I Love This Boy

Now that Blake is not the only kid around these parts, I find myself cherishing the one-on-one time I have with him. He is hilarious and sweet. He is quick to apologize and give me a kiss when he's done something that upsets me. He checks in with me a few times a day asking, "Mom, you happy?" And usually I can answer, "Yes, Blake. I am happy."

Nemo

We've laid low this winter, but I did want a good snowstorm to dump a few inches of snow on Brooklyn so Blake could play in it. I loved playing in the snow when I was a kid and was excited as Nemo approached NYC.

My favorite times in Brooklyn are when no one else is out: early mornings, rainy days, and during blizzards.

Breaking in the snow bibs he got for Christmas.

It was so incredibly cold and windy! We lasted about 30 minutes and then made the trek back home.

Super Blake is here to save the day!

Trevor did venture out with us on this little adventure. But he decided to hang out in the stroller while we braved the cold.

This blizzard did teach me one thing: I should be grateful for the times my parents took me sledding or helped me build a snowman. While I loved playing in the snow when I was a kid, that love has faded over the years. We got the 18 inches I wanted and now we are ready for spring!

Things Blake Says

His budding vocabulary makes me smile and laugh out loud on a daily basis.

Blake: "We don't say mean words. We say nice words."
Me: "What are some nice words we can say?"
Blake: "You are very smart. You are pretty. You are wonderful!"


"He not a girl! He a woman!"
(We're working on our pronouns.)


"I'm getting upstrated!"
or
"I'm upset!"
or
"I'm very angry!"


"You happy?"


"Tori, I have a question for you. My question is did you get any presents?"


"Quiet time over?"


"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. Please pay attention."

Love Stories

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

My heart was racing after bounding up the stairs.

"Get back down here!"
"No! I have to study!"
"No you don't! Come on!"

I casually made my way downstairs to be interrogated by Evan's roommates. I couldn't wipe the goofy grin off my face. I had had a great time with Evan. There was no hiding that.

"So how was it?"
"It was good. I had fun."
"What did you do?"
"We just went miniature golfing and then he dropped me off."
"Wait, did you find out his real name?"
"Oh ya. It's Evan. Well actually it's Paul. He's named after his dad. His dad is Paul. He goes by his middle name, Evan."

His roommates were shocked I knew his real name now and even why they called him Magic.

"So why Magic?"
"Well, his initials are the same as Magic Johnson's, the basketball player. So there ya go."
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!"

More goofy grinning from me ensued.

As I sat there trying not to look as twitterpated as I felt, I wondered if Evan knew his friends were questioning me about what would turn out to be my last first date. I later found out that he had no idea they were there.

I knew my friends were going to want to know the details of the date, but I certainly couldn't talk about it with Evan's friends hanging around. I feigned exhaustion and said I was going to bed.

"Wait, one more question. What happened, ya know, when he dropped you off?"
(pause. goofy grin.) "I don't kiss and tell," I said as I walked back upstairs.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Are you serious?! Get back here!"

Love Stories

(Read from the beginning here, here, and here.)

“I’m not supposed to say anything to you, but Magic wants to ask you out.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, my brother asked me if you were dating anyone. I told him no and he said Magic is planning on asking you out.”
“Oh my gosh. Are you serious?”
“Yeah. He’s going to call you.”

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I didn’t know Magic that well, but I was beyond excited for him to ask me out.

My phone rang. It was him. I looked at Kristi and said, “Oh my gosh, he’s calling me.” I darted upstairs to my room and nonchalantly answered the phone.

“Hello?”
“Hey, is this Whitney?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey it’s Magic.”
“Oh hey! How are you?”
“I’m good. I wanted to see if you had plans this Thursday.”
“Ummm no I don’t think so.”
“Cool. Do you like miniature golf?”
“No. Not really.”

facepalm

“Oh.”
“Oh. No. I mean. I’d love to go miniature golfing.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’d love to go.”
“Ok. I have a softball game on Thursday at 6. If you want, you can come to that and then we’ll go miniature golfing afterwards.”
“Yeah that sounds great.”

Thursday rolled around and I headed to Magic's game with my friends. I watched his team win the intramural softball championship and congratulated him afterward. I was all set to hop in his car and get our first date started when he told me he was going home to shower and that he'd call me when he was leaving to pick me up.

