February Recap

As you know, I'm working hard (when I get a spare minute) to catch up on all the posts from last year that I didn't write. I think the easiest way to do this is a monthly recap, where I go through all my pictures from that month, pick a few good ones and just give you an idea of what we were up to. I may occasionally compare 2013 to what we're doing this year. It's crazy how much can change in a year. Especially when you have littles.

 

So, February 2013. Where to begin? Well, the moving trucks arrived at our new house on February 4th. I was SO anxious to make sure all my stuff arrived safe from its long journey overseas. (More on that in a future post.) I have to say, February was pretty much COMPLETELY consumed with getting settled and unpacked. March, April, and May might be that way too. Hey... cut me some slack. I was pregnant with an 18 month old!

 

In addition to unpacking inside, Fin and I spent a lot of time outside getting the front and backyards cleaned up. They had been practically untouched (and most definitely unloved) for over a year with the former tenant. I decided pretty quickly that I wasn't going to survive winters in the Pacific Northwest without rain boots. This ingenious idea lasted about an hour. Tops.

 

It was during all this gardening time that Fin's obsession with bugs began. As I turned over stones to weed and create new garden edges... he found ALL sorts of fun critters. I could probably write an entire blog post on Fin's bug adventures alone.

 

OOOH and in February we made one of our first big appliance purchases together: a washer and dryer! Fin thought they were pretty exciting. Keeping him away from the buttons and lights was a bit of a challenge. 

 

 It seems about as quickly as I worked to put things away and find them homes, Finlay took things back out. I had to get used to taking two steps forward and one step back (or however that saying goes).

 

 

Playing with bugs wasn't the only new activity that peaked Fin's interest. Cooking and chopping and baking with Mumma was pretty exciting too. It didn't take too long for him to learn that baking= tasting.  

 

 

Ok... working in the kitchen didn't always equal tasting. Not good tasting stuff anyway.

Even with the mountain of boxes and work we had to do at the house, Fin and I still took breaks to get out. Of course, that can get tricky when it's so damp, cool and rainy.

 

We usually ventured out despite the rain, but when it was really bad, we discovered the library was a great place to visit. They held story time every Wednesday and that was wonderful for BOTH of us. All of the friends I have here now are somehow related to our weekly story time. I either met them there, or we found out about other fun things to do in the area and then met them at those events. (Ok, all but one friend. I actually met my closest girlfriend here while we were cooped up in the Navy Lodge! She was there at the same time with a little boy the SAME age as Finlay. It was destiny.)

 

 

During one of our "Let's get out of here because I'm going to go nuts staring at all this cardboard" outings... Fin got his first fat lip. Poor boy. He tripped at the park and fell face first into a large wooden step. But I learned a couple valuable lessons that day. Always park your car near the playground and always keep lots of napkins in your car. Trying to carry Fin, who was bleeding all over the place and run/walk as quickly as my pregnant body could take me the 1/4 mile back to the car.... not fun. Yep. Lots of napkins. A first aid kit isn't a bad idea either.

 

 So like I said before, February was pretty much ALL about the house. Everyday I got bigger and slower...

 

... And everyday Fin got bigger and faster.

 

OH and speaking of FASTER! Our neighbors across the street with three boys gave Fin their not-so-gently worn power wheel. Fin fell in love, and eventually, that thing bought me all sorts of time and saved my sanity. Eventually. At first, when he couldn't steer and insisted on kicking it up to rabbit speed (turtle speed just wasn't doing it for him)... it was just hell. I had to chase the kid around the huge backyard saving him every time he headed for a tree. Did I mention that I was pregnant?

Settling in was a little lonely and stressful some days, but this little smile kept me going. :) 

 

Ohhhh but there was still so much work to do...

    

 

Our Move to Washington

When babies are little. It's amazing how fast they change. We finally got the hard drive on our computer replaced, so I'm able to get back to blogging the way I like it: sitting at my desktop in the cozy corner of our bedroom, TYPING on a keyboard, rather than painstakingly pecking away at my iphone.

