Ow Site!

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.

We're Still Here!

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!

Miss Manners

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.

Hard To Believe

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.

Stacey Fain, Student

Blythe's birth was a miracle. A miracle of life, but also a miracle of self for me. It was definitely amazing to witness what my body was capable of producing and delivering, but it was also incredibly empowering to realize my inner strength. From that day on, literally, my life has taken a turn. A venture down the road of self discovery. I had let myself be defined, in large part, by other people's statements of who I was. I began to define my person for myself. It's been an incredible few years, and the journey will continue for the rest of my life. Never before have I felt so solid, so content with the person I am. I have true joy and true self worth. I began to think about who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to do with my life. Being a mom is first and foremost, but there was also something I had ignored for a long, long time. A career path I talked myself out of pursuing for numerous reasons. I have shared it with precious few because the closer you keep it, the "safer" it is. Several months ago, after sharing it with a close friend, she said "so are you going to start school in the fall?" I immediately shook my head, thinking that was way too soon. But as I thought about it more closely, I discovered I just needed to jump in a DO it. So, I did. I am a now a student at the Spokane Falls Community College, and I will take a class in the Fall. And someday, instead of the title reading "Stacey Fain, Student" it will read "Stacey Fain, R.N." Here's to following your heart's call!

Adorable Aldapes

I still haven't received any digital pictures of my sister-in-law, Lizzie's, wedding. I did manage to copy one from a facebook page, though. Don't they look great?! We're so happy for them!

Snowed In

We have been getting a TON of snow in Spokane over the last week. Schools are closed (first time in 10+ years), cars are getting stuck, and the roads are horrible. That means that Blythe and I have been hanging out at home a lot. As much as I love our house, it's starting to feel a little small.

Travels and Tribulations

It's always interesting traveling with a toddler...especially this one. Blythe is at the point where she doesn't sleep well if she's not in her pack-n-play, crib, or car seat. She's much too squirmy to sit on our laps for too long, and Benadryl does NOT work on her (I know because I tried). We just returned from Oklahoma where Blythe was the flower girl in her Aunt Lizzie's wedding. I'm sorry to say I did not get to snap any pics of her in her dress because I was too busy chasing her. (If anyone reading this has any pics of the wedding, please email me!) Blythe had the time of her life and absolutely loved the sound her shoes made on the hard floors. The bride was gorgeous, and the wedding was a blast! Blythe did well traveling down, but coming back was a different story. It's always an adventure, to say the least!

The one pic I was able to shoot when we were in OK was of Blythe playing with Matt's family's dog, Aggie. It was a big treat for B to be around a dog, and Aggie was ever so sweet and kind. Here they are playing frisbee in the back yard.

Blythe is also transitioning into "big girl" mode. She wants to do everything herself, and act like a big girl. Here she is eating at the table in a "big person chair".

Since returning from the trip Blythe has discovered a new toy - her suitcase. We've been back for several weeks now, and her suitcase is still in her room because she loves to play with it. I was able to snap this shot of her one morning.

Blessed, Blessed, Blessed!

I truly have so many things to be eternally grateful for in my life. I have a wonderful family, deep faith, a cozy home, and real joy in my life. I also have the fortune of having some amazing, life-long friends. One of those I consider to be one of my closest is dear, beautiful Jen. The girl is amazing and talented on so many levels. She is an amateur photographer, and she did us the honor of taking some family shots (since we didn't have any) one beautiful fall day. I almost cried looking at them for the first time - they are all so incredible. She really captured the essence of our family in these shots, and it was a blast hanging out with her. I can't say enough about what her friendship means to me. In a nutshell: she's beautiful and sensational, and she's my friend.

Hunker Down

After almost a month of not posting (bad!) I have updated from Thanksgiving to present day. There are lots of pictures and filling in of events, so hunker down and enjoy!

Mangia!

# 20,183 of Reasons I Love My Husband: Tonight my husband suggested we order take out for dinner. He then drove, with child, to pick up our italian feast while I actually had some alone time at home in my jammies.

The italians proudly proclaim "Mangia!" (pronounced 'mon ja') before digging into the undoubtedly delicous meal they have prepared. I'm quite sure Blythe was thinking the same thing as she contemplated which piece of garlic bread to eat first...the left or the right?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, and a belated Merry Christmas!. We had family in town for Christmas, did a bit of traveling, and are now recuperating from sickness. Par for the course during any holiday time. :)

We had a brilliant holiday season, and we hope all of yours was blessed as well! I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures to follow. We recorded Christmas morning on our video camera and then realized (after the fact) that we failed to record a single Christmas morning moment on our digital camera. The few I have will have to do! As we get some through email from family I will be sure to post them!

It was absolutely magical to have a small child in the house on Christmas. We were joined by my Mom and Dad and all were captivated watching Blythe experience the fabulousness of Christmas morning. While Blythe is a bit young to understand the meaning of Christmas, she definitely understands the unwrapping part! Half way through unwrapping her presents it was clear she was in a toy coma, but she rallied and finished beautifully. She truly loves every single gift she received, and among the faves are her Dora ride around, her Little People sets, her pink hippo, and a Dog book with push and pull tabs. I was able to snap a shot of her Dora vehicle. Her most cherished aspect of this toy is it's capability of storing items in the lift-up seat. As you can see in this picture, she has her drink precariously perched on the steering wheel, the seat compartment is up, and the toys she stores the parts to in her seat are resting in the back ground. What can I say, she's busy!

Squarky Little Thing

It's no secret we love our girl, and we think she just has the sweetest, kindest personality. But we also admit she has a...well...strange side. (For all of you out there laughing and thinking, "I wonder where she got that from!", we know who you are and we will find you!) She is often spotted making weird faces and doing odd activities.

One prime example is the time she desperately needed to sit in her car seat while it was in the kitchen one day.* Matt obliged her finally, and she sat there for a good ten minutes as happy as a clam. I can assure you she's not always so content to sit in her car seat while it's in it's rightful place, but if it's in the kitchen, well then she must be seated in it!

She also likes to put on Mom's mittens. I just love her little faces and looks. Darling girl, that one.






*If you're wondering why it was in the kitchen that fateful morning, it's because we had to clean it. Inside and out. After a very public and embarrassing (for all those involved) puking incident at one very yummy italian restaurant (a.k.a OLIVE GARDEN!!!) that was then repeated in the car, in her high chair, and in bed. Poor little mite.

Rewind to Thanksgiving

Grammy sent us these photos of our trip to San Francisco over Thanksgiving. Matt and I forgot our camera, so Mom was the chief photo taker, and she did a super job! We had wonderful food, traveled to the city to see the Macy's windows and the big tree in Union Park Square, had Blythe's first trip to the beach (she was not a fan of the cold water), and had some silly fun on BART (the train system around the Bay area). Yay for holidays!

Cry Baby

It's definitely a white Christmas setting around here these last few weeks. The temperatures are dropping and the snow has been falling! Here's a snowy snapshot of our beautiful back yard!

When seeing all that snow in abundance, I thought Blythe would for sure get the biggest kick out of playing in the snow. I'd get her all bundled up, head out to the backyard with her, and we'd just have a ball throwing snow up in the air and making snow trails with our feet.

Well, I don't know if she just wasn't in the mood, was too tired, or what her deal was, but she was NOT happy to be outside in the snow. She dipped one little mitten into the snow and decided she had had enough, thank you, and wanted to be done. I swear, if there had been a rock in front of her she would have kicked it. It was a scene right out of "Blythe and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad snow day."