Where have I been?

We've been busy, very busy.

We almost moved back to our old house.

But then...

We bought a house up here.

And...

We are in contract selling our old house.

It's been crazy, emotional, fun, exciting, and almost too good to be true.

We are currently doing a few things to the new house before we move in, before Thanksgiving!

Painting, floors, cleaning...

We are so excited to welcome the kids to the new space.

And so it goes...

This blog is rarely going to get updated....deal with it.

I'm back to work, we're juggling our crazy ever changing work schedules.  Literally D & I can have our whole weeks schedule change in a matter of minutes.  I have to say this is a huge source of stress for our family.  At least if we worked a set time/schedule we could build around it.  Some days I go from having 1 client to having 3, or the other way around.  Some weeks D is scheduled to work 5 days then it's down to two.  Making plans is hard, so I try to be more spontaneous and just do things when we both happen to have time off.

L started preschool- like the kind where we don't go with him.  The first day was great, the second day was HORRIBLE.  It took me 35 min and a lollipop to get him out of the car, then he ended up breaking down about 2 hrs in to the day screaming, crying, peed himself and refused to let the teachers change his clothes.  I picked him up early, still in his pee clothes.  The third day we re-evaluated and did a short day, he was content and stayed an extra 20 min to finish the activity.  But of course now he has a cold and our groove is gone.  He missed today for being sick.

But overall I think L turning 3 will be the start of things getting a bit easier with him.  Everyone kept telling us 3 is worse then 2, but I think it depends on the child.  L is already showing more ability to regulate his emotions, be more sensitive of others feelings, communicate more effectively, and OMG he has practically stopped hitting kids.  This is HUGE, we can take him to the park and have fun.  I think E has been a big influence on him.  I will watch L be drawn to babies at the park, and be extra careful around them and watch over them.  Before he used to hit them and knock them down.

We took L to the beach for the first time, he was amazed at the ocean, but grossed out by the seaweed on the sand and the feeling of the sand in his shoes/on his feet.  He is totally my son.  We also took him bowling- that was fun.  In all the craziness we updated our fireplace with a magnetic chalkboard.  E is teething up a storm, but still sleeping like a champ at night and when we go out.  Overall this parenting 2 kids is starting to make sense....but that will change again soon I'm sure.  My goal for L's 3rd year, and E's first, is to make it about experiences, not things.  My pregnancy was so physically hard and we were busy working that I feel L missed out.  He also has too many "things-" grandparents can be pretty bad with boundaries about gifts.  It makes me sad when L wants to stay home all day and use the ipad or play with his toys.  Yes he is looking to be an introvert who is slow to warm up, but I think balance is important. So we are planning more days to parks, events, trips to out of town, and experiences that will hopefully be memorable and meaningful for our kids.

I started running again- finished up week 4 of C25K- seems harder then last time.  We are looking for new renters since our tenants are moving out (surprisingly not as stressed about this as I should be- I miss that house and constantly think about moving back).  D & I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary, I wish we could have done something more then a lunch date eating out and a movie, next year.

5 Miles for 4 Years

Yesterday D and I ran 5 miles, it was also our 4 year anniversary.  It was a good run; I initially doubted I would make it 5 due to having a sick toddler keeping me up the night before and being exhausted.  But after about 2 miles it got easier and I even sprinted the last mile.  Ee did it on treadmills, which makes it much more of an accomplishment.  The treadmills at the YMCA are wonderful, they have great shock absorbency and in comparison our home treadmill seems dangerous with just plywood under the belt.  We are selling it by the way- it's a good treadmill, served me very well and got me into running.  But we don't run at home very much any more, and the YMCA membership offers childcare and a pool, family activities...so we never use it any more.

After the run we rested a bit at home and then I went to work.  I had a few clients that evening- overall I am getting a lot more clients and the practice is filling up almost to what I want as my maximum.  L went to stay with Babka while D and I went out to dinner.  It was a very nice restaurant with a michelin star...and the prices to go with it.  But we figured for not being able to take a vacation or a couple days away, it was well worth it.

Of course since L had been sick, I had to finally come down with what he had.  So at some point during our dinner I noticed a scratchy throat, head ache, and overall fatigue.  It progressed and I am still nursing this mild flu/cold today.

Easter Weekend

We had 3 different celebrations this last weekend- 2 easters and a birthday....we are still recovering from all the commotion.

Three Christmas

Whew!  The holidays are over and it's nice to get back to our routine.  We had a wonderful xmas (actually three of them) with so many gifts and a lot of family time.  The biggest hits on my list would be the amazing quilt from my mother in law (which I had seen hanging up in her quilting room before the holidays and admired but had no idea it was for me!). And my crock pot which has been used for the last 5 consecutive days. Oh and my boots- how I LOVE these boots- they are perfection.

L was literally showered with gifts- so many that we decided to keep some in the closet to open for playing at another time.  I also need to donate, throw out, store away some of his older toys that have either fallen apart or he doesn't play with any more.  Having a baby really increases the amount of "stuff" you accumulate.  There is always a more minimal approach to things- but as much as I want to be that  mom with one sippy cup, one little car, and a few wooden classic toys- I am not.  I think part of the excess has to do with L being high needs.  We are constantly changing out products because they just do not work with our little guy- for example swaddling.  It's supposed to work for all babies right? NOT- we tried so many blankets, woombi, wraps, etc- he hated all of them and eventually we realized we wont be getting any use out of them.  Pacifiers- another product we tried so many of and none of them took.  Oh and the constant changing of car seat toys.  L fights us hard when it's time to get in the car seat.  Right now stickers are working really well.

