The New Kid

I’ve completed my first week at the new gig. The people are very nice, and I think my new bosses should be pretty manageable. Judging from these first few days, I’m going to be able to bring a lot to the table once I get settled in. If only I didn’t have to deal with that whole “getting settled in” thing…I hate being the new kid.

It’s tough to go from a position where you know everything and everyone to knowing nothing and no one. The extra rub with being an admin is 90% of your role is to know everyone in and everything about the office, because your bosses don’t and are relying on YOU to help THEM navigate through it all. Right now, I don’t even know where to go get office supplies. 

Alas, these are things that will only come with time, so I’m a good two to three months from hitting my stride. That feels like years away right now. But, I’ve done this before and I can do it again. What seems overwhelming now is going to be a blip on the radar before I know it.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

A Salute to Mark Brandi

I'll admit it. Sometimes I get really annoyed with my better half. Like when I'm rushing around trying to make it through the evening rigmarole and catch him scrolling on his phone in the other room. Or when I have two screaming kids at the dinner table and the first thing he does when he gets home is head upstairs to change his clothes. It's really easy to get caught up in the "I do everything myself" mindset when washing the fourth load of laundry, sloshing through the third sink full of dishes, and mopping the kitchen floor before hauling two kids up the stairs for their bath, while Mark's off doing something.

BUT...the thing is, I don't do everything...and the "something" he's doing is probably a legitimate task related to the upkeep or improvement of our home. It's just not on my "to do" list, so I don't always immediately recognize his contributions, but there are many. Two weeks ago, I took the trash out for the first time since we moved to this house, and only because Mark was traveling for work. I think I've only emptied the diaper pail two or three times in the past year. Those things just magically happen. 

While I'm trying to whip up our Sunday night family dinner, Mark's keeping the kids out of the kitchen and entertaining them...without using the TV. I didn't fully appreciate the difficulty of this until, for Mother's Day, Mark made dinner (because I wanted a break from it). Holy cow! They never want to be in the kitchen, but the moment they aren't allowed to go into the kitchen, it's like the floor is tiled in cookies. Before this experience, there was more than one Sunday evening when I became a little annoyed that he gets to play with the kids, while I am cooking and the least he can do is keep them out of the way. I don't get annoyed anymore--he's working harder than I am. (Full disclosure: on Mother's Day I ended up letting them watch TV for the last 15 minutes before dinner. He's never done that. But, in fairness to me, dinner took about twice as long to prepare and I had to pitch in or we wouldn't have eaten until 9:00 PM.)

Mark never runs out of energy (and rarely patience) when it comes to the kids. I run out of both often and quickly. Watching him with the kids makes me a better parent. He knows when I need a break and, if he can give it to me, he does. Even this morning, on HIS day, instead of sleeping in, he got up so I could go back to bed for an hour (of course I was up with a screaming Nick for the majority of the night and he slept through the entire ordeal, so maybe he doesn't get too much credit for this one.)

Right now, Mark is downstairs on his third hour of painting a dollhouse for Lainey's birthday. I think he has given more thought and more care to painting this dollhouse than he did to our house. I would have just given it to her unfinished and called it a day (I mean she's going to be 3--she's not that discerning), but Mark wants it to be perfect for her. I love that about him. 

So, when I start to get the "I do it all" feeling, I am making a concerted effort to stop and recognize all he does. I realize we're a team. Sometimes one of us carries a little more weight than the other, but we're both working hard to be the best parents and partners we can. I'm lucky I have a husband who cares so much about his family and dedicates himself to making our world better.

We love you, Mark! Happy Father's Day!!!

copyright Joshua Ford, Ford Photography
His face says it all...

Big Week for Our Little Buddy

After about two months of almost walking, Nick finally put it all together and got moving on two feet!!! He just couldn't seem to make it past three steps before taking to all fours. Thursday night, he took five steps in order to get to Lainey and take her down WWF style (more to come on that). Evidently, once he had a taste of being bipedal, he couldn't get enough. He's not the most stable, but I officially declare Nick a walker!

In addition to his new mobility, he's eating with a spoon pretty well now, making his meal times more hands free for me! We haven't really worked with him at all on using utensils, so I was kind of surprised Monday night when I set a bowl of applesauce and spoon on his tray and he just picked up the spoon and went at it. This is exciting to me because when we do manage to have family meal time, I may actually get to join in the eating part.

