Paralyzed by perfection.

Good news/bad news time.  The good news is that I feel like I MAY have just a little bit of time available to restart the blog.  The bad news is that SO MUCH time has passed, that it’s truly a daunting thought.  My sister often writes about how overwhelmed she feels when she hasn’t written in a while.  It would be easy to just throw it all away and say, “I’m so behind that I’ll never catch up.”  But ask Kara also notes on occasion, these blogs aren’t really for anyone except our own families.  Blogging has pretty much gone out of style, having given way to Instagram and Snapchats.  But I don’t want my family’s memories to only be visible for a few hours.  And now that the Wilhoit Wonders have a new roommate...well, capturing memorable moments are more important that ever.  So, I refuse to be paralyzed by my perfectionism.  It’s better to get SOME pictures posted than to have them all lost to digital purgatory for time immemorial.  I’ll start again, try to keep up with some current events and perhaps look back at the last year every now and then and recollect an event or two.  Good news: I learned how to change the date on my blog posts so I don’t have to write about the 4th of July with a blog dated in May of the following year.  Bad news: You may have to scroll back if you’re looking for the newest posted pictures for a while.

So, without further excuse or explanation, while my blogging skills are anything but perfect, here is my current definition of perfection:

And then there was NomiAnn...and Papa Kay...and then NomiAnn again

Kara passed the “care for Callie” baton off to NomiAnn with only one day of overlap.  There’s nothing like having a baby to make you wish you lived closer to family.  If casual living is a sign of love when living with houseguests, NomiAnn should feel VERY loved because we were VERY causal during her visit.  In fact, we may have been so casual that we forgot to take many pictures!

One memorable adventure came one drizzly Presidents Day when we couldn’t get in to the Bellevue Children’s museum, but opted for delicious DimSum instead.  Eila enjoyed the kid friendly dishware.

“Can I have some DimSum?” 

After brunch we headed over to BellSquare for some time on the playground.  It was a kid-zoo, but Eila held her own on the Northwest themed playspace equipment.

High fives atop the ferry

Anders wasn’t quite ready for the playground yet, but still looked pretty dapper in the Eila hand-me-down duds.  Thanks Wells family!

NomiAnn helped us navigate the tricky parts of taking Eila to her first swim classes.  It turns out our two year old should have been born with gills!

“We’re going fishing, fishing fishing and we’re wishing, wishing, wishing for a....Eila-fish!"

Grandson snuggles in Anacortes. 

Most of the time, though, we just stayed around the house and played or made checkmarks on the to-do list.  Maternity leave with NomiAnn power is a force to be reckoned with.

Eila’s learning to help with laundry.

These two nosey ladies share a truly special bond.  We’re so lucky to have a NomiAnn unlike any other.

Who NOSE how much I love you?

Auntie Kara

If you want a really well-written account of Kara’s visit to the Northwest I suggest you head to and read the account from my very favorite writer.  

http://karawheeler.blogspot.com/2017/02/valentines-day-2017-from-babies-to-beets.html  or
http://karawheeler.blogspot.com/2017/04/i-have-so-much-housework-to-do-but-when.html

...In fact...her accounts are so good, maybe I’ll just “borrow” a bit for this post...shameless plagiarism (but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve stolen my older sister’s better written ideas...)   My own personal snark will be inserted in red.

Valentine's Day 2017: From Babies to Beets

Happy Valentine's Day!  (Or morning after, as the case may be.)  I'm actually not with my own sweetheart right now because my heart has been stolen by this little man.  Anders came to us “extra” Valentine ready with heart shaped stork bites on his forehead that still haven’t faded three months in.  

Welcome to the world, Anders Rhys Wilhoit!  This sweet guy was born February 3rd, weighing in a whopping six pounds, nine ounces.   I'd forgotten how tiny they come!   This picture is practically life size.  With blond hair and an easy-going personality, Little Man is a charmer.  (HA!  How little we knew about him then!)

Eila Kay is a proud big sister...

...and adorable as can be all on her own.  Hard to argue with fact.

 Yesterday we had fun making sugar cookies to celebrate heart-day.


She liked cutting out the dough, but as we all know, eating it was even better.  Like mother/auntie like daughter.

The rest of the Wilhoit family is doing well, too.  As the oldest, most experienced daughter, Zoe is fairly unconcerned with Anders (although she did initiate him to the family yesterday with a good face wash.)  The new hardwood floors, on the other hand, are much more unpopular with this gal, but she's adjusting.  Sort of.  NOPE.

As for Callie, she is pretty astonished to discover how much easier her recovery has been this time around.  Eila arrived via C-section after 29 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing, so skipping straight to the C-section with Anders made everything a breeze in comparison.  My job is simply to remind her that even though we all know she is superwoman, every new mama deserves to take it easy and get a little TLC.  

Adam is already an expert at showering love on his little gal while snuggling his little man.  It's heartening to know this world is full of great fathers.

Welcoming Anders Rhys

I have SO much housework to do, but when I go to bed tonight, I want to have accomplished something that won't be undone first thing tomorrow. Hence the procrasti-blogging!

