Save it for Sunday | 8.26.18

My first week of many upcoming that I am running the circus solo. As the icing on the cake, my annual bout of allergy induced laryngitis has struck. Thanks a lot ragweed for my barely there voice. It makes communicating with Eloise and Harvey a real hoot. As it turns out my mom voice is a lot less effective at a whisper level. Eloise told me I sound like a sick mouse. Next week brings three of our most favorite things in the world: fall (I bust out all the pumpkins on the first of September), Michigan State football, and Grandma Sue! I think I can, I think I can...

Real life Sunday

The Highlights

In college I nannied in the summer full time for a fabulous family. Madelyn, Lilly, and Gloria were 6, 9, and 11 when we first met. My summers were never short on laughs, and thanks to their dad Larry, we have stayed very close. He moved mountains to make sure they could be at our wedding, and he is always rearranging schedules to see us during every Michigan visit. We were thrilled that they decided to spend their end-of-summer vacation with us in Colorado. We hiked, we brunched, we explored the zoo. We saw Garden of the Gods, shopped in Manitou Springs, and dined at the Broadmoor. The standard Colorado Springs tourism was great, but above all I loved our down time together at home. I got to sleep in every morning. Madi got up to play with my early bird Harvey before I even heard him wiggling in his crib. Larry spoiled Eloise with some late night cookie baking. Then he spoiled me by baking another batch the night before they left to make sure I was well stocked. It was glorious to have so many hands willing to wipe snotty noses, buckle car seats, cut restaurant food into bite sized pieces, fill my gas tank, etc. The list could go on forever. I am endlessly grateful when guests are not only easy to host, they are truly helpful. At dinner one night we got to talking about what the girls have been up to and what they have going on this fall. We talked about Madi's upcoming trip to Africa to teach. She will be spending Christmas Day there and does not know anyone going. We watched videos of Lilly's routine on the uneven bars on the gymnastics team. She didn't have a spring sport so she decided why not try something she had never done before? And Gloria talked about her nervous excitement starting her freshman year of high school. She has already been voted class president. These are some badass women! I am so proud of them and thankful for this time together. Just as I always hoped to serve as a positive role model in their young lives, I pray the three of them will continue to set the standard high and guide Eloise and Harvey to become as caring, intelligent, strong, and brave as they are.

Eloise had her last day of soccer on Friday, and it was parent participation day too. Once I got over the loss of my hour of relaxation sitting in the shade chatting with my friend with only one kid to corral, it was actually a blast. We played foxes and farmers and lava monster. I chased my little fox with a scrimmage jersey tail tucked into her shorts from one goal to another, all the while thinking, does this count as my cardio for the day? Eloise squealed with glee having me out on the field with her. Soccer truly was the perfect summer activity, but we are excited for our fall routine with scheduled school, dance, and library storytime to kick in after Labor Day weekend.

The Small Moments

Right before Brad deployed in 2014 we went on a little babymoon to Seaside, Florida. A seashell we found together on the beach sits now next to our bathtub as a perfect reminder of simpler times. Well this week Eloise discovered said shell. I told her of its importance and showed her how you can hear the ocean if you hold it to your ear. Life made. She is completely enamored and carries it around everywhere to tell anyone who will listen that I found it when she was just a tiny baby in my belly. It is really sweet, and love seeing her eyes sparkle with wonder when she has it held up to her ear. 

Quite by accident I have created a little side profit for myself. I started creating personalized onesies for friends as baby gifts after the one I made for Harvey turned out so cute. Now every time one of them posts a homecoming picture I have a handful of their friends messaging me about making and selling them. This week I finished and mailed out a few onesies as well as two sibling sets of shirts headed to Georgia, Texas, and Ohio. I am grateful people love what I make, and it is fun to see my creativity blossom from a hobby into something more. I am feeling kind of torn about it though. Brad and I had a big discussion about turning it into a real small business since the demand is there, but in all honesty, I already have a career I love. A few mom friends have opened up Etsy shops, and I see them working through every single naptime and spare waking hour to make them as successful as they are. If I wanted to make some extra money I would go back to a nursing job. I am choosing to stay home and appreciate my growing babies right now, and I think that is what I want to continue doing rather than adding in the stress and logistics of a small business. It is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. For now I think I will appreciate making them as gifts and on a small scale for friends of friends. Thoughts?

