Changing sites

So, I you have any interest in reading about our lives from now on, please comment and I will send you an invite to join our new website. I have decided that I am not a "blogger" but I do like having a place to share photos and some of my thoughts on the web with friends and families!

International friends

So, one cool thing about our lives is that Andy and I have a lot of international friends, and those friends have kids, who then become Joshua's friends. A few weeks ago, some of our friends, the Kistenichs, visted from Austria and Rebekka, Miriam, Julie, Joshua and I went to hang out at Navy Pier. We had a blast playing at the children's museum and then walking around. We even got all the kids to sit still for a picture! Not all of them are really smiling as you can see, however.



PS: I really gotta work on the blue tint to the pictures. It is because of the new background I switched to. Hmm, any thoughts anyone? If you want to see a non-blue version of this picture, go here http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w101/lstudee/navypierwithrebekkahandmiriam.jpg

Two days without adult contact

So, I realized today, I had been home, taking care of Joshua for 2 whole days without any adult contact (I last really spoke to Andy on Monday at 8pm). I sent out an SOS to some girlfriends via email and within minutes one of them called. Thanks so much for calling and saving me from the crazies Dre!

I have decided that by far the worst thing about being a stay-at-home mom with a husband who has to travel for work and is very busy in general is the isolation. I don't mind it most days but days that Joshua is very 2-year-old ish, I didn't get much sleep the night before, etc, I really wish I had a husband who was coming home for dinner so we could have a little adult conversation, share Joshua responsibilities, and not feel like I have to be in charge 100% of the time. The long and short of it is if anyone wants to give me a call, most weeknights I am home alone and would love to chat!

Front stoop people

So, I am definately a front stoop person as soon as the weather gets remotely nice enough to sit outside. The benefits of the front stoop (as opposed to the back yard) are numerous:
1.) a LOT more space for Joshua to run around (all the way up and down the block)
2.) more sidewalk to chalk up
3.) the possibility of seeing and being friendly with the neighbors

Now, on to a rant: No one else on my block appears to be a front stoop person (or they are at a secret time and not telling me about it). Sometimes I see older kids riding their bikes up and down the block, but not a lot of hanging out is going on. My theories are that (a) everyone works and by the time they get home, they are too tired to sit out (b) we have an unfriendly block :( I really hope more people are out this summer. Cmon everyone, can't you see how much fun it is? To prove the fun factor, here are a few pictures of Joshua enjoying an icypop (popsicle) on the front stoop.

Vacation only 3 weeks away!

I am getting excited for our upcoming vacation! I even created one of these silly tickers to keep track ;) Now if either Andy or I can remember to bring a camera, I will post pictures after the jet lag wears off.

Girls weekend

 

I just got back from a great weekend catching up with some of my college girls in Philly. Here are some of the highlights:
1.) Laughing until our sides hurt
2.) Yummy crepes
3.) Staying in bed until 10am (I was still up at 6:30, but the ability to stay in bed was AWESOME!)
4.) Finishing an entire novel in less than 2 days
5.) Wandering around with no objective, just being able to enjoy each other's company without kids distracting us.

It was a great trip and I really appreciate that we all worked hard to make it happen!

Been quiet here for a while

So, I am not committing to getting back into blogging, but it has been quiet here for a while and I decided to post occasionally again (more than every 6-7 months). The big news around here is we are expecting baby #2 (I at about 15 weeks) and that has been my excuse for not doing anything around the house, calling anyone, cooking, reading, or bothering to feel guilty about not doing the things I want / need to do.

A brief update on our lives

Don't worry, pictures will be shared soon, I just thought I would let anyone who cares know what we have been up to. This is NOT an excuse for being such a blogging slacker, I REFUSE to have blogging guilt.

* Joshua and I have been very busy this fall with mom's group at church, a gymnastics class with our good friend Miles, Community Bible Study, and a swimming class we can never quite seem to get to regularly (we go 1/2 the time). I also do a baby swap bi monthly with Emily, Miles' (and Eleanor's mom), so we are busy most days of the week.

