that we weren’t pregnant.  “No,” she announced.  “No baby, yet!”  Since Ana had a history of asking very fair, but direct questions - we had already pre-planned that, since we hadn’t told anyone yet, we would only tell her about the impending arrival of our Bump if she asked directly.  We were relieved that she had simply announced instead of ASK and didn’t need to spill the beans just yet.

Our pizza dinner that night was unfortunately more than just a social call - it was a good-bye dinner as the Pinkstaff family was headed Midwest-ward for the next few years as they followed a great job promotion to Minnesota.  While we actually love land-locked prairie states - Minneapolis is still a long eight hours from Omaha - making it difficult to actually get to see each other.

Thus, I was super excited when Ana texted to let me know her family was coming back to the Northwest for a winter visit.  While Luke was busy at work, Ana, her curious and confident son Landon (aka Rocky) and her gorgeously precocious daughter Clara came down to Puyallup for the afternoon.  You know she’s a good friend and an experienced mom when, after flying across the country on Sunday evening, Ana showed up with lunch for everyone and toys in hand for the babes.  After lunch, it was time for some one-on-one time with the munchkins.

Ana was unsurprisingly amazing with our fussy babe.

Full of wisdom and experience - Ana introduced Clara to Eila.

Clara helps Eila sit up a bit.

Can’t you just see Ana in Clara’s sweet face?  They look SO much alike.  

Unfortunately, we eventually had to let Ana and the little Pinkstaffs go and say hi to her own family who was eagerly waiting for their arrival in Federal way.

This was Eila’s initial reaction to the departure of her new friends.  

Having cried herself blue - she eventually gave it up and settled in for a recovery snooze.

A few months later Eila finally grew into the super cute onesie outfit the Pinkstaffs brought over.  A little lady can never have too much bling! 

First of the firsts

The beginning of January 2015 was full of many tiny, but significant “firsts” for the Jr. Wilhoits.  Consider this a random collection of family milestones. 

Eila’s first trip to the Powerhouse - a local Puyallup favorite pub and eatery.  This picture was promptly sent to Mr. Burch with pride.

First Swing Snooze - she’s a little tipsy.

First hand-knit sweater set crafted with love by a fellow music teacher!  Note that the yarn she chose matches our nursery colors perfectly.

First...pants on head wearing?  This one was just too cute and too random not to share.

Momma’s first successful baby wearing expedition.  Wrestling your infant and yourself into a Baby K’Tan counts as exercise, right?  VICTORY!  

Baby’s first brunch date.  Eila and I spent our final Friday before returning to work and starting daycare with Auntie Aunt Kay at a University Village cafe.  Yum!

This is actually a Baby’s last...Eila’s last night snuggling with Mom before she returned to work.  Looking at this picture I have NO idea how I convinced myself it was a good idea to return to teaching with an eight-week old at home.  She’s so tiny!

And then I look at this picture and remember how lucky we feel about our daycare.  This was Eila’s first full day of daycare as she met her new playmate, Leah.  Leah is our daycare provider’s two-year old daughter who is GREAT with our babe.  Her mom is a regular baby whisperer and keeps us in the loop with lots of cute pictures throughout the day.

Annnd this is how Eila felt after her first full day of daycare.  She decided to go on a hunger strike and refuse all bottles until Mom arrived (having left her 6th period to fend for themselves with school Admin.).  All that playing and crying will really tucker a girl out!  

And then there was our first WEEKEND.  This was our first Saturday playdate while we waited for Daddy to come home from Grad school.  Looking forward to mornings with these sweet smiles makes long work-weeks worthwhile.