Colorado

Well. We're moving to Colorado Springs.
As much as I would like to say I'll be consistent in blogging once we move, I can't make promises.

I know it would be appreciated by family to status updates. But in reality:
1. We'll have new jobs
2. We'll be settling our girls into new day cares and/or schools
3. I still have a semester of master's classes left
4. We'll be renting and looking for new housing. Unless we can sell our house here and buy another one in the next month out there. Just saying that outloud, it sounds laughable.
5. We'll be living it up. I've made a promise to myself that at least once my degree is complete, we're going to have fun. Here it was hard for me to go out on the weekends. My job as a code official made it hard for me to go out. I would always see violations and feel like they needed to be addressed. Hopefully in my new job (huh, it would be nice to have a job offer from somewhere), I won't have the same stress.
We have plans of hiking and other outdoor activities. We'll be living in Olympic City USA. I'm excited for opportunities for the girls such as numerous ice skating rinks. There is so much to explore.

We tell the girls we are going on an adventure. And we are. It's a slightly scary, nerve wracking adventure. But it will be fun, and hopefully full of opportunity.
I'm looking forward to good restaurants, good craft breweries, and the ability to exercise. The last three years I've spent my lunch hours and the time between the girls going to be and my bedtime working on homework. I want my me-time back!

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Reflection on 2017/Life

We accomplished quite a bit in 2017. We started off the year with a new baby and the Hubs worked several days a week on turning our 2-car garage into a pantry plus master suite. Our bedroom is much quieter on the west end of the house since it is farther from the highway and I think we have more insulation in the walls and ceiling than the main house. 

I finished my 3rd and 4th masters classes, and earned As in each class.

A turned 3 in September and after introducing her to the potty chair over a year ago, she finally potty-trained Thanksgiving weekend. She still wears pullups overnight and during naptime, and if we have a long trip to town planned, but is mostly in undies. 

C has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom). It seems like she ALWAYS has a cold. She's back on antibiotics again as of yesterday because her runny nose and cough that started 2+ weeks ago hasn't gone away on its own yet. A came down with another cold, too, but has only had it for 2 days or so. (But I'm home with her today because we thought she might have pink eye; her eyes cleared up after she was awake for a bit this morning though) 

When I laid out my goals for 2018, one of the items was budgeting. I may have found a solution. I was using Mint.com, and while I love seeing all my accounts in one place, it wasn't helping me budget. I switched over to You Need A Budget (YNAB). There's a free 34-day trial, and since I'm a student I was able to request an additional year for free. So I'll try it for this year and if it works, I may purchase it next year. I daresay after stressing over money my whole adult life, YNAB makes budgeting fun. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy. 

For the last two weeks I've meal prepped for lunch. This week I focused on packing more veggies, and actually packed so much I couldn't eat everything. I'd have to look back at my planner for last week's lunches, but this week I packed:

morning snack: red grapes, coffee

lunch: carrots, cherry tomatoes and sliced bell peppers with hummus; a wheat wrap sandwich with cream cheese, pesto, an arugula/spinach blend and roast beef; ramen/cabbage slaw 

afternoon snack: Greek yogurt (Aldi has a delicious toasted coconut flavor...) and a piece of good dark chocolate

And I've been tracking my water intake again. It's difficult for me to drink water when it's cold outside. 

Breakfasts this week were wheat pancakes with peanut butter, and strawberries. and of course coffee. (a necessity with sick kids)

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Goals for 2018

As I indicated in my last post, I would like to blog again and I would like to set and achieve some goals for 2018. If I share them here, maybe I'll be more likely to achieve them all...

Financial goals:

1. Pay off house renovations. This should be complete by March

2. Pay off appliances. This should be complete by July 

3. Save toward a down payment on a new-to-me car. I love my Mazda 3 hatchback, but it doesn't have enough leg room for A, and all four of us can't ride in my car anywhere. My tags are due in July, but because of items 1 and 2, saving for a car isn't in the cards for the first half of the year. I would like $5,000 saved plus whatever I get for trading in the Mazda (or selling it outright). I think this is doable by December. 

4. Budget. I started using Mint.com last year but stopped while I was on maternity leave. Then it was hard to pick back up because I hadn't stayed on top of categorizing expenses. 