Our TV remote control of all things created some laughs around here this week. Whenever Harvey gets his hands on it he holds it up like he is taking a picture and says "CHEESE". Monkey see monkey do I guess? And then Eloise accidentally pressed the button that allows you to use voice control. We don't ever use this function, so she was surprised when a Siri-like woman's voice came through the speakers asking how she could assist us. Facing the TV as if she were greeting a new friend, here is what came next: "Oh! Hi! How are you? I'm Eloise. I'm three. What is your name? Are you having a good day?" I scooped my girl up into the biggest hug. She blows me away daily with her kind heart in the smallest, silliest, most random ways. 

The Ways We Grew

This week was full of exciting baby magic as our circle of friends here grew. On Friday afternoon Ashley brought over her anatomy ultrasound envelope with top secret gender news sealed inside. I did a little happy dance in my kitchen as the first to know their third baby will round out a tiny girl tribe for their family. All the bows and sparkles! I filled cupcakes with pink icing and delivered them back in time for a Facebook live gender reveal that evening. Literally as I was watching them bite into their cupcakes, my friend Sondra texted to say her husband was on his way over. Plans had been made for me to take care of her two oldest kids while she was in labor. Thundercats are go! Certainly not ideal timing as I was completely on my own after a busy week of company with FOUR crazy kids, and obviously Harvey decided it was the perfect time to spike a fever too. But I did it. We all lived to tell the tale. It was not pretty at times, I may have bribed everyone with donuts, but a picture text of brand new baby Theo at 4 am made up for it. That and Stephanie showing up at my door with an extra large iced latte. All in all I am thrilled to have been able to help. I predict an enormous amount of baby snuggles in my near future!

New favorite Harvey words: zoom, bath bomb, lunch, zebra, 'side (said over and over at the back door -- his request to go outside and play), Ruby.

The Eloise-isms

"A snoot is when you sneeze and a toot came out."

"Mom, that shirt is too wrinkly to wear to girls night." -- She wasn't wrong. Probably because my clean clothes sat in a heap for three days before I could get to folding them. I wore it anyways. After all, these are the friends who would just celebrate me for having clean clothes to wear. Period. 

 

One second after this was taken Harvey whipped me in the face with his pacifier. Ah yes, motherhood.

Save it for Sunday | 8.19.18

Summer Throwback

Michigan Trip (June 30-July 11, 2018)

We decided to spend Brad's summer block leave in the mitten state. You truly cannot beat summertime in Michigan. We had not been back since Harvey was baptized and may not be back again for a good while. Much to Brad's dismay, we drove, splitting the trip into two days. We have friends literally all over the country, making a road trip in any direction more of an event to look forward to than a drag. Plus our kids are road trip experts. The Bray family has earned above and beyond a gold star from us already in the short time we've lived here. Their current duty station has been the perfect pit stop for us multiple times, and they have kindly opened their home to us weary travelers. This particular trip was well timed to meet their newest little one at just a few weeks old. If you ask Eloise who she is going to marry without fail she says their son Levi, so you know she was overjoyed to be reunited with her future husband. Full hearts and full bellies after a visit with friends was just what we needed to recharge for the hours ahead.

The first bit of our trip was spent with my side of the family. I am so fortunate that both of my grandmas are healthy and well. We hopped around the west side (the best side) of the state prioritizing visits with the two of them and squeezing friends in where we could too. Thank goodness we still have family in my hometown, because it always ends up a major highlight of our visit. St. Joseph is in southwest Michigan right on Lake Michigan. It is the cutest little beach town, one I completely took for granted as I grew up there. We have taken the kids down to the lakefront before, but never in swim suits slathered in sunscreen with sandcastle building tools in hand. Brad and I decided this time we wanted to do it up right and give them the full experience. Both kids absolutely adored the sand, the water, the waves, the sunshine. Everything. It was more than we could have hoped for! It is not often you catch Brad daydreaming about what life might be like outside of the Army, but whenever we are in a family moment like this one on a Michigan beach, it happens. I am not sure who I had a harder time peeling out of the water, Eloise or Dadford. I sat in my beach chair, toes in the warm sand, watching my husband be the best dad and listening to my kids giggling between crashing waves. My happy place for sure.