I was a little embarrassed. I had come to his game all glammed up (well, appropriately glammed for a softball game and miniature golf) thinking we'd be leaving straight from his game to go on a date. The walk back to my apartment with my friends was a little awkward. I left my apartment with them not expecting to see them until after this date. Now I was walking back home with them feeling like the date was ruined before it had even started.

We stopped at a friend's apartment on the way home and Magic called me.

"Hey I'm heading to your place."
"Oh I'm not there."
"Oh. Do you still want to go miniature golfing."
"Umm ya. Just pick me up at my friend's apartment."

Something about not being at my apartment when he was coming to pick me up made me feel better. I could change things up on him just like he had changed things up on me. If our little date didn't go as planned I could easily make other plans. I had plenty of people who would want to see me on a Thursday night. I didn't need to go miniature golfing. 

I hopped in his car and we drove to Trafalga.

"So why don't you like miniature golf?"
"I don't know. I've just had some bad experiences."
"Bad experiences with miniature golf?"
"Well, I somehow end up going with people who take it way too seriously. And I'm kind of terrible at it so I always end up being the loser who needs ten strokes to get it in the hole."
"Haha well I won't take it too seriously."

We arrived and paid for our game. We played one round and decided to skip the last hole so we could play again. It was raining a little so there weren't many people playing on the course outside. We laughed and flirted. And he didn't take it too seriously at all.

"You know, my mom and dad's first date was miniature golf and she won."
"Are you saying I should let you win?"
"No, I was just pointing out a coincidence."
"Riiiiiiiiiight."

I did end up winning. Magic drove me home and walked me to my door. He said he had fun and that we should hang out again. Then he left.

I entered my apartment to find all of his friends hanging out with my roommates. I stopped, smiled, and promptly ran upstairs.

Snow

"Blake! Come look outside! What do you see?"
(gasp) "It's snowing!"
"Should we go play in it after Trevor wakes up?"
"Sure!"

Sidewalk snow angel. That's right. He's sporting snow bibs with less than an inch of snow on the ground.

Trevor getting in on the action (while strapped to my chest and covered with a blanket).

I know you're dying to know where I got my outfit. Here ya go:
Beanie: gift from brother-in-law's wife
Coat: this is Evan's coat...from our closet
large brown mass coming out of top of coat: Trevor wrapped in a blanket

I know I look absolutely ridiculous. And if I didn't know that, the people who stared at me as they passed us on the sidewalk sure confirmed it. In my defense, Evan's coat is the only one I can wear that will zip around Trevor. And, frankly, I'm not trying to look decent when I take my children outside for 15 minutes to play in the snow.

Love Stories

(Read how it started here and here.)

The week leading up to “The BBQ” was one filled with excitement and anticipation. I had to continually remind myself that Magic, you’ll recall I still didn’t know his real name, may not even like me. I did think it highly unlikely that Magic or Jex didn’t like at least one of my roommates. Prior experience would have me believe that I was not the roommate that was being sought after. But I let myself indulge the idea that Magic might be interested in little ol’ me.

Saturday finally arrived and I spent most of the day pretending to study, but really daydreaming
about how the evening would go. After a quick trip to the store we returned to our apartment to have our roommate tell us our toilet had backed up into our shower. 3 girls and no shower. We frantically called some girls in our ward to ask if we could use their shower. When they obliged, we all gathered the things we needed and ran 2 blocks to their house.

We finished getting ready at our apartment and the doorbell rang. Magic and Jex had arrived, ready to bbq. We headed to the courtyard at our small apartment complex and started cooking. Music was playing, conversations were flowing. We were all having a good time.

This song came on the radio and Magic asked, “Who sings this song?” I still couldn’t really tell if Magic was interested in me. He seemed to be talking to my friends and Jex as much as he was talking to me. I knew who sang that song. I piped up and without trying to seem too eager said, “Everlast.” He was impressed.

Truth be told, I wasn’t 100% sure that Everlast sang that song. It was between the band Everclear and Everlast. I just happened to blurt out the right answer. Looking back I think he would’ve been just as impressed with me if I had answered incorrectly. He was already interested in asking me out. I just didn’t know it yet.