Personal goals:

1. Garden. With the kids this has been difficult the last several years. Even if I need to take several vacation days to put the garden in and harvest, I need to commit to it for my mental health. Between work, school, the kids and the hubs I don't get any "me" time and I often feel I need to recharge. 

Subgoals: a. Add 2 more garden beds

                 b. plant 3 more spruce trees

                 c. Plant the 2 replacement apple trees and 1 apricot in March

2. Blog or Journal. At least twice a week. This may be here, or it may be in handwritten journals. I started journals for A and C earlier this year and every couple months I try to write down funny things they've said or done, and milestones they've hit. 

3. Complete at least 4 Master's level classes. If I can take a summer class, and then two classes in each winter and spring semester, I'll be complete Summer 2019. Then I'll only have the thesis/internship paper and presentation to complete. So far there aren't any classes posted for summer 2018 so I may have the summer off. I'm flipflopping between "yay" and "well, that sucks" haha
4. Be a planner. This year I've used a planner for keeping track of meals, errands and tasks. I would like to be better at planning things in advance.
Subgoals: a. plan breakfasts, lunches and snacks to assist with goal b.
                 b. Lose weight. According to my height and weight, I have another 15 pounds to lose. Once I stop breastfeeding in January, after C turns 1, this should be easier. I'm down 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight with her, but I am ravenously hungry all day because I'm still pumping at work.
                 c. Exercise. Not sure where this will fit in with work, 2 classes and the kids, but it needs to be a priority, too. 

Oh, and I'm posting in the middle of the day today because the Hubs had 2 wisdom teeth removed this morning and I'm home baking Christmas cookies. Except in my infinite wisdom I remembered to buy flour, sugar, brown sugar and chocolate chips but forgot about oatmeal and eggs, so I have to make a trip to Dollar General...

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Goals

Two years ago I made a list of goals for the year and emailed them to myself. When I completed a goal, I would re-email myself the updated list.

Then I found out I was preggo with C. and the list of goals got sidelined because of doctor and hospital payments. Things like finishing the kitchen (new appliances, new countertop, fixing the asymmetrical cabinets at the sink) got put aside.

For 2018, I want another list of goals. Hopefully posting on my blog will keep me more accountable. I'm still working on my list, but blogging again is on the list. I like these journal prompts even though they are old list.

Stay tuned!

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Insanity

No, this post is not an advertisement for the Insanity workout.
And it is not meant to demean anyone who actually suffers from being insane.
It is a (humorous) look at several hours of a day in my frantic life.

Please note I wrote this four months ago and am just getting around to posting it...
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My brother likes to remind me the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

He obviously doesn't have children, right?
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It's 4:50 p.m. I'm at my desk at work, wrapping up end of day items. Making sure all the open documents on my computer's desktop are saved in case there is a power blip overnight. I pack up my empty lunch dishes, put my books and phone in my totebag, and verify my sunglasses and keys are right on top.

I grab my bag of pumped milk from the department breakroom, which thankfully is right next door to my office. Literally, I share a door with the breakroom.
I fill up my water bottle and A's Peppa Pig sippy cup with cold water and ice, just like she likes.
I sit back down at my desk to respond to a last minute email that popped up.

Next thing I know, a coworker is saying "Good night Anna, see you in the morning". I look down at the computer clock, realizing it's 5:03 already, and rush to get out the door. This wouldn't be such a big deal except it takes me 30 minutes to get to the sitter's house from my work when traffic isn't bad and I have to pick up the kids by 5:30. And I never know when I'll get stuck behind that one green minivan driver who insists on going 40 mph in a 55 mph zone where there's no opportunity to pass.

In the car, I typically listen to NPR (I know, I turned 30 and now I listen to talk radio. I feel old). This is almost the only way I get news anymore.  When I tire of hearing about the newest disaster our new president has created, I turn on country music and sing along. Sometimes I talk to myself about how to handle an issue at work, trying to talk out the best way to handle it.