* Joshua really likes Bible Study, not because of the bible but because he has developed a crush on another 2 year old named Evey. When you ask him "What did you learn about in Bible Study today?" He will answer "Evey". Sometimes he says "Evey and Moses", they just did a Moses unit.

* I am beginning to get used to the fact that I am not working outside of the home, and am giving myself grace that I DON'T know what I want to do when I go back to work. I am trying to enjoy my time at home and the opportunities I have to be more available to volunteer at church

* I am leading a small group of 4-8 girls, ages 2nd-6th grade, on Wednesday nights at our church's rebirthed midweek program. I am having so much fun as I really missed hanging out with the kids. My girls are all so bright, some shy, some talkative, but it has been really fun to get to know the new ones and get to know some old friends better (some of these girls I have been a leader to off and on since pre-school! wow am I old!)

* In between all the craziness I am trying to coax Joshua into more regular naps (3 for 3 since we got back from our trip) and keep homefires burning as Andy has been travelling a lot lately. I am so glad that God brought the crisis at work which lead me to quit because otherwise I would be a wreck trying to juggle work and being a single parent. Single stay at home mom beat single working mom any day of the week.

* Finally, we just took a brief, but wonderful trip to San Francisco to visit Andy on his project out there. We had a blast and I gained the knowledge that I can travel across the country with a toddler by myself, I am tougher than I thought! More details on the trip soon, once pictures are posted.

Word of the Day

So, the new word Joshua learned today is "equipment" from our gymnastics class today. Who knew gymnastics were good for your vocabulary?

Apple picking

Every year I am a little sad to have the wonderful summer weather leave us, but always so excited for the apple picking. This year, we went with my folks (Grandma Barb and Grandpa Bill) out to Woodstock, IL. We came back with a lot of fruit, I am even baking a raspberry-apple crisp as I typed this!

Rain gear is adorable

So I snapped this adorable picture yesterday when we were heading out into the cold, rainy day. Nothing matches, but he sure looks cute!

Also, today Joshua jumped and got off the ground! Another milestone reached!

I thought I would...

There is a long list of things I thought I would do more of once I was no longer working. Some I am doing, some I am not, as evidenced by the lists below.

Things that I have been doing more of:
Cooking, playing with Joshua, going to the park, various kid classes, Community Bible Study, working out (still not enough but more than I was doing this summer)

Things I have not been doing more of:
updating the blog, taking pictures of Joshua, taking videos of Joshua.

so I apologize for being a slacker in list # 2, but I am pretty proud of myself for doing more of list #1. I will at least try to post the big news of the day for those interested.

Big news of the day: Joshua blew bubbles in the water during swim class!! I am so proud ;)

Hiding in the office

So, I am hiding in the office to lessen my ability to hear Joshua crying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" as he protests his nap. Someone told me that many kids go through a nap protest phase then fall back on schedule, but this is driving me nuts! The poor kid is so sleepy, he is grumpy all day because his night sleep isn't enough to compensate for the lack of nap. I told him he had to lay down for an hour, so if he is still crying then, I will get him, but I hope he gets some sleep!

Joshua's birthday (a little late!)

OK, this post is way late, but I still wanted to get the festivites posted :)

On Sunday, 8/24, Joshua turned two. Wow, he is such a little boy now and not a baby. On Saturday the 23rd, we had a birthday party for him at my parents house. They were troopers as about 10 children and their families invaded the backyard. Birthday parties at this age are pretty easy to plan, we just needed food, water activities (pool and water table), chalk, and yard toys. No organized games or activities, just good old fashioned play. Thanks to everyone who came, we had a great time!!

*I apologize for the offkey singing on the video, I was holding the camera, oops!

My first week

So far, my first week as a stay at home mom is going so-so. The good--I really do love being able to spend time with Joshua and not have the dread of "uh-oh, tomorrow's a work day". The bad--he did not nap AT ALL Tuesday to Thursday this week. I am pulling my hair out, it is too little to drop naps altogether right? Any advice on this front would be appreciated :)

Because of the nap situation and other crazy week happenings, I am behind on my to do list. You will all have to wait for photos and video of JP's two year old party, as we have another busy weekend planned. I also haven't yet figured out what to do with the rest of my life yet. I'll keep you posted on that one, I for now am taking a breather and enjoying the time with Joshua. And friends, and houseguests, and travel, and the list goes on...

Camp

We just got back from an awesome few days at Nicole Foster's favorite place, Village Creek Bible Camp. Seriously, all of you friends in the midwest with kids who like the outdoors should go. A little about the week here and you can see a video mashup of our adventures at the end.

First of all, VCBC is located in Northeast Iowa. As I am only familiar with the parts of Iowa to be seen from the I-80, I did not have great expectations for the area we were going. I was wrong, it was beautiful. There are a lot of ridges and valleys and streams, just a pretty, peaceful spot.

We arrived on Sunday evening after driving most of the day -- road trips with toddlers not nearly as fun as road trips alone :) When we got there, the Fosters met us and we all had dinner together. Joshua was glad to see Charlotte after being promised her company all day. The rest of that evening we got settled in and had an opening chapel.

Monday morning, we met are awesome family helper, Tristy, and spent time over the next several days doing camp things, trying to get Joshua to take a pony ride (a no-go), strapping Joshua into the harness on the trampoline, a kayak ride for Andy and me, hiking, paintball for Andy, and a night zipline for the two of us again. It was a great time of hanging with friends and each other. We are looking forward to returning!

Thoughts on leaving work

I have been having a lot of thoughts about leaving work lately. Sometimes I am super excited, sometimes I am terrified, but mostly I am bewildered. I know I will have a lot to DO every day (Joshua is pretty good at keeping me busy), but what of greater significance will I be acomplishing. I am beginning to doubt my abilty to be a good role model for Joshua -- he can make me angry somedays I am afraid of losing my temper. I also worry about not spending my time well, wasting it. At work, I always had a list of projects to do, at home I have a list of projects, but they are not nearly as fun (I prefer designing databases and doing stat analysis to taking care of my house anyday). Also, at this point I think I will be returning to a job someday and what the heck will that be?
I think I am also having a hard time because I am leaving this job feeling like I failed. I failed as a working mom and it is hard to deal with. I didn't have the chops to do a job and be a mom. This is where my comparing myself to others always comes back to bite me. So and so does it. I know I could do it if I pushed myself and made myself and my family miserable, but I have determined that cost is too high, but still the question remains, why can't I do it all? Anyway, so that is where I am, in a place of really needing words of encouragement because YIKES! IN three days I will be a stay-at-home mom. Good friends (you know who you are), keep me accountable to not trying to find another career path or job for the 1st month I am home. I need to really seek God on what I should do, and not start working on something else right away.

Reading

I took this a few weeks back, and am finally getting around to putting new things up. Enjoy!

Big boy bed

More proof that Joshua is no longer my baby, we moved him to a big boy bed a few weeks ago. He loves it, as you can see from the picture, although sometimes he ends up sleeping on the floor. That is better for your back anyway, right? :)

The benefits to this change for us are: no more worrying about his habit of climbing out of the crib and ending up on the floor, head first; a happier kid at naptime and bedtime (he still gets upset, but then just goes and plays if he doesn't feel like sleeping); and the biggie is he is content to be in his room most mornings until 6:30 or 7! Hallelujah!

The disadvantage is a huge mess of a room some mornings and afternoons after naps (we quickly realized the markers had to be moved to another room--I got him up one morning and he was covered in marker, he had even colored some of his hair!).

All in all, we are all happy with the change. Thanks Grammy Barb for getting us the new bed!

My garden

This is the first year ever I have had a vegetable garden, granted it is very small, just along one side of my fence and only has a few tomato plants, one bell pepper plant, basil and mint in it, but I am very proud. I have grand plans of expanding next year with more peppers, squash, lettuce, etc. My tomatoes are doing very well and I am going to need to start figuring out something to do with them all. Also, as my mint supply is going strong, I am thinking of having a mojito party. I can even look up a recipe for a non-alcoholic version for non-drinkers. All in all, I am pretty pleased with my garden, it makes me very happy. Also, if you like tomatoes and want me to bring you some, let me know!