Just a little busy

I seem to be very tired lately.

And as I was talking to Drew the other day I began listing all the things I am involved in and it hit me . . . no wonder I'm tired!!!

Here are the things that fill my plate . . .

 

1)  Kids.  No brainer right, but an almost 5 year old and an nearly 2 year old don't even have a drop of self-sufficiency.  Even a shower involves me screaming from the bathroom to "BEEE gentle" and "No hitting" and "Please use inside voices!!!!"

 

2)  Preschool.  I love love co-op preschool but it is a huge commitment.  2 days a week are devoted to my stay day at school, then 2 more days of pick up and drop off.

 

3)  Work.  I have the best job in the world and look forward to the break and change of pace every time I go but sometimes it's difficult to switch gears so completely.

 

4)  Housework.  Drew works 40 hours a week and I usually work about 7 so I do not begrudge the fact that most of the housework falls to me.  Plus, Drew is completely in charge of the yard and always chips in!  But sometimes the sheer volume of laundry, house cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping. etc makes me feel like taking a nap!!

 

5)  Co-op Board Chair.  I love volunteering at the co-op and board is a great group of ladies.  However, most every day I have 20-40 emails that need my attention just from the preschool alone.  There are issues, big and small, to be addressed constantly.

 

6)  Modules.  I also work for a company that produces online lactation education modules.  I work on these during my "free time".  It's a huge commitment but the work is fun (when I actually get time to do it) and it's an amazing career opportunity.

 

7)  Lecturing.  One of my favorite things about my job is teaching.  Every 3 months, I get to teach pre-natal breastfeeding classes for Penny Simkin (the most amazing birth doula in the world).  Twice per year I teach the nurses at Evergreen how to teach families about latch, positioning, sore nipples, engorgement and more.  And in November I am teaching, for the first time, with the most well-known lactation educator.

 

8)  Volunteering.  My newest endeavor is volunteer work with Roots of Empathy.  (www.rootsofempathy.org)  This program is so inspiring and I feel completely exhilarated after the training last week!

 I will be teaching first graders how to recognize temperament traits and emotions in themselves and others by observing our guest teacher - a 4-12 month old baby.  I am also going to work get the program at the school that Ellie and Jude will attend!

 

9)  Friends and hobbies.  There is very little time for crafting and scrapbooking but hopefully I will get to do those things again someday.  Luckily, we have lots of friends with kids so we see each other regularly.  And thank goodness for 2nd Tuesday girls night with my nurse friends!

 

10)  Drewby.  Guess I should mention my husband too!!  We do a pretty good job making time for each other with our ritual of 'happy hour'.  A glass of wine and 10 minutes of conversation can do wonders!!

 

 11)  Music.  I literally have not picked up my guitar since Jude was born but have found some time to sing.  A friend is hosting a John Prine Tribute night a bar in Seattle next month.  Drew, TJ, my dad and I will perform 3 songs.  John Prine in our family soundtrack so this is going to be awesome!

 

 Luckily, all my committment are things that I love to do but some days I still feel like I am just keeping my head above water.
I just keep reminding myself everything will be easier when the kids are both in elementary school, right . . . . . RIGHT??!!

Lil Bro's First Day

Tuesday was Jude's turn at a first day.

I love co-op because Jude gets to experience school at a young age BUT I get to go to school with him.

We learn new songs and games and I get to see him interact with other kids.

 Yep - you could say he was excited!

 

 

 This is what you get when you ask a toddler to smile for the camera

 

 Such a little man putting his monkey backpack and Beatles lunchbox in his cubbie

 

 Happy to be at school with my baby

 

 Teacher Betsy!! 

We are so excited to have Teacher Betsy again!  She has such a sweet way with the little ones and has taught me so much about parenting!

 

Jude and his buddy Wyatt.  Exactly 6 months apart - future BFF's

 

This is going to be a fun year!



First Day of Pre-K!

It's seems like it's milestone after milestone around here!

 

Ellie started her first day of Pre-K today!!  She's been at this preschool since she was 14 months old but Pre-K is the big time!  A bit more curriculum, each kiddo has a 'job' during class, more expectations (listening and lining up) but still lots of fun.

 First day of school pics of Jude soon . . .

 

 The timing is perfect this year.  Early lunch . . . walk Ellie to school . . . put Jude down for a nap . . . then 2 hours of ME TIME!!!  (In other words - clean the house, do laundry and, of course, check facebook)

 

 She's SO excited!

We have been so lucky because Ellie has only had FABULOUS teachers so far!

Teacher Cam has a lot to live up to but I have no doubt she will be Ellie's favorite teacher yet (every year her current teacher is her favorite teacher :)

Ellie and Cam have the same birthday and Ellie thinks that's pretty special. 

 Ellie's bestie, Jordan. 

Our Preschool.  Such a wonderful place!!

 

 My favorite part of preschool - I get to go too!

This year Ellie will have 2 drop off days and one 'stay-day'

It's going to be quite a change next year when she goes off to kindergarten and I'm not as involved in her routine anymore. 

So I'll treasure this year where we get to go to school together!!

The summer of . . .

Postings have certainly been scant this summer but it hasn't been because I haven't had lots to share!!  We've had adventures, started traditions and seen a lot of 'firsts' for both kids.