I don't really know where to file this next one...an accomplishment...a milestone...trouble? Lainey and Nick are now wrestling buddies. They tackle, squeeze, push, roll around, and THEY ARE LOVING IT!!! Me? It's fun to watch them play and giggle until they can't breath, but I find myself holding my own breathe waiting for one of them to get hurt. I'm trying to find the balance between stopping a major injury without overmanaging their playtime. I mean a little rugburn isn't going to send them to the ER. And it's hard to keep telling Lainey "you're being too rough" when Nick has a giant smile plastered on his face and keeps coming back for more. Yeah, it's hard...and fun...and hard (and really, really fun).

Guess my little buddy really isn't a baby anymore. He's a full-fledged toddler! Go get 'em Nick!

Maybe not the neatest eater, but pretty darn good!

At least the tumbling is on a cushioned area

Highs and Lows

All of last week I kept thinking, I could write a post about this. And all week I decided to do something else instead (usually veg out in front of the TV for 30 minutes). So, I’ve decided to play a little high-low and hit all the things I considered devoting a full post to.

High: I got a new job! I have a general policy not to talk shop on social media, so I'll stick to the basic facts:

• New company is Orbitz.
• New role is supporting the CFO and President of Orbitz for Business.
• First day is June 23.

Low: We finally made the tough decision to quite battling to save our linden tree and had it removed last Wednesday. We got three opinions and while two thought we could keep it for awhile (awhile being anywhere from a few months to a few years), all agreed it would have to come down. Given its proximity to the power lines, we decided to take it out on our terms instead of dealing with its removal after a storm took it out (along with power to our house and our neighbors).

High: Lainey is slowly learning all the words to "Let It Go" from Frozen. She sings it softly and seriously and makes up every 10th word. Melt. My. Heart. Expect a video once she learns all the words.

Low: Mark found out Friday that he had to fly to San Francisco this afternoon. It kind of put a dark cloud over the weekend. He was particularly grouchy about it, because of Memorial Day. And while I never look forward to his traveling, Lainey’s been really defiant in the mornings lately, so I’m REALLY dreading doing the morning routine solo tomorrow. At least I don’t have to worry about being late to work. What are they gonna’ do? Fire me?

High: We have new neighbors behind us. Bye-bye chickens! We met the husband and wife on Saturday. They have two little girls, one almost five, the other almost three, so Lainey may have a new playmate. They're doing work on the house and don't move in for another three weeks, but we're feeling optimistic that this family will be a major upgrade.

I’ll end on a high and hope for many more this week!

First Hair Cut

We decided it was time to stop treating Lainey's hair like shrubbery that we haphazardly trim errant sprigs from and get her a real haircut. We needed a professional to clean-up all the uneven lengths and make her mane a little less wild.

There's a great kids hair salon right in our 'hood. It has the cool seats that look like cars, planes, and trains, individual DVD players, and fun murals on the wall. Lainey visited the dentist again last week and cooperated fully, so I thought her first haircut would a breeze. I thought wrong. I ended up having to sit in the chair and hold her on my lap, while she watched Mickey's clubhouse and noshed on goldfish. Once she had been catered to properly, all went smoothly and her hair looks MUCH better! The only bummer is it's too short to pull into a ponytail or pigtails now, but it should only take a month or two to get the length back for that. (And she never leave the rubberbands in anyway.)

A little wary...

Warming up...

All beautiful!

Sippy Cups are Not for Chardonnay

Or Sauvignon Blanc. 

We had a dinner picnic in the backyard tonight. I thought the little Tupperware tumblers Lainey uses would make the perfect vessel for my dinner wine...sturdy for the terrain, non-breakable, right portion size. I repeatedly let Lainey know I had a grown-up only drink in it. But, turns out it needed to repeatedly tell this to Mark...or rather make sure he was listening one of the times I repeatedly told him. 

We were cleaning up and I watched from the kitchen window as Lainey stood in front of Mark holding my cup. I could tell from the "I'm getting away with something" grin on her face and the total lack of concern on his face that he had no idea what was in the cup. By the time I hit the back strairs, however, Lainey was spitting wine and coughing. Mark looks at me and asks, "what was in there?"

And that is how Lainey came to have her first taste of alcohol. I'm just glad she didn't like it. 

The Moments that Make It All Worth It

On Sunday, I had one of my top 5 mom moments. I don't remember what he was doing, but I jokingly said to Nick, "I know. I'm a bad mommy." Elaine whipped her little curly head around and with a furrowed brow and a most earnest look, said "You're not a bad mommy," her tone questioning how I could have made such a ludicrous statement in the first place. I've been thinking about it all week. Thanks, Lainey! Sometimes I need to hear it...