My parents definitely deserve a shout out here. Not only did they help make every change of location work logistically, they made it fun for us and especially for Eloise and Harvey. My mom traveled ahead of us and baby proofed our lodging at one spot. My dad chased our kids around the grassy area of a brewery so we could sit, drink, and catch up with friends from high school. We even got to visit the plot of land where Papa and Grandma Sue's new house will be by the end of the year. It was fun to see my dad carry Eloise into a pile of dirt and tell her she was standing in her new room. We are certainly looking forward to making new memories with them in their beautiful new home.

We ended our west coast tour in Grand Rapids to celebrate the Fourth of July. My sister and her fiance hosted a fabulous backyard BBQ for their two families to meet for the first time. Justin's family was lovely as expected, and his sister Grace has an open job offering as our nanny should she ever inquire. She and Eloise quickly became best buds. That afternoon Whitney asked me to be her matron of honor! I am really looking forward to supporting and celebrating her the same way she did for me five years ago. The kids stayed awake like champs to see the local fireworks, but as luck would have it the fireworks went off completely behind the one solitary tree in the entire park. Right in our line of sight. Go figure, right? I was internally pouting until I stopped to listen to Harvey oooh-ing and aww-ing in my lap and looked over to see Eloise sitting wide eyed in Brad's lap. It hit me that next year we will be watching fireworks as a trio without Dadford. Sometimes it takes a new perspective to make perfection out of an imperfect situation. Those were the best darn tree fireworks we have ever seen.

The second half of the trip was spent at Brad's parents' house. Here is what we did: golf, pool, ice cream, nap, repeat. And it was glorious. I feel like after my novel above I need to write more, but there is not much to say. My lack of stories to tell should in no way diminish the pure relaxation and happiness of being at their house. After so much traveling and visiting it felt great to just sit still and enjoy Nana and Mickey's company. Eloise is an absolute fish in their pool. She went down the water slide roughly 462 times and squealed with joy as if it had been her first time every time.

I think it was the wildly different halves of the visit that made this trip one of my favorites yet. It was the perfect balance of the hustle and bustle of visiting with loved ones we had not seen in a long time and the relaxation we really craved and needed on summer break. I really believe one of the best parts of becoming a parent is sharing the joy of your kids with family. This visit confirmed that sentiment once more. There is nothing better than seeing our kids making memories in our beloved home state in the arms of the people we love the most.

The Highlights

Brad had Monday and Tuesday of this week off of work, so we decided to get out of town and unplug as a family for a bit. We made Eloise's year and bought bath bombs at Lush and danced to the music of the street performers on Pearl Street in Boulder. We stayed overnight at a gem of an AirBnb just outside of Boulder on the Milston Well Farm. Our home away from home was the "farmette" guest house on the property of an incredibly sweet family. The wife is an interior decorator and the husband is a custom furniture builder, and they have two preschool aged sons. Beautiful farmhouse chic digs for me and built in playmates for the kids. Their stunning barn will be featured on the front of Country Living magazine's Thanksgiving issue. Can't wait to pick up a copy! Eloise bounced on the trampoline with the boys and ran around the farm playing with chickens, donkeys, and two baby Icelandic sheep named Fern and Wilber. Harvey sat happy as a claim in their sandbox surrounded by more boy toys and trucks than he has ever seen in his life. After bedtime, Brad and I enjoyed bonfire s'mores and wine together. We had farm fresh eggs waiting for us in the fridge in the morning, and Eloise got to collect even more to take home as our souvenir. It was the perfect spot to "rest in the simple" as our hosts said. It was a slice of heaven and we will definitely be back again soon. The next morning we hiked Long Lake Trail out to Lake Isabelle. I think it might officially top my list as my favorite Colorado hike so far. There are lakes, streams, and plenty of gorgeous views to enjoy along the way, and the final destination is completely breathtaking. Next week marks the beginning of a lot of in and out until the holidays for Brad as his unit trains for deployment. Thank goodness for this sweet time together. I know I will be thinking back to it for strength during tough days ahead.