 

NEW TRADITION

The crew - The Asmann's, Berry-Nelsons, SchaeperBerrys, Quishidas, Poages and Nobles all headed to Camano Island for a get away.  That's 12 adults and 8 kids! 

The Poage cabin was beautiful and right on the beach.  The kids played in the driftwood and the adults played music and cards.

It was amazing to me that 12 kids, ranging in age from 14 months to 8 years played so well together with literally NO fights!!

 

 Cute kids in life jackets. 

Lots of cute kids in life jackets!

 The ladies!  Card games of choice - Crib and Speed.  Drink of choice - champagne, of course!

 

ADVENTURE

Drew's dream came true this year when he finally convinced me to go on a backpacking trip!  I was trepidatious to say the least, given that I don't like the wilderness, bugs or breaking a sweat.  But the company made it fabulous.  Next time - a longer hike and more champagne!

 Driving East in Quinn's Westy

 

See how rugged we look!?!

Now for our flat, short hike back to the car.  haha

 

BEST TRADITION!!

One of the absolute summer highlights is FLOATDOWN.  The crew heads over the mountains to Twisp to float the Methow river.  The weather is always sweltering which makes floating in a raft on the icy river sublime.  Once again, champagne flows freely and by the end of the day our cheeks sunburnt and sore from smiling so much!



 Love these crazy people!

 FIRSTS

Every season holds many firsts for the kids during these years but Jude seems to have changed in leaps and bounds this summer. 

He's talking almost non-stop.  True you can't understand a lot of what he says but just like his sister - he literally never shuts up!!

A few of his favorite words are

 - "uh-huh" said in a million different ways but always in a high pitched squeaky voice

 - "mo" for more

 - "lala" his new name for Ellie

 - "lalow" for stroller
 - "ow" yes, he says ow if he stubs his toe but he also says ow even he is asked to do something he doesn't want to do like if Ellie is asking him to come play and he'd rather not - he looks at her and says "owie lala"
 - "ti-ka" the word he uses when he wants to nurse.  Although he says it less than he did a few months ago he still asks to nurse about every 2 hours.  Guess he never got the memo that he's almost 2 years, not 2 months!

 But the words that seem to echo most frequently around the house is a nearly constant string of "mommydaddymommydaddymommydaddymommydaddymommydaddy"

 

 

Miss Ellie Belle has learned a lot this summer too.  She started swim lessons and although she has always loved the water she would never put her head in.  Now she puts her face in, holds her breath, floats on her back and is so very proud!



I can't believe what a big girl she is now - camping in the backyard with Drew, first sleep over at a friends house, writing her name, throwing less tantrums(!) and calls every new kid she meets her 'best friend'.

 

Next week starts Ellie's last year at the co-op preschool we've attended since she was 14 months old and Jude's first year at the school!

Goodbye summer . . . it's been swell

 



Staycation Vacation

The first week of August Drew took at staycation from work.  Our plan was to relax at home in the summer weather, celebrate our 6 year anniversary, do fun things with the kids . . .

And of course complete A LOT of house projects!

 

First on the list was a new sink.  Not only was the old one a dingy color of beige but the garbage disposal was on the shallow side making dish washing very awkward!

Love my new stainless steel sink.  So much sleeker!

 Next on the list was a new fridge.  True, our old fridge was less than 3 years old but I've always hated it!  The black sides made the entrance to the kitchen seem smaller and it seemed HUGE in that space.

 Enter lovely new counter depth fridge!

 

Made SUCH a difference!

 

And the crowning jewel -

A beautiful new front door!

I love that the new windows let light into the entry and the splash of color is just was this grey house needed.

Drew has now made me promise not to request any more house projects for awhile

 

But really - "awhile" is a very vague term . . .

Welcome to the Cottage

Last weekend, mum and I found a diamond in the rough at a yard sale.

An old beat-up PLAYHOUSE!

 As you can see - it needed a lot of work but had LOADS of potential.

The biggest challenge was how to move it to our backyard.

Luckily, Drew was totally up for it and worked super hard to make it happen!

 First came coats of cheery paint to every surface.  Ellie has decided to become a professional painter when she grows up.  She loved every minute of it.

 Even Jude was happy to help . . . for a few minutes.

 So serious

 Of course, we picked the back corner of our yard for our playhouse to live.  It was quite an adventure moving it into place.

 The moving crew

The cottage.

It is so cute and homey.  Ellie has decided she wants to have sleepovers in it when she's older.  Right now it's usually an "order-at-window" restaurant.



So the final total:

$50 for the playhouse, $30 for paint, plus hours of labor = the best play cottage I have ever seen!!

Cousin Love

 One of the highlights of the summer is always the reunion with my sister, Michelle, and nephew, Jules. 

We only get to see each other for about 10 days out of every year so we pack a lot in . . . catching up, eating good food and lots of champagne drinking.

But the best part was seeing Jules and Ellie interact.  They are at the age where they are remembering each other from year to year and building a relationship.  I love these photos where Jules is talking about Star Wars and has Ellie's undivided attention.

Three Cheers for Family!!!

Now only 51 weeks until we get to see each other again!!!