Last year we thought we got a lot of snow, but this year we have gotten even more! It hasn't stopped snowing since yesterday morning at 7:30a.m., and we are well past 24 inches of snow. Here's a look at our winter wonderland!
When Blythe turned two she received her first game from her Grandpa Tracy, Aunt Brook, and Cousin Sala. Each duck rotates around the pond and has a particular symbol and color. The object of the game is to pick out the ducks that match your symbol, and the first one to collect all three wins. Blythe is just now old enough to get the concept of the game, and her colors and shapes. So, for the first time we installed the batteries in the duck game, and it was a huge hit from the start. She loves the game, and likes the sound of the duck quacking even more!
Last weekend Matt declared he had a surprise for his girls, and we could not have been more excited! The day started off with breakfast at one of our favorite little bakeries, Madeleine's, and it was GOOD! Blythe had an cranberry-orange scone (mom and dad helped too!).
After breakfast we headed "up north" so Blythe could pick out her own ornament. This is a tradition my parents started when I was a young girl, and every year the three girls would get to pick out their own ornament with the idea being that when we eventually had our own tree we would have 10+ ornaments to decorate the tree with. It was so much fun, Matt and I have continued the tradition between the two of us, and now the three of us. It was a great day!
Sunday, he had yet another surprise in store for us with a Gingerbread Iron Man competition between local businesses at our gorgeous Davenport Hotel. We even got to decorate our own gingerbread house. It was a super fun weekend!
Say hello to the sweetest and cutest bag of leaves you'll ever see. I also thought it would be fun to progession of Halloween over the years - my how she's grown. Happy Halloween everyone!
2006
2007
Last weekend Matt took Blythe out to a local farm co-op for some outdoor fun. There, she got to ride a pony and pet some goats - both were firsts for her! Her pony's name was Baby Blue, and she took to him right away. I think the smile says it all!
Several weekends ago I had some girlfriends coming in for a girls weekend. I was in the process of cleaning the house, and asked Blythe to take all of her books into her room (most of which were slewn about the living room). I was in the kitchen cleaning and she comes in and says "I did it, Mom!" I immediately thanked her profusely and then went to check on her finished product. This is what awaited me.
Could she get any cuter?! I think not.
p.s. Notice the open cupboard in her room that was waiting patiently to be filled with books. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Where did the summer go? Why is it that as you get older, time starts to go faster? We have been busy, busy, busy and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. We recently found out we are expecting baby number 2!!! Our next bambino will be due in early April, and we are trying to prepare Blythe for the new member of the family. She understands little about what a big sister is, and when we ask if a new baby is coming to live with us she says "No. No baby." What can I say, it's a work in progress!
I also started school yesterday. I'm taking an online Psychology class, and it was VERY overwhelming for me yesterday. I didn't know if I was going to make it! But, after a good night's sleep (amazing how that changes your perspective), I feel much better about the whole school thing today. I will survive, and I will kick butt doing it! :)
Culloden Battle Field where the infamous "breaking of the clans" took place. Amazing and horribly sad at the same time.
Ancient druid stone circles.
Castle Urquhart at Loch Ness.
Our Highland Tour group.
Hamish the Highland Cow!
Scotland was in the truest meaning of the word....AMAZING!! Mom and I had the best time traveling around our "home land". We spent most of our time in Edinburgh with jaunts to Glasgow, Stirling, and the Highlands. We discovered so many things about this country we love, including Nutella Hot Chocolate (I will be making that this Christmas!). All in all, it could not have been a better trip. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures. Thanks for this stunning trip of a lifetime, Mom!
Love the name of this pub in Dunfermline!
12th century church
Views from Stirling Castle
Abadoned Abbey
In the forest at Killiecrankie
Mom outside of Edinburgh castle.
The Royal Mile - Edinburgh
A nice pint of ale.
Royal Mile
The most magical pathway...