On Wednesday Eloise had her first day back in Tippy Toes! She was obviously dressed in her new Elsa leotard. Her bestie Addi was obviously dressed in hers too. It was exciting to meet the new moms and little dancers. This year will be wildly different and exhausting because I no longer have a tiny baby Harvey strapped to me in the Ergo during class. This guy was all over the studio, even insisting on a spot in the first day of dance picture. Eloise lit up with recognition when Miss Debi asked to see their boogies, shimmies, and chasses. She improved by leaps (no pun intended) and bounds last year, so I am looking forward to the growth and fun this season will bring.

Our hail storm car situation is nearly resolved. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade...I got a new car a year and a half earlier than anticipated because of it! We were planning to upgrade my car at the end of 2019, but with the money we got from the totaled car and trading in mine, it made sense to join the marvelous world of the minivan early. I swore up and down I would never be a minivan mom. Joke is on me because this Honda Odyssey is the absolute bees knees. Every single detail seems to be carefully designed and tailored by a mom who knows the daily struggle. I am in love. Brad will be driving a hand me down Chevy Volt very graciously given to us by his parents. Yesterday, my first full day in the new car, while at Target, Brad texted me there was possible incoming hail. Never have I ever left Target so fast. We are now accepting name suggestions for our two new rides. Eloise's ideas include Tank for the Odyssey as well as Penguin for the Odyssey and Tiny Shrimp for the Volt. Brad's suggestion was the Iliad and the Odyssey. Nerd alert!

The Small Moments

One of our new favorite weekly haunts is the pet store. Between all of our fur friends there is usually something we need to purchase, and it is essentially like a free aquarium! The kids love it. This week Eloise watched the cat shelter volunteers cleaning cages and bringing new cats in. These poor babies were horrified of their new surroundings. It took all I had not to scoop their scared little faces up and take them home. Eloise put her hand up to the glass and tried to comfort them. One in particular really took to her. He put his little paw right up by her hand and seemed to calm down. Eloise is showing such compassion for all creatures lately that makes my own animal loving heart rejoice. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Harvey is no longer the audience to the Eloise show. Her Friday morning performance of "Let It Go" was accompanied by Harvey on backup vocals. He stomped around in circles with a toy car in each hand shouting "GO!" almost right on cue with the lyrics Eloise was singing. Even Ruby bopped around excitedly and started chasing her tail.

We discovered Starbucks in Target now carries cake pops that resemble the Target dog Bullseye. Eloise still calls him Bowtie. You would have thought she cured cancer, met a unicorn, and struck gold all at the same time when she saw it.

The Ways We Grew

My beautiful big girl finally got her first haircut at three and a half years old. Eloise has given more ladies than I can count major hair envy with her gorgeous curls. A few of her friends lately have gotten super cute back-to-school cuts and Harvey has had a handful already, so she had started asking often when she could get her hair cut. My answer? NEVER. I was really attached to her baby curls. I am not sure what changed this week, probably me tackling her to let me tame her tangled bedhead, but I decided it was time. I knew how badly she wanted it, and I think that helped me let go. She looks adorable with her new shoulder-length bob, and her curls sprung back up more than I thought they would! Not quite the ringlets I loved, but definitely adorable and much easier for me to manage as we enter into this next phase of school days.

Feeling fabulous

The Eloise-isms

"How tall am I?" -E

"Very tall! So big and strong." -Me

"Like 15 minutes tall?" -E

"Something like that." -Me (giggling)

"What about Uncle Preston? He is like 5,000 minutes tall?!" -E

"Fill your life with adventure, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show."

Save it for Sunday | 8.12.18

Safe it for Sunday...on a Wednesday?! Oops. Brad had a long weekend before he heads off to training that we truly embraced as a family. We went completely off the grid, hiked, and lived the farm life on a mini getaway, but more about that next Sunday since it was technically part of the next week. Only one more summer throwback after this one and you will be all caught up. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Summer Throwback

Noffke Family Visit (June 21-25, 2018)

Josh and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Josh and Brad met at a summer camp in high school and rekindled their bromance in college. Josh introduced me to Brad, and the rest is history. Needless to say, the Noffkes are family to us. We decided early on as new parents that not all of our friends would be aunt/auntie or uncle to our kids. To us that is a very special role and one we take seriously. We use miss and mister as a show of respect for our friends. Josh and Brittany are the exception. They are Uncle Josh and Aunt Brittany, and we hope our kids grow to love their daughter Scarlett the way cousins love one another. Well...until Harvey and Scarlett fall madly in love and get married, of course. Then we will scrap the whole honorary cousin idea.