At the sitter's house, I almost always make 2 trips to the car. The first is to put the diaper bag in. The second is for A to walk out to the car and climb into her carseat while I walk around to the other side to click in C's carseat. On the ride home, A tells me about her day, usually telling me what she ate for lunch (probably falsely, because she can't really eat Ramen every day, can she?) If she's lucky, I've remembered to pack an applesauce pouch and cheez-its for her to eat on the drive home. If not, I prepare for a hangry meltdown by the time we pass Grandma E's house. (I know A, Momma gets hangry, too!)

Getting in the house is also a task. I can't leave either kid in the car with the doors closed because HOLY COW the heat index is over 100 this week. I usually get A unbuckled from her seat and tell her to walk to the front porch for me. (Thank goodness we live in the country and our house is 1/8 mile off the highway. How do city folk with no garage get their kids inside without accidents?) I get C's carseat out and both of them inside. Then I bring in the diaper bag and my totebag. If I've made a Target run at lunch, there are usually several more trips into the house.

Then the unpacking and repacking begins. Mind you, by this point it's only 5:45 pm. I've been away from work for less than an hour.

Depending on what I wore today, I usually change into junk shorts and a tshirt now.

We cloth diaper both girls. I unpack the dirty diapers and re-pack clean diapers. 2-3 times a week I machine wash the diapers, which adds to the evening frenzy. I pack new clothes for both girls because both had blow-outs today. Cloth diapers have reduced those from when we were using disposables, but HOLY COW three days of no pooping for C after she started peas and green beans, need I say more?!

I unpack C's dirty bottles and toss them in hot, soapy water in the sink. I breastfeed C still as she's not even 6 months yet. I breastfed A until 13 months. I unpack my totebag, washing my lunch dishes and last night's dinner's pots and pans once the bottles are clean. Then I prep the bottles for the next day and place them and a package of baby food in C's lunchbox in the fridge.

I make sure whatever we're having for dinner is thawed enough to cook tonight. If not, it goes in the sink in warm water.

By this point, it's usually 6:30. I sit down to nurse C, who is now, also, hangry. The hubs is just walking out the door at work right now. Sometimes he messages and asks if I want him to bring home Mexican for dinner. Sometimes I say yes. It's the one meal I know A will eat. She loves refried beans, chips and queso dip.

Oh wait, I forgot to get a snack for A. So I stand up, making C angry, and get A a pouch or string cheese and more water. My brain is fried. Between my job as a code official and two crying children, sometimes I just want to curl in a ball and be left alone.

I try feeding C some babyfood. She's been really good at trying new things. In the last several weeks, she's tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, green beans, peaches, apples, pears. A  is vying for my attention to read to her or play kickball or some other activity I wish I had more time for.

It's a little after 7 and the Hubs comes in the door. A still gets excited when she sees his car pull up and exclaims "Daddy's home!!". I love it. At this point, I hand off C to him for a couple minutes so I can pee in peace. Then I put C on the floor to play and start dinner while the Hubs showers.

By the time we eat dinner and get the girls ready for bed it's after 8:30 usually. Then I shower, and start working on homework. I can barely keep my eyes open past 9:30, especially when reading textbook assignments.

This is most every weekday night. I know eventually things will slow down a bit. At some point I won't need to prep bottle bags and diaper bags. But we'll trade those tasks for homework and practicing musical instruments and sports. At some point I hope to trade some of the tasks for things I want to do, like gardening and feeding chickens and goats.

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2016 reading list

The art of crash landing

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Christmas Eve

Do you hear that?

That is the sound of baby A and the hubs both taking a nap.

That is the sound of silence before the craziness that is Christmas at my great Aunt's house begins.

That is the sound of me enjoying an entire bottle of beer with no interruptions.

This year I did less for Christmas. Partly because it was decided last year we are only doing presents for the kids. Partly because I forgot to bake cookies and make sweets. (Or partly because the Hubs ate all the sweets I made last weekend? There was some fudge and cookies leftover from the stash I sent to my brother in law and sister in law, and it's all gone. And well, the weather has been so nasty fudge wouldn't have set up. I made fudge once during a storm and ended up using it as cake icing.)