More to come tomorrow including pictures of the very famous "heilan coo". I know you're excited already! :)
Many apologies for the non-existant posting status I have been experiencing for some time now. The excuses I have are good ones: it's summer, we have had many delightful people visiting, and I spend my day chasing a 2 year old. All in all - we are busy! But, I did finally manage to get my pictures of Blythe's birthday and my trip to Scoland loaded on the computer. So as not to overwhelm you, I will be posting these events (and other captured Blythe moments) over the coarse of the next week. First up, Blythe's birthday. We just had a few friends over for cupcakes and ice cream. Blythe seemed to enjoy herself, although she was not great about sharing her new toys. Who could blame her? It was her birthday, after all! :)
Not too sure about the candles...
Notice the princess chair that she had to be sitting in!
I can't believe it's finally here. The day has come. Tomorrow I will be flying to San Francisco to meet my Mom so that the next morning we can fly to SCOTLAND!!! It seems like we have been talking about this trip for the longest time, and now it's here! I do have to say I have some mixed emotions about the trip. On the one hand, I'm beside myself excited that I get to take the trip of a lifetime with my mom to our ancestor's home land. It's going to be magical and fantastic and something I will remember with fondness as long as I live. On the other hand, I will be leaving the family I love so tremendously for 10 days. I have never been separated from Miss B for that long, and I always miss Matt when I'm gone. I have many people praying for us, and fabulous friends looking after Blythe while Matt's at work, but I still worry and dwell as I'm pretty sure most mothers would. I know they will do great together, but I will miss them terribly. I guess it's true that Daddy and B will be on an adventure too - just in a different way!
We received a surprise package in the mail the other day from Grandpa Hal and Mommy Susan (Thank you!!), and Blythe was so excited to see what was inside. As we opened the package, out came a Play-doh play set. Well, Blythe was immediately enamoured with the doh and all of it's play parts. We played with it on and off all day, and she loved every minute of it. The set is kind of a "Mr. Potato head", but with animal parts instead. I had some fun myself as I constructed an elephant, and Blythe felt her need to add improvements to said elephant.
Matt then chipped in and made his own creation. Personally, I don't see much difference between Matt's and Blythe's "creations". Hmm...grown man vs. 2 year old. I'm just saying....
Blythe and I were in the basement last week just lounging on a gray morning. She disappeared behind the couch, and after a few minutes I heard her playing with her old bouncy chair which she sometimes still enjoys. I became engrossed in the spelling bee semi-finals (I know - sounds super geeky. But, the spelling bee is hilarious. That statement sounds so oxymoronic, but it's the truth!) Anyway, I started to hear her shout "I want in!" to which I would then reply "Oh, honey, you're too big for that toy." This went on for several minutes until I heard her start to give me the frustrated whimper at which point I went to investigate. Here's what I found.
I don't know how she managed to get herself into the seat, but notice the immense effort being put forth by the bouncy ropes to keep child off the ground.
It's happened. I knew this day was inevitable, but I was hoping it wouldn't happen for a little while longer. Blythe now knows how to open doors. She would try without success before, and then one day she all of a sudden discovered how. Now there's no locking her out of our room, or the bathroom, and everything (including the garage!) is fair game for her. I know you can get those child-proof things to go over the handles, but I figure she has to learn boundaries some time, and it might as well be now!
A couple of weekends ago Blythe and I traveled to San Francisco to visit my Mom. We went on many adventures and enjoyed beautiful weather. One of the highlights was taking Blythe to the zoo for the first time. She really enjoyed all the animals, but did not so much enjoy the children's train that caught her by surprise and completely panicked her! Needless to say, we ended up carrying her quite a bit. But she was so snuggly that neither one of us really minded. I will also point out that she was not a big fan of anything having to do with the ocean. The only time she would walk on the sand was when she was walking away from the ocean!