We let him pick a sticker to add to the mirror during a tantrum, and while he admires it and waves/says hi to it (it's ridiculously sweet), we buckle him in.  Stickers have been life savers, but like the previous "lifesavers" (a bubble blowing wand, mum mum snacks, books, keys, our phones)  we know that he will eventually evolve and become immune to stickers as well.

Slowing Down

This cold has forced me to slow down- I haven't exercised in 8 days, I just came back from my first mom group since mid November, and I'm just trying not to have too many expectations or demands on myself.  I have settled with no thinking/planning my next career move till after the new year.  This means no looking into private practice stuff, no browsing craigslist job ads, no planning/ruminating- just being with the fact that I finished something I began years before- a huge accomplishment that will be there for me in 2012.

Yesterday we attempted taking our own family portraits- potentially for a holiday card.  It didn't turn out as I had hoped- hence the attempted.  Some of them are cute, but not what I was hoping for- and L was so not in the mood.  He is strong willed and that will was not to stay still for photos or smile at the camera.  He was scrambling out of our arms, heading towards steep hills, messing with the tripod, touching the camera lens- it was a lot of work.  Photos used to be easy when he wasn't mobile.  Here's a few from the day.

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Happy Halloween

We took L trick or treating down town.  He was very serious for the most part, but really loved placing his candy in his bag.  He probably had the most fun walking with his cousin- they have such a great connection and the pictures of them melt my heart.

It's Fall Baby!

How to almost accidently complete a triathlon:

This weekend has made D and I a little delirious, but boy did we accomplish a lot.  My mom came up on Friday to visit and watch L because D and I had a race on Saturday- yep first ever husband wife race!  This was a trail run not just a regular 5k- meaning it had intense hills and part of it was on a tiny 1 lane trail that had some dangerous slops to slip down.  I wasn't aware it was going to be that intense and spent much of the race thinking- "at least I am learning something about myself- I don't like trail runs".  We ran together and came in around 38/39 minutes- crazy slow compared to our regular pace.

After the race we showered, ate, and headed out to buy our laundry room cabinets.  We got an amazing deal at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore- $150 for 2 base cabinets, a huge wall cabinet and molding.  Unfortunately the huge wall cabinet wouldn't fit in our car so we had to make an extra trip and borrow a truck.  We also needed to smog and oil a car so we wanted to kill 2 birds with one stone- D's brother works for a oil and smog service station- so the plan was to drop off our car (while it gets serviced) and take his truck to get the cabinet...sounds so smart and efficient, right?

HA!  Well D's brother that owns the truck wasn't working at the station, but his other brother was.  And the truck we needed was at D's parents house loaded with music equipment from D's Dads band that played out the night before.  We were still committed to our plan since we needed to pick up the cabinet and maybe we were a little high from the morning run.  The plan was this:

D would take our car to the station to be smogged and get the oil changed.  D would take his brothers car to his parents house where he would unload the music equipment so the cabinet could fit in the truck.  He would then go pick up the cabinet, drop it off at our place, return the truck to his parents house, reload the music equipment.  Then drive back to the station in his brothers car, pick up our car and come on home.

So this was still the plan- D is such a trooper!  But then we got some other news- his brother who was working at the station whose car D was to borrow didn't drive to work, he rode his bike!  So then the plan included riding his brothers bike to his brothers home to get his car, THEN go to his parents and so on as listed above.

And after all these hoops D was still committed to the plan....everything worked out and and thats how my guy almost accidently did a triathlon.

But the madness didn't end there- we also moved the office into our extra bedroom, gave my mom the bed and nightstands that were in there (she left with a car full of furniture and a mattress on the roof), and started to turn the office into a playroom/den (for some pretty necessary reasons that I will post about when I post up the finished room).  And today I have managed to primer all the laundry room cabinets and am almost done painting them.  We are so close to be done with the laundry room, and then I can relax...or not.

The Happenings...

There's so much going on in our home right now- ya know, like finishing our new side gate (shown below), building a whole room, moving the washer and dryer into said room, designing a credenza (which is going at a snails pace)....

When we first moved in, D and I spent the first year renovating- like every day/weekend/evening- we were demo-ing, building, planning, shopping, designing, laboring.  It was fun/exhausting/necessary- and a great way to release my energy while wishing I was pregnant (that took a bit) and struggling to feel at home in our new town.  We completely redid the kitchen, master bath, back yard (still in progress).  After the first year things slowed down a lot, D and I have continued doing smaller projects here and there, but none of these projects have uprooted us the way those first year ones did.

 

Until now- we have decided to build a laundry room in the garage.  The garage has this extra pocket of space that was housing my treadmill (gotta figure out where that will go).  It seems like we are back to that hectic, do do do race that comes when you have a part of your home out of commission.  Since Monday we have had no washer or dryer hooked up.  Yes, it's only Wednesday, but with a baby things pile up.  Obviously we had to take a break from cloth diapering while we do this (we were washing diapers every day).  I am not happy with the disposables, but it's only going to be a week (I hope).

How are we able to do this?  My amazing Uncle (who also helped with just about every successful project in our home).  He came down to visit form Oregon for my moms 58th bday- he stayed about 1 week and single handedly built a huge pergola (the one in the above image) for my Mom and framed out our future laundry room.  He is nothing less then incredible/talented/hard working.  L loved him instantly, and L even got to learn a little Slovak.

Here are a few shots of the room in progress.  The plumber should be here Saturday and my goal is to be able to do laundry by Monday! Yes, I am excited to do laundry.