This year the Hubs got me a Fitbit Charge HR for Christmas. It came in the mail a couple weeks ago and I've worn it for the last week already. I am shocked/saddened by how little walking I do at work if I have meetings for a majority of the day. I am excited by how this little piece of technology encourages me to get in at least 10,000 steps per day. And (slightly embarrassed?) that sometimes that means jogging in place for 5 minutes at the end of the day. But at least I get my steps in. At least I'm not sedentary.

This year is the first year we've set up a big tree. The Hubs scored it on sale after Christmas last year.  A fake tree that looks surprisingly real, with lights already attached. Just plug it in and add ornaments. I am excited for new personalized ornaments each year. I am excited to start new traditions with our little A.

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It's been awhile

So the old man in my previous post... his house is being repaired by a local charity. He moved in with a family member while the home is being repaired. When I last visited, the living conditions were worse then they had been in May, and we started moving forward with getting him out of the house completely. But now things are getting better and I'm not so scared of him living there anymore

Baby A is 14 months old now. She is trying to talk. When I pick her up from the sitter, she runs to the door screaming "mama mama", and when the Hubs gets home from work she runs to the door yelling "dada dada". She is starting to repeat what we say to her now. She has a puzzle that has a horse, a cow and a sheep on it. I'll say "What does the horse say?" And she'll say "nay-nay" over and over again. She also knows that cows say "moo moo" and dogs go "bow wow wow". She knows where her belly, ears, eyes and and nose are. And she likes to lift up my shirt and show me where my belly is, too.
She is not sleeping through the night yet, and still wakes up around 1 and 4. Usually at 1 I can rock her back to sleep, but at 4 she needs a bottle. At least she goes to sleep better now. We have a routine now: pajamas, bottle, rocking/singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and then she goes to bed half awake. Sometimes she will cry a little, but usually she snuggles up with her bear and falls asleep. That's how she takes a nap, too.
She eats quite a bit now, and I am trying to diversify her meals, but it seems so hard when produce is out of season! She loves canned peaches and mandarin oranges, and she'll eat almost half a can of mixed vegetables in a setting. She also loves turkey lunch meat and cheese. And bananas. Sometimes she'll eat almost an entire banana for breakfast. She's a fan of cheese-scrambled eggs and sausage patties. And Grandma Betty's mashed potatoes.

The Hubs is out deer hunting today. I hope we get a couple deer for the freezer this year. One of his coworkers got a deer this morning; it was his first deer and he didn't know how to gut it. So he called the Hubs, who left his treestand on opening day to help the guy out. Sometimes I think he's a better person than I could be. I honestly would have told the guy to find other help, that I was busy. The guy told the hubs "This is good karma. You helped me out so you have to get a deer now."

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To My Baby Kangaroo - February 2015

In February, your dad and I finally decided to eat at a restaurant with you. You weren't quite big enough to sit in a high chair unassisted, so we took turns holding you while we ate Mexican for lunch. 

Your grandpa and uncle like teasing you... and usually make you cry. 

You are starting to be more mobile. You now "wiggle-worm" your way across the floor. You can move backward and forward, but you don't really push off with your legs yet. You seem to use your arms more.  You love jumping in your jumper, and also jumping while being held in someone's lap. 

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Peppers started

Edited to add: 

I figured I need to write down what I started so I don't have to squint so hard at the picture!

6 each (actually 12 seeds of each) of: 

Turkish Orange eggplant (Baker Creek)

Whitney pepper (long bell pepper)

Boris Banana pepper

Mama Mia pepper

Fooled You Jalapeno (taste of jalapeno without the heat)

Purple Tomatillo

Poblano

Chinese Giant bell (grew these last year and liked them!)

Jalapeno (for when we actually do want heat)

As of the morning of February 13, only the tomatillos had sprouted...

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to my baby kangaroo - January 2015

I don't call you my baby kangaroo very often anymore.  Usually you are "baby girl" or "chubby monkey" or i refer to your chubby chipmunk cheeks. 

This month you became a lot more vocal and sing and talk to us. It is not decipherable though.  

You also learned how to roll over. The first time,  I was home alone with you and actually got your second roll on camera. That was about three weeks ago. Last weekend you learned how to roll the other direction (from front to back).

You like to roll around on the floor and play with your toys.  You also like to lay on your back and play with your toes,  or chew on them. 