The other day I went back through all the photos we've uploaded from our phones over the last year and sorted them into folders by date. It's just crazy how much Finlay has changed. But I digress...

Since I neglected to do any blogging last year, I think I'm going to attempt to cover last year by a little compare and contrast each month: what were we doing last year this time, and what are we doing now. This could be fun right?

But first, let's start off with our move to Washington. We moved here mid January of last year. It was a long flight, pregnant with an 18mo old, but Fin was an amazing little traveler as always.

We were driving the 2 hours from the airport to Whidbey Island, hunting for a good lunch spot when I saw it. THERE IT WAS!!! A Quiznos SUB! And less than a mile away! You have to understand, I spent my entire first trimester in New England CRAVING a Quiznos sub, only to find that half of them on the East coast have closed. Devastation. Sadly, after driving in circles for 20 minutes with a hungry, fussy kiddo... we determined this one must have closed too. BUMMER!!!! Oh West coast, I had been here less than 24 hours and you'd already disappointed me. I settled for A&W. (Don't worry... I will find a Quiznos at a later date.)

 

Headed to our new home. :)

 

Crossing Deception Pass Bridge for the first time was a little bit hairy. Matt took this photo as I was driving, two hands tightly gripped around the wheel, refusing to even GLANCE away from the road. I still get a little nervous crossing the bridge, but other than a ferry, it's the only way off our island, so I'm getting used to it.

 

After arriving safely in our new town, we "staycationed" about two weeks in the Navy Lodge before finding a home. That's a LONG time stuck in an hotel room with an 18 month old. We only had one car, so many days I was, in fact, stranded at the Lodge. Need I remind you that I was pregnant too? Nevertheless, we made it our home and made do with what we had. We found ways to keep Fin entertained. Like every morning at 5:30 AM, when he and I "quietly" walked to the lobby to get coffee. Well, I got coffee. He helped himself to a cup of ice from the machine. RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE... CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK. I'm sure the people in the hotel room next door just LOVED waking up to that sound everyday.

 

 

The upside to our two weeks in the hotel was that we did NOT have to worry about our dogs. They were still enjoying the woods and fresh air at my parents' in Maine and not cooped up in a hotel room. The other upside was that we had a little time to explore the area before starting the long unpacking process in our new place.

The coastline here is just awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

Ok what is that strange snake thing? Matt... get it away from me.

 

Another upside to our couple weeks in the lodge was that there was a popular bald eagle hangout JUST across the street! Before moving here, I don't think I had ever seen an eagle before, and if I had, it certainly wasn't in its natural habitat.

Took this photo with our big lens RIGHT through that front window of our hotel room.

 

Within just those first couple weeks we started to see how foggy, misty, and cloudy it can get here on the island.

 

One of our "Let's get the HELL out of this hotel room" adventures included a trip to Burlington. It's about 45 minutes from us and is where you can find all of the luxuries in life like Coldstone, Target, Costco and... QUIZNOS!!!!!

 

It's also the home to our local Children's Museum. Just one visit and we were sold. We bought a season pass.

 

Any other free time we had was spent hunting for THE perfect house to rent. When Matt spotted a photo of this backyard in an online listing, he basically said "I don't care what the inside of the house looks like, this place is my favorite."

And so, after a viewing of the inside of the place, we signed the paperwork and sealed the deal. It was ours for the next year. The moving trucks arrived February 4th, 2013 and we were VERY excited to get out of the Navy Lodge. Still, looking back, it doesn't seem like it was all that bad. In fact, it almost looks like we had fun. :) Like it was one of life's crazy, awesome adventures. I just wish we could appreciate those moments a little more while we are in them. And so, our 18 day (or so) transition concluded. Now it was time to get settled in our new home. Next post to come: unpacking and settling in. But first, just a few more photos from our hotel adventure: