Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

I'm not gonna lie, this year has been a bit rough.  But I still have plenty to be thankful for.  Let me just preface this post by saying that I pretty much had this entire post written in my mind late last night when I was trying to sleep but of course, I'm sure I won't remember half of it.  

First off, this year was Elizabeth's first year and it was the best.  She is so wonderful and joyful and perfect.  Everyone loves her.  Aaron loves her and she is so in love with him.  I am thankful for my daughter for sure.

Aaron has started preschool with the Head Start program and it's really been great for him.  AND for me, of course.  He's growing so much and so fast.  This past year has been a bit difficult for him too.  He's started a new school, has had to realize that he's not the only baby anymore and has had to deal with his dad's new job.  But I'm hoping his new found attitude this year is a phase.  He's learning new things at school though, including how to socialize.  But he's my big boy now and I'm thankful for my son.  

If you've been keeping up, you'll know that Josh lost his job earlier this year because his plant closed.  When he couldn't find a job in Sacramento after a few months and we were in a pretty bad spot, I encouraged him to look outside of Sacramento.  We've been talking about living close to the water, so why not look, right?  

Josh applied for a job with Tesla and he was really wanting to get it.  For the first time in the 10+ years I've known him he was actually excited about a job!  We were all rooting for him and he got it!  Josh got a job with Tesla in Fremont, CA which is 2 hours out of Sacramento.

At first the job was temporary and we agreed that we wouldn't think about moving until he was brought on permanently.  He stayed in Fremont during the week and because we need the money, he has also been working the overtime on Saturdays.  So he comes home for basically a day and a half before he heads back again.  This has been hard on all of us, but Aaron the most (hence the new found attitude mentioned earlier).  Of course seeing this and also the fact that I knew Josh would be brought on permanently, I was looking at places anyway.  

And then we realized that the South Bay Area and the East Bay Area are both double in rent than what Sacramento is.  So the search has been tougher than expected.  We've not only tried Fremont but Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, Concord and Palo Alto.  We even applied for a place a few weeks ago but they gave it to someone else.  

Honestly, the whole process has been rather discouraging.  But I still have faith that things will work out for us and for that, I'm thankful.  And I'm thankful for my husband Josh and that he has a job in the first place to give us this issue to work on!  And so the search continues......

I am so happy to have my little family.  We have issues and fights and bad days just like anyone else, but at the end of the day we love each other - Josh and I are best friends - and we both love, love, love our babies.  And the dog.  Don't forget our first baby!

So while we've had some bumps in the road this year, like I said earlier, I still have plenty to be thankful for.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and yours!  I hope you are all having a year to be thankful for as well.

 

Nesting & Resting

Check out my awesome DMB Shirt!

Well the it's finally here!  My resting & nesting period.  I'm officially off work at 37 weeks and now I get to worry about all the things I have to get done before baby gets here while I lay in bed with my feet up.  LOL!  Not really --- I have a list of things I get to supervise Josh doing!  But honestly, since I'm home now I will be doing what I can while I have some quiet time to finish organizing and cleaning both of the kids rooms.  

We had told Aaron that because we painted Baby Girl's room, we'd paint his too and we let him pick out the color.  His favorite color is green, so we took him to Home Depot to pick out a shade of green (that we approved of) and Josh has successfully painted Aarons' room after a Pinterest room I saw that incorporated green and navy (which was my color choice for Aaron).  There are only a few touch ups left for Josh to do (the walls are textured so some of the paint from the lines bled) and then we can move the furniture back in.  Once everything is back, I promise to take pictures of both finished rooms!  

Aaron has started school part time and he's still getting used to this new venture.  He's hesitant at drop off, but I'm assured by everyone at the school that once I'm gone, he warms up.  When I pick him up he seems to be just fine, though happy to see me.  Yesterday was picture day - his very first!  The idea of it just makes me smile!  I hope he smiled in the picture!  

Fall has finally arrived in Sacramento and I'm so grateful that it did because I wasn't looking forward to having Baby Girl in 100 degree weather.  But that also means in addition to my baby nesting, I have to weed through Aaron's closet and toys and get take inventory of what's left and what we need.  I can already tell you he'll be needing pants, shoes and a new sweatshirt or two.  He does NOT need more toys!

I'm also looking forward to decorating for Fall and I hope that we can get a few Halloween decorations up too.  I think Aaron wants to be a Minion for Halloween but the actual costume is super lame.  I would be better off trying to make one if I thought I could find the items.  Anyone in Sac know how to knit?  As for Baby Girl, if she gets here before Halloween, I've got a purrrfect outfit for her from the Gap.  

I feel like we have so much to do and I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed but I just remind myself that as long as we have the basics, we really don't need the other things.  We do need your good thoughts, prayers, mojo or whatever else you feel like sending us for a healthy baby and uncomplicated delivery!  

Keep us in your thoughts!  We'll keep you all updated! 