Bath time is in your bumbo seat since you can't sit by yourself yet. You usually get 2-3 baths per week. And then you get lotioned-up, as you have dry skin patches.

You are still exclusively breastfed.  Although you are starting to show an interest in our food at dinner.  At your four month appointment a couple weeks ago,  the doctor gave us some guidelines for starting solid foods.  We are waiting on you to sit up unassisted before we start rice cereal. At that appointment,  you were a little over 15 pounds, and your height and weight were both between the 75th and 90th percentile.

You are also still in cloth diapers. Here was a photo with them all clean. 51 total. I have since then bought some covers to use over disposables. We are going on vacation next month and I don't  want to deal with washing cloth diapers then, but you have major poop-splosions in disposables, so I am hoping we can put a cover over the disposables and contain the mess.

At dinner you sit in your swing. We started strapping you in this week because you squirm so much you fall out of it. 

You constantly drool and chew on everything, including your toys, blankets and me and your dad. Sometimes you chew on my shoulder or neck and I look like I have a hickey. You don't take a pacifier unless you are very tired, which is fine by me because then we won't have a bad habit to break.

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Seed starting: Brussels sprouts

Today,  I started 24 Brussels sprouts seeds. They are hanging out on the seed heating mat.

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To my Baby Kangaroo - week 16

This was the week of Christmas. We only had Christmas Day at our house. Christmas Eve at my Great Aunt's house was rescheduled to New Year's Eve because one of our cousins had the flu.

You received a ton of toys. I got some noisemakers for you. You got a sock monkey from one Grandma and a Raggedy Ann doll from the other Grandma. 

I love when you smile. Sometimes I can get you to giggle, but I have to make funny noises at you for several minutes before you giggle. 

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To my Baby Kangaroo -Week 15

I know, I know.... I am really behind with posting photographs. This week, Daddy went hunting again, bow hunting in alternative season. We didn't get a deer, though.

Here you were still standing on my old Art History textbook when in your jumper. Now, your legs are long enough that you touch the floor without needing the book. 

I wanted to post this picture to show how difficult it is to get a picture of you. You are always moving!

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To My Baby Kangaroo - Week 17

This week we went to my Great Aunt's for Christmas on New Year's Eve. Always tons of delicious food, and you received lots of presents. Here you are with your uncle Daniel. 

Here you are with your sock monkey. You like to chew on its ears. 

I love this onesie; it says "Mommy's little piggy" on it, which is so fitting because you snort when you eat sometimes. 

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To my Baby Kangaroo - week 14

Last week we took you for a photo with Santa at the mall. This Santa was pretty awesome with a real beard. He tickled your feet and his elf-photographers were really good at getting you to smile. 

We spent some time last Sunday at the farm. Your dad was testing out his new gun and bow (alternative methods deer season started yesterday), so we hung out inside with your grandma. I think, just maybe, she is a proud grandma. Maybe. :)

Here you were sitting on the couch and turned sideways. You kept looking at me like, "what did I do?"

You continue to drool all. the. time. The upper portion of your onesie is nearly always soaked. I'm thinking maybe you need to wear a bib all day?! You chew on your fingers, on your blankets, and your stuffed toys. You take a pacifier, but only when you are going down for a nap or for the night. 

We are still cloth diapering. I wash diapers twice a week. Usually once on Saturday or Sunday, and then again Wednesday or Thursday. You are still wearing disposable diapers at night, but only because we were given a diaper cake for your shower and I can't exchange opened diapers... It is giving me a chance to figure out how to cloth diaper you at night though, too. During naptime you completely soak your diaper, so I need to try different combinations of inserts. 

I am still pumping at work. When I first started at work, I was pumping at 930am, lunch and 330pm. But I now usually drop the lunch time pump, unless I don't get much milk at the first pumping (I usually get 9-12 oz at the first pumping). You need 12 oz while you are at the sitter, and I usually pump 15 to 20 oz per day, in addition to what you breastfeed in the mornings and evenings. The excess gets frozen. My goal was to breastfeed you for at least 6 months; I don't see any reason why we can't go longer than that with all this extra milk! I notice on Mondays that I don't pump as much, and I think it is because I don't stay hydrated enough on the weekends. I would love to completely avoid formula. 

