a loss

This week has been hard for me. Not that life was falling apart at every seam, but I can't shake this election. I'm so sad that Mitt lost. I've woken up with a lump in my heart every morning since the election. Mitt would have been a beacon of hope and a shining example of what a president of America should be. I know that's what I think, not necessarily the rest of America, but I think he would have done a great job. If anything, I would have liked to have seen what he could have done for the economy and being a seemingly good Mormon, I trust he is a man of principle. Just such a loss to our country. A tragic loss. It makes me want to cry sometimes.

I don't follow politics religiously and I don't know Obama's policies well enough to understand what he plans to do with America. Everyone is fearing that our country will become something it's not when he's through, but I don't know if it's going to be that bad. Not a huge fan of Obamacare and I don't think socialized medicine is the way to go, but after being in the hospital with Win a few times over the last couple of months, I'm really grateful for insurance. I would be really nervous if we didn't have it so I get that everyone should be covered, it's just how to get everyone covered fairly and without jeopardizing the quality of care one can receive in America. I don't believe in handouts either, but there are people in our country who need legitimate help. We should take care of them as a society, but I don't believe in taxing one person more than another. I'm a flat tax kind of girl. Why don't they just do that? Why is it that just because you are successful you should give more to the government? I often joke with Kent that I should be a Libertarian. Not sure if I'm that extreme, but I do not believe in big government. There should be other ways. I need to take American Heritage again. I think I would get a lot more out of it 15 years later. I'm seriously thinking about getting the textbook.

Anyway, I need to get off my tangent. It is sad to me that such a good man lost. A lost opportunity for our country.

In other news, Win developed bronchiolitis again this week and had to be hospitalized for the night. He just works too hard to breathe so they have to give him oxygen to keep his blood oxygen level up. It's sad and it makes it really stressful for me when he gets a cold. It almost always turns into a chest cold and he has a hard time breathing. The same thing happened in September (hospital stay) and again in October (no hospital stay, but lots of albuterol). I'm grateful for modern medicine and I'm happy it has helped little Win, but I wish the viruses would stay out of his lungs long enough for him to fully recover. Hard on him, hard on Mom and Dad. I started giving him vitamins today in the hopes of building his immune system. I can't keep him in a bubble, but sometimes I wish I could.

So, this week has been kind of hard. Grateful that Win is doing better though and I am inspired to retain my values and teach my children what I think makes a great nation and leader. I saw some quote about doing the little things to improve society and I can do those on a daily basis. I can be a better citizen at a local level and serve those around me, especially my little family. Life is good and will move on. All will be well.

hey there, pumpkin

Have you discovered this yet?

If not, stop by your nearest Trader Joe's today and stock up for the season. Who needs homemade when this exists? So delicious!

Nothing says Fall like pumpkin treats everywhere you go. Mmm.

early retirement

As of October 2nd, I have been a free agent. No more West Dermatology consuming my afternoons (and some nights), no more phone calls from my co-workers and/or boss, no more emails to check all day long, no more yellow pages (a dying species anyway), magazines or newspapers, no more website updates, no more deadlines. I guess the only drawback is no more income, but even that doesn't bother me too much.While I'm grateful for the experiences I've gained over the last ten years, I'm so thankful it's over. My heart hasn't been in it for a while and it's especially not going to be in it when a newborn and toddler consume my days come January.

It was a great, flexible job, but not always peaches and cream. I learned some fantastic lessons though like how to be less critical of myself and my work and how to take criticism better. I learned what marketing is all about and how to create a marketing plan and budget. I learned A LOT about graphic design and that I probably should have majored in it. I learned about working with different personality types. I learned that working from home is sometimes difficult and not as wonderful as people think. I learned sometimes you work simply because you have to, not because you enjoy every moment. It really has been an interesting ten years and I'm grateful for my mom and Kent for talking me through the moments when I wanted to quit. 

Once again, very grateful for the experience, but I don't feel an ounce of regret for bowing out at this stage in my life. It's time to move on.

Now that I have two to three hours to myself in the afternoon my house should be spotless and dinner ready at 5pm every night, right? Ha. I do hope to stay on top of that better, but I'm just excited to do things that I want to do. Examples: make a quiet book, finish a wall hanging in Win's room, complete my mom's personal history and maybe make something more of that, freelance (yes, if you or someone you know is in need of some graphic design work, I'm happy to help), bake, sew, write, CREATE. There is so much to do in life!

Anyway, just wanted to document my newly found freedom and let you know how excited I am to pursue new interests. Time for me to get some other things accomplished.

just can't enough

Of Win that is. I know I'm biased, but this boy is just getting cuter and cuter. I love his blond locks, blue eyes and creamy, pinky-white-buttery skin. And the personality that goes along with those things? So inviting.

19 mos.

34 inches (or 2.833 ft.)

25.6 lbs.

Our "healthy lean" boy

 

 

a dutch door

Dutch doors aren't just for the Dutch.

Someday when we buy our own home, I'm installing a Dutch door in so I can let the breeze in and call to my kids when it's time for dinner.

Easy enough, right?

18++ months

Win is 19 months come September 1st, but I'm going to stick with his 18 month old self for this post. Here are a few things about Win lately:

-He is really independent. He wants to walk up and down the stairs by himself, climb up on furniture by himself, flush the toilet by himself, etc. He even says "self" when he wants to do something. The only thing I help him with is eating, which he CAN do by himself with his fingers and sort of with a fork and spoon, but sometimes I prefer to shovel as much as I can in.

-Eating time is often frustrating because he's getting picky, but he's managing to stay alive and keep a belly. As long as there are eggs, cheese and yogurt in the house we are okay.