Working Momma

Well, it's been almost a month now and I think Aaron and I both have transitioned into my full time work status pretty well.  The whole family really, because it's taking all of us to see that this happens.  My sister Eva and I carpool to work.  She brings over her dog so our dogs can have a play date while we're gone.  We take Aaron over to grandpa & grandma's house and we're off for the day.  Josh gets off work earlier so he picks Aaron up and takes him home to wait for me to get off. 

Aaron wakes up every morning by me putting on PBS and opening his door so he can hear it.  And like clockwork, as soon as he hears Clifford the Dog, he's up and bouncing in his bed saying things like "I wanna see Clifford the Dog" or "Let's go in tia's car to grandpagrandma's house".  (Grandpa and grandma are one word to him).  He's so excited to start his day with  his grandparents and I have to say that for the most part, I'm enjoying being back at work.  Sure, I stand next to his crib and extra few minutes at night after he's asleep and his hugs and kisses are longer than normal, but that's to be expected, no?

I swear Aaron gets taller everyday.  I keep looking at him and think that the time is going by too fast.  Part of me wants to make time move slower but on the other hand, I can't wait to see what kind of man he'll become. 

He's already wearing a 3/4 T in clothes, a size 8.5 extra wide in shoes and though he's not potty trained yet, I tried buying underwear in "his size" to see if they would help the potty training process along and they were too small for him!  He looked like a baby sumo!  (Or fat guy in a little coat....... )  He surprises me with this love for trucks and cars.  Such a boy thing to love so I shouldn't be surprised, but it's not something Josh and I taught him or even showed him.  I'm sure it was a cartoon or a toy or book that he got that started this obsession.  Josh and I try hard not to assign gender roles to toys or colors but the kid likes what he likes and he loves his silly trucks!  He's got dumpsters, race cars, tractors, trains, shovel trucks, fire engines, etc.  You name it, he's probably got it.  And he loves his animals.  He knows all sorts of animals, ones that I don't even know!  I think he's watched a bit too much of that Diego!!  LOL.  Humpback whales and chinchillas.  Yup, he's got those down! 

My parents watch him during the day so my mom has decided to try and do the potty training but he seems pretty resistant to it right now.  I've heard from many parents that boys seem to take longer than girls.  And I've also heard of a few stories about different parents that have kinda forced the issue and it backfired causing the kid to be really late in being potty trained.  So I don't feel so bad about him not being there yet and I certainly don't want to force the issue.  I am hoping though, that by the end of the year he'll be on the potty bandwagon because I'm kind over the diaper thing!!

Aaron has also recently started to throw fits (you know, those I didn't get a toy so I'm gonna throw a fit right in the middle of the store types).  He'll also just open his mouth and YELL right at us, face red and tears streaking, if we tell him "no" or "don't do that".  Yeah, it's awesome.  Like, being stuck with hungry alligators in a moat awesome.  We're still trying the time outs though he seems to handle it a little bit better when I do them than if Josh is the one telling him to go to his time out spot.  Probably because if I say he's getting one, HE IS!  Don't mess with momma!  Haha....  Hopefully he'll get over this phase really quickly!  (Please dear GOD!)

Things are going well.  I might even say that they're starting to look up a bit.  I can see a twinkle at the end of the tunnel.  But Aaron, as always, lights up our lives anyway. 

Koala Baby

Hi All! Well, it's been awhile since my last update, I know. It's been busy and we've got so much going on.... we're just trying to survive like everyone else I guess.

So Aaron is 3 months old now! These are pictures are of Aaron after a bottle. He fell asleep on me and Josh said he looked like a little koala bear. He weighs over 13 lbs now and is a long boy! He opens his hands all the time now - they're not closed up in tight little fists anymore. He's reaching for things and grabbing his stuffed toys, our fingers and my hair (ouch!). He's "talking" alot more and he laughs... it's so adorable. Babies are so funny though - you can do something that will make him laugh and the next time you try it he looks at you like he's going to cry. Now all you have to do is smile and goo at him (if he's in a good mood) and he'll smile right back.

The other day Josh came home from work and Aaron looked up at him as soon as he walked in the door and smiled and reached out his hand to Josh! It was so cute! I'm convinced Aaron gets sick of seeing my face everyday. Wouldn't you?!

He's doing well though. Now I'm just struggling with the idea of going back to work - and probably sooner than I had hoped out of necessity. There was one day I cried all afternoon when the idea of going back to work hit me and I was so upset about missing anything with him and having someone else taking care of him. I know it's just part of life and plenty of women do it, but I know it's going to be hard. I miss him just thinking about it. That's life. He is going to be ok and we'll survive.

I'm still not taking him out much - I took him to work for a visit and of course he decided to be grumpy that day. I wish the weather was better so I could take him for walks at least but he's still eating every 2 - 3 hours so there's not much you can do when you take him out anyway. Aaron will have another appointment towards the end of April and we'll get his new weight then!

Hope you all out there are surviving! ((HUGS))