You typically sleep 930 to 6. Sometimes you sleep the entire time, sometimes you are up once a night. I hear about the 4th-month sleep regression and am not looking forward to you being up more times! 

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To my Baby Kangaroo - week 13

Now that I am back at work full time, finding time to write posts is increasingly difficult. I'm still taking photos, though, because I know we'll look back in awe at how much you change each week. You continue to be vocal. You "talk" to us most of the time when you are awake now, cooing at us and singing. I really should take a video to show you when you are older. 

You can almost sit up by yourself, but if I put you on the floor, seated, you fall forward. Your abs aren't quite strong enough to hold yourself up. 

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To My Baby Kangaroo - Week 12

In addition to the small Thanksgiving at our house, we also had a big family gathering on Saturday at the farm. Here you are with your uncle Daniel, being lifted into the air and back down again. (And your grandma Wilma is in the foreground, but I accidentally chopped her head off. Sorry Mom! lol)

You are able to sit up by yourself better on the couch now. Sometimes you still fall over to the side, but for the most part you stay however I sit you. Unless you decide to lean forward and then you faceplant and get angry. Guess your abs aren't very well developed yet, huh? I started giving you a bath in the regular bathtub. You've been taking showers with me for a couple weeks now. When it's time for me to wash off I put you down in your bumbo seat at the back of the shower. When I put you in the bathtub by yourself you are also in the seat. It's made out of a sealed foam so it doesn't soak up any water. Sometimes you hold on to a little rubber ducky; your grasp is getting stronger. (It's been really strong for awhile when it comes to yanking out your Momma's hair!)

I don't like to put pants on you because they don't fit very well over the cloth diapers. But this week it was chilly several days and your leg warmers got lost in the mail. I actually contacted babyleggings.com and they resent the order. They were supposed to arrive last Friday and never showed! And the USPS website doesn't recognize the tracking number! But there is another order on the way, so hopefully they arrive soon and then you won't need to wear pants. lol

This week you had a slight cold. Thursday morning you seemed fine, and we ran a couple errands in town. When we got home, your nose was all stuffed up and you had a lot of drainage. I suctioned out your nose but you still sounded like Darth Vader. There's not much to do for a baby with a cold except keep your nose cleaned out. So I used the saline spray several times, along with the nose bulb. And then we sent your dad to pick up a humidifier on his way home from work (the one I bought in college finally bit the dust - apparently 10 years is the lifespan on a humidifier?!) Our new one has slots to put Vicks menthol pads in it, and will probably come in handy for all of us! I also put a thin layer of Vasoline on your nose and the area between your nose and mouth because it was getting raw from all the drainage and nose-wiping. Today you are sounding a lot better. You've slept in the rock and play the last couple nights instead of the crib because you can sleep at an incline; I thought that would help with drainage. (I always sleep with an extra pillow when I have a cold so my head and neck are inclined!)

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To My Baby Kangaroo - Week 11

I am a little behind in my weekly posts! Between working three days in a row the week of Thanksgiving, and the holiday, I haven't had much time to write! 

You smile a lot now. When you get upset, it is easy (usually) to talk to you and get you smiling again. 

This was a day you were fighting sleep. You finally took your only nap for the day late in the afternoon!

On Thanksgiving we had my parents, the hubs' mom, my brother and my grandma over for lunch. Here is your grandpa and great grandma. I'm pretty sure your grandpa was "beep beep"-ing your nose in this photo... He likes to pester you like that. The week of Thanksgiving you got to meet a lot of family for the first time. My aunt (my dad's sister) celebrated her 25th anniversary and my aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, grandma, and cousins were at the open house. Your grandpa whisked you away from me when you weren't eating and was a very proud grandpa showing you off to family. And promptly brought you back to me when you started getting fussy for food! (Hey - sometimes pumping is more work that it's worth because then there are bottles to wash in addition to the boring sitting for 20 minutes waiting for milk to pump! Just easier to whip out a boob!)

Your uncle Daniel likes to lift you in the air and bring you back down, making noises. You smile and almost laugh when he does this. 

This looks like an angry face, but it's not. I caught you in the middle of your cooing. 

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