After all of our adventures Blythe was tired! They look so peaceful when they're sleeping. :)
Blythe has reached a new phase where she will actually sit for 15-30 minutes and watch a show by herself while I can get in a quick shower, or do whatever without constantly having her underfoot. I am pretty picky about what she watches, and so is she. Some of the cartoons I thought she'd love (Berenstein Bears, Little Bear, Clifford) she's not that keen on. She prefers to watch Super WHY, Ni Hao Kai Lan (like Dora, but chinese), or her all time favorite Thomas the Train. And I'm only too happy to turn one on so I can actually have some time to myself. Yay!
It was a quiet, rainy Easter at our house. Because of the rain, outside basket hunting wasn't really an option. Blythe did find the basket right away (as it was in plain site on the couch), and she seemed delighted with the goodies waiting for her in her basket. We were shocked she didn't go for the candy right away. Instead, she headed right for her Thomas the Train book. The girl loves her "choo choos!"
Or, in Blythe speak, "Outside!" This past weekend we had beautiful weather. Summer came out for two whole days, and as a result the Fains were outside all weekend! We ate almost every meal on our new patio furniture, and all three of us enjoyed ourselves immensely. Blythe especially loves walking up and down, up and down, and up and down the hill in our backyard. At the top of said hill is a little bridge that crosses over the waterfall. I'm quite sure she thinks it's there soley for her, and that it does in fact belong to her, because once she steps foot on the bridge it's might hard to remove her from it.
I could fill this page with excuses as to why I haven't been able to blog for a while, but mostly it boils down to one main reason: I have an extremely active and curious 21 month old! The little chickadee moves non-stop, and Matt and I are the lucky ones who get to chase her all around God's creation. So, since it's been quiet on the blog front let me give you an update on everyone!
Matt is still loving his job and the people he works with. On March 28th he celebrated is 28th birthday with a cold beer, supreme steak, and good friends. He kept busy this past week cleaning out the garage and prepping our backyard waterfall for the summer. I love that he loves to work outside, because I really just like to enjoy it rather than work in it. For yet another reason, I know I married the right man!
I have been keeping myself busy with researching school options, class schedules, course study options, etc. I am pretty sure of the program I plan to enter, and I will be registering for class on June 3rd! I never thought I would say this, but I'm excited to be in school again. I'm sure that will last right up until I have a paper due or my first test. But for right now, I'm enjoying the journey.
Miss B is busy, busy, busy. She is starting to put sentences together, and you can almost see the neuro pathways in her brain being forged every time she encounters something new. She has an irrepressible curiosity, and she always has a smile ready. She has reached the milestone where not only does she listen to me (most of the time), but also understands me. She loves being outside, and asks to go out in our backyard almost every opportunity she gets. She no longer looks like our little baby, but rather looks more and more like a little girl. She's our peaches-n-cream girl, and the highlight of our lives.
More to come soon - I promise!
We've been working hard on impressing the importance of "please" and "thank you" into Blythe's psyche. It's starting to pay off, and the reality is quite precious.
It's hard to believe Blythe will be 2 in just four short months. My how time does fly. She is no longer my little baby, and seems to be sprinting full force to the toddler stage. Her speech has really picked up, and her vocabulary is pretty extensive. She has a curiosity about her that I just love, and she's too bright for her own good (and mine!). Here are some photos we've taken recently of our sweet one. It's safe to say she's our world!
Blythe has become very attached to her Daddy. She doesn't like when he leaves in the mornings, and one morning she ran to get her shoes so she could go with daddy. There is something about her little shoes next to his that is inherently sweet.
Here she is practicing her spoon skills with yogurt. You can see my hand holding the yogurt container for damage control. She did NOT want me to hold it. She wants to do everything herself. Little spitfire.
Blythe has always loved to read, and she has recently discovered trains. Here are my two favorite people in the world having a cuddle moment, learning about trains. These are the times we treasure.
She loves our cat, Charlie. Sometimes too much. I think she would squeeze him all day if she could! We have a toy he chases, and here she is tempting Charlie with the toy.