Time with these guys is never long enough. They always move mountains to make sure to see us during Michigan visits, but we were long over due for quality time together. I could have cried when their flights to Colorado were booked. The idea of multiple days of uninterrupted Witt-Noffke family time made me giddy, and it did not disappoint.

Seeing someone you've loved for 25 years love on your kids is a gift beyond compare. Josh rocks the dad mode effortlessly. Hearing him sing bedtime songs and wrestle around with all three kids was incredible. We took a picture together after a great hike with Harvey and Scarlett both sound asleep. I wish someone could have tapped us on the shoulder in elementary school and snuck us a peek of that picture. Look how far we have come! And to have created these beautiful families with such a strong tie of friendship between us is more than I could have hoped for.

I always love our time with Josh, but even more so this visit I was thankful for time spent with Brittany and Scarlett. Our visits have been so sporadic and quick since Josh and Brittany were married and since Scarlett was born that I was really looking forward to just being together. Josh had a work meeting in Denver one afternoon, so Harvey escorted just us girls to the zoo. Hearing Scarlett's sweet voice in person was the best. The way she says blueberries, calls our dog silly puppy, and refers to us as her "rado friends" is my favorite. I'm pretty sure laughing with Brittany as we dashed through the zoo to find cover in a pop up rain storm bonded us as mom friends. We managed not only to find a cozy, safe spot but fed three squirmy kids a picnic lunch in the middle of it all with time to spare for quality conversation too.

We mostly kept it casual. We went for neighborhood walks, played a lot of late night board games, and reveled in the sight of three of the cutest bare booties you ever did see running around the backyard after a pool bath. We did get fancy to wrap up the visit with a spectacular dinner at the Broadmoor. So often I find myself wishing we had the Noffkes just up the street or across town. It would be amazing to just be able to swing by for a visit or pop in for dinner together. But it means so much that we have all vowed to make sure our kids grow up knowing and loving each other. A brainstorm is already brewing regarding the location of our next annual family get together. Already counting down the days!

The Highlights

I cannot write about this week without including this highlight. Or shall I say major lowlight? On Monday Brad's car was totaled by softball sized hail. WHAT THE HAIL? I stood out on our covered front porch watching this crazy hail storm during naptime, sending videos to family and friends while laughing at the chaos of it all. I had never seen anything like it. Five minutes later I got a picture from Brad of a car that had just been completely demolished. I was in the middle typing "OMG! Who's car is that?! That's horrible!" when he called to say that was Periwinkle, Perry for short, our beloved Chevy Cruze. Perry was our first major purchase together as a couple, bought a week before we became husband and wife. Perry carried us safely from Michigan to New York for our wedding and to every new home since then (that is four moves in five years if anyone is counting). By the end of the week we had the car assessed and confirmed as totaled by our insurance, who has 8,000 open claims due to the damage caused by this massive storm. On Saturday they came and hauled poor Perry away. We are officially a one car family until we can figure out what our next move will be. Oy vey. Not convenient and not in the budget right now, but we are thankful our house and our health are all in tact.

We spent Friday night under the lights of Security Service Field, hot dogs in hand, rooting for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Eloise learned the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" recently and has been belting it out on repeat. We could not pass up the chance to see her sing her heart out during a real life seventh inning stretch on a beautiful summer night. As we were walking into the stadium, which from the outside felt a bit like a glorified high school baseball field, she said, "Oh I can't wait to see the Cubbies!!" Uh oh. The Sky Sox experience was great, but let me tell you it is no Wrigley Field. But you could have fooled her! If there is a lovable mascot to meet and a box of cracker jacks to eat, she is a happy girl. She became best friends with both Sox the Fox and the family in the row behind us, rocketed down a monster inflatable slide, and said multiple times, "This is the best day ever!" The Sox played the Nashville Sounds, which was a little confusing. Nothing screams military family quite like feeling unsure of who your home team is. Both kids maintained awesome moods through the whole game and enjoyed some surprisingly top notch fireworks afterwards. Win! Well, a loss for the Sox. But a definite Friday night family win. We all loved every minute of it.