Besides, little man Anders Rhys Wilhoit is two-months old already!  On Friday our family is driving to Omaha so that we all can meet him. (Insert huge smiley face here.)  Lucky aunt that I am, I got a sneak peak mid-February when I flew out to Washington to spend a week from the Wilhoit family.

Here are Callie and Anders on his birth day.  (Close...I’m showered and post-hospital gown...so I’m pretty sure it’s day #2)

Official homecoming attire for the Wilhoit babes.  (Adam voted for Kara’s idea, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to tell the babes apart if I put them in the same coming home clothes...so this was just a few days after Anders made it home)

Seeing Eila in her pink snowsuit makes me chuckle remembering all the pictures we have of Annika in the same snowsuit last year. (Somehow Annika made the outfit look long and lean... Eila’s more of a Michelin style snowsuit gal).

The direct flight out to Seattle was amazingly peaceful all on my own.  When I arrived, these sweet little bundles were waiting for me.  Holding a newborn has to be one of the most miraculous of life's experiences.


We went and got some delicious Vietnamese food for dinner.  Eila was impressively well-behaved the entire meal, but by the time we had our to-go boxes all packaged, she rightly decided that it was time to go home.

This little gal's a keeper!  I'm so glad we had some great one-on-one time together.  When my kids are around, she understandably gets whisked away in the cousin adventures.

Not every two year-old is lucky enough to have a playground right outside her front door...

...not to mention an entire library!

Meanwhile, Anders was mostly inside adjusting to life outside his mama.  Alesia made him this elephant.  Isn't it incredible?  (Hear, hear!  This elephant came with the most adorable coordinating elephant outfits and even some storybooks with elephants.  Eila’s current favorite bedtime request is “Strictly no elephants.")


From the pictures, it seems like Anders as a one-week old only did one thing...sleep.  Kara was wise in her advice to not feel overly compelled to wake Anders up in an attempt to help him experience the world around him.  He has since awoken in a very real way...and isn’t always happy about it.  If only I’d enjoyed the quiet a bit longer!

Trust me, pictures can be deceiving.  Ask Callie and she will assure you that he spends plenty of time eating as well.  Also, the above pictures were all taken in the daylight, meaning that once night fell, the handsome little fella was ready to play.


We did our best to get sibling photos without incurring any injuries.  Eila only carried Anders to us once during the visit.  She was concerned because he was fussing and wanted us to help him.  What a sweetie!  (She fortunately kept a firm grip on her precious package as we rushed to the rescue.)  Two months later and Eila’s only carried Anders to us one other time - and he’s lived to tell the tale both times!

Crazy choir lady couldn’t leave her “other” kids even with a ten day old.  Thankfully, Kara is nearly as crazy and brought Anders to me during a break in the rehearsal schedule for a quick, car-feed.  The things we teachers do for our students that they’d NEVER want to know about...


And of course, Adam is an amazing father as well.  Look at the men hanging out already!


Adam is the official family goofball, and Eila's very favorite playmate.  (Some day in the future, I will insert the box video as evidence of Adam's craziness right here.)

As an aunt, I was in absolute heaven hanging out with my niece(s) and nephew.  Zoe took a liking to my lap, no matter if Anders was already occupying it.

My visit coincided with Valentine's Day.  While I tried to talk Callie and Adam into going out on a date, they took us all out for frozen yogurt instead.

It's pretty easy to understand why they'd want to spend the evening with their littlest sweethearts.  In the meantime, I thought a lot about my own sweetheart taking such good care of our munchkins in Salt Lake.  Well, most of them at least.  Annika was in Hyde Park hanging out with Grandpa Charles and Grandma Susie, helping to distract them from their recent flood.  So much love all around!

The Washington sun peered out for several days of glorious sunshine.  Here we are on our way to one of my favorite parks...

...at Point Ruston.  Mount Rainier was so clear in the background!

Eila loved the slide.

On a rainier day, we headed to the Tacoma Children's museum for some bubbly fun.

Back at home, it was time for boxes...

...and baths.  (Yes, I got peed on, pooped on, and spit up on, all within a matter of seconds.  What can I say?  I'd forgotten.)

Eila got an unexpected surprise when she bit into this avocado while grocery shopping.  Oops!

While every toddler has monster moments, I'll take this little gal any time.

NomiAnn flew in the day before I flew out so we all got to spend a lovely day together.

Wilhoit Family, thanks so much for the lovely visit!

I can't wait to see you all again soon.

I couldn’t say it any better, Kara, except to perhaps add my sincerest gratitude for the time you once again took away from your own beautiful family to again take care of mine.  Kara, you are so often the first person I call when I need advice and someone to talk me down from panicked mom moments.  Thank you for the many sacrifices you make on behalf of all of us.  If I have one wish for Eila and Anders, it’s that they are nearly as good of siblings to each other as you are to me.  It’s a tall order, but if they come close they’ll be the luckiest, happiest kids around.