In the blink of an eye

It's funny how our children have those sudden bursts of accomplishment, periods where they seem to learn and grow by leaps and bounds. The growing process in general entails a lot of generation and maturing that goes on unnoticed, even though it's continuous. MR is going through one of these strides right now, he's putting together skills and thoughts that just a week or so before seemed unlikely. Aside from the fact that he is currently growing four (yes four!) new teeth simultaneously, he is throwing new mental and motor skills into the mix. As mentioned before, he is definitely saying dog now. Anytime he see or hears a dog he yells out 'Dah!'. Now today he starting waving, saying what sounds like hi, and while using his 'more' sign he has now started to say the word more (though sporadically).

We recently met up with a friend who hadn't seen MR for several months. She was so in awe of how much boy he was and how little baby. He really is a little boy now, he just has to keep on reminding me.

I'm sure you wanted to know

I've been tagged!

Questions:
1. What were you doing 10 years ago? : Being a 15 year old, I really don't recall what that entailed

2. What are 5 things on your "To Do" list? : Numero uno- Laundry, make hotel reservation for BL's best friend's wedding, find shoes to match the dress I am wearing to said wedding, figure out where all of MR's bottles have disappeared to, wash said bottles (if found)

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy? (In no specific order) : Cheez-its, string cheese, frozen strawberry fruit bars, guacamole, salt and vinegar chips

4. Name some things you would do if you were a millionaire : put away half (cause I'm boring like that), buy a comfortable (large) new home, take a nice trip... the usual

5. Name some places where you've lived : California, Spain, Washington- the end

6. Name some bad habit you have : I pick at my cuticles, I have done this on and off all my life. It's a nervous (gross) habit.

7. Name some jobs you've had : food server, bank teller, retail sales clerk. All as thrilling as the next.

8. Name those whom you are tagging. (If you want to.)
I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, join in if you feel like it :)