-He is talking a lot these days and is a smart cookie. He knows his shapes and can say them. Oval was the first shape he recognized and said, but he knows and says circle, triangle, rectangle, square, star, heart and "x" (part of the Fisher-Price shape bucket). He is also starting to use little 2-3 word sentences like "Cars, Daddy?" It really is fascinating how he is able to communicate with us.

-Win is obsessed with cars. I think they've taken the place of balls at the moment. He could literally play with them for hours, just rolling them across the table. Kent has a guitar box in the bedroom and he took it out once to use as a ramp for Win's cars and now Win just goes into our room by himself and brings it out when he wants to play with it. He also tells me "this side" when he wants me to go on a certain side of the coffee table to play cars. Pretty funny. He also likes airplanes, helicopters (hot-doctors) and "huge" trucks. He even knows and says "RV" now. He just soaks up everything!

-He understands counting and numbers. He has two down pat, but often his counting goes like this, "one, two, four, seven...eight." Cracks me up and amazes me that he even gets the concept at such a young age. We count the stairs as we go up to our apartment so he should have 1-8 down soon. Maybe.

-He is also starting to recognize colors, especially when it comes to colors of cars. Everything was "blue car" for awhile, but now he's branching out a bit. He definitely knows the color blue though and if you ask him what color his eyes are he says "blue". He's amazing. He also knows orange pretty well. Red, green and yellow are tough for him, but he basically knows black, white and silver-you know, common car colors.

-He enjoys sitting on a wall just his size outside of our apartment to watch cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles go by. He points out what they are each time they pass. It's adorable. He wants me to sit down by him and invites me by saying, "Mama?" He is constantly inviting me to do things with him with that little "Mama?" - I love it. He takes a turn and Mama takes a turn.

-His favorite song as of late is "The Wheels on the Bus". He especially enjoys mimicking the mama on the bus saying "shhh, shhh, shhh" and tries to sing the "all around town". He likes singing in general, but that's his favorite.

-He really likes Baby Einstein. "On the Go", "Number Nursery" and "Newton" are his favorites. He had a bad cold so I let him watch too much, but he does know what an "ocean liner" is now and points them out when we go to the beach.

-One bad habit he his picked up which is 100% the fault of his parents is saying "darn" when something undesired happens like a car falling of the table or a ball almost making it into a basket. He uses it correctly, but we don't want him to use it at all. Eek. It really is "darn" so it's harmless, but a 1 year old doesn't need to have that word in his vocabulary. It really makes us want to use our words carefully because Win is a little sponge.

-Win started nursery and is doing great. The first couple of times he cried when we left him, but I think he's enjoying the toys now and understands that we will be back to pick him up. He also cried a few times because we were some of the last parents to get him. I guess I need to stop chatting in halls now.

-I've noticed he doesn't really play with the kids yet, but he understands ownership. He is using "mine" now and understands if something is "Sammy's" or "Mommy's" or "ours". Every time we come back to our apartment he says "ours" like this is our apartment. I like the "ours" better than "mine" so I think I need to reinforce that.

-He also likes "new" things like wearing his "new" shoes or his "new" car.

-Win got a real haircut with Daddy this month and he did great. I think he was really stunned or something because he didn't cry he just sat there like a stone with a very serious look on his face the entire time. He looks very dashing now.

I could go on and on, but that's the Win update for now. I love that little boy. I want him to stay the same age forever, but he just gets better and better so I guess it's okay for him to move onto new stages. Here are some photos of the last month or so.

eat. sleep. repeat...here we go again.

I've already gone viral with this information (thank you, Facebook), but I thought I might as well make a post here as well. Sommer Baby #2 is coming! He/she is due January 4, 2013 and we are excited.

(Baby #2 is much bigger at this stage, but I don't have a photo. This was taken at 11 weeks and I'm now 17 weeks.)

It took three pregnancy tests to convince me I was actually pregnant-it just happened much easier than we expected. Win took some time, but not this one. Win and ? will be 23 months apart which I hope will be manageable. We were shooting for 2 years and we came pretty close.

So far the pregnancy has been good. I did not feel well the first trimester, but I never threw up or anything. Everything sounded disgusting though and I felt nauseous most of the time. Pretty normal, right? I feel much better now. I'd say the turning point came at about 14 1/2 weeks and I'm so grateful. I have more energy and I actually want to cook dinner for Win and Kent. Poor guys. I felt sick for three months, didn't they?

The second time around has gone much quicker than the first. I can't believe I'm just a couple of weeks away from being half way done. Is it like that with every child besides your first? The more kids you get the shorter 9 months feels? Currently, an independently-minded, busy toddler consumes all of my day except for a few brief hours in the afternoon and that's when I clean, work and occasionally nap. Not enough time to think about being pregnant. It's kind of nice.

Here's something that has been on my mind today though: How does one keep oneself feeling attractive during pregnancy? I'm not sure if anyone reads our blog anymore (I don't blame you, I'm a really infrequent blogger), but for those of you that do and who have had children or know anyone who has, what's your secret? I'm hitting that stage where my normal clothes are tighter-elastic waistbands and maternity clothes are right around the corner. To top that off I found a couple of dimples on the back of my leg. They are not cute there. Cute on the face, not on the back of the thigh. Anyway, just thought I'd see if you have any advice. I'm keeping up Zumba and running for as long as I can, but I just need some secrets. ANY secrets actually. I'm all ears.

That's it for now. Gender reveal is right around the corner so I know I'll probably be blogging then if not sooner. We've done so much this summer and it needs to be documented.

Here's to #2! See you in 2013.