Just time spent with friends takes up the rest of our highlight reel. There was a zoo trip, a backyard pool playdate, a visit to a new park, a yummy brunch, and a 2nd birthday party this week. Each was full of friends we have grown so fond of as we are quickly approaching the one year anniversary of living in Colorado. This place is starting to feel like home thanks to the people and the love surrounding us.

The Small Moments

On Wednesday Harvey said love you for the first time. I had tapped out as soon as Brad walked in the door after work. I was out on the back porch reading with a do not disturb sign taped to my forehead when my phone rang. It was Dadford, calling from bedtime upstairs. Cue the eye roll. When I answered he said I needed to come upstairs and promised it would be worth it. And it was indeed. Every night I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to Harv while we snuggle after bedtime books. Now when the story is finished he says, "Love you. Night night. Sun." This dude. Words cannot express the way I love him. He is an absolute delight and light of my life.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for the son of one of Brad's friends from work. Ever since Eloise could hold a crayon I have been having her help me make homemade birthday cards for her friends. They have always been a mess of scribbles. Check out this beauty. My heart skips looking at the details she carefully replicated based off of mine and at the backwards S in her signature. The best part was how proud she was of it, and how much she could not wait to hand deliver it and her gift to James. So much so that in the time it took me to turn my back on her for two minutes to greet a friend she unwrapped the gift to show James what it was. Can't win them all. At least our card was cute!

One morning this week as a desperate plea for just a few more minutes to prep myself for the day, I asked Eloise to go into Harvey's room and entertain him in his crib. I could hear them giggling hysterically over the monitor. Here is what I found:

Eloise had one-by-one brought every stuffed animal from her room and tossed it into Harvey's crib. He was swimming in a sea of them and clearly happy to be doing so!

The Ways We Grew

If we are talking literal growth here, Harvey's blonde mop continues to grow at a rapid rate. I can't keep up. This is such a new challenge for me given with baby girls it is simply a matter of grow, grow, grow, even through the awkward baby mullet phase. Anyways, Harvey got another haircut and aced it. Give the man a lollipop and he will sit through all the haircuts. Why does a fresh cut always make baby boys suddenly look like tiny, handsome men? Beyond his hair, he has a lot of new two word phrases in the vocabulary growth department that he uses frequently. Come on. Sit down. Cooze me (excuse me). He says excuse me when he means to say thank you and it is the cutest. He also uses it appropriately after he toots. Even cuter.

Eloise earned a major big kid summer badge of honor over the weekend. She got her very first bee sting. Brad was with her when it happened and reported minimal tears. True, tough Eloise form. The site on her hand was pretty swollen, but nothing out of the bee sting ordinary. As the day went on her eyes began to swell and redden. By bedtime they were pretty severe and her right cheek puffed up a bit too. We took her in, and she had a big panel of blood drawn to test for a variety of allergies, including bee stings. It will be two weeks before we get results back. We were told in the interim that stings happen so infrequently she should be okay. That should feels pretty scary to me though. I know subsequent stings in an allergic kid increase in the reaction severity. We would appreciate any prayers or good vibes you send out into the universe to keep our girl safe until we know more. She did get four Frozen stickers after her blood draw which obviously made the entire ordeal worth every tear.

The Eloise-isms

"I didn't sleep. I just snoozed. Poco Loco just snoozed too." -- She named her new llama lamp Poco Loco.

"You and me together, we can do anything, baby." -- Sung to Pooh Bear as she tucked him in with her on the couch to watch a movie. Dave Matthews would be proud.


Happy hump day. Keep going, you are halfway there! May your three days ahead until another weekend feel as fabulous as Harvey does rocking the pink, sparkly sunnies at soccer. My sister said he looks like a mini Elton John. She isn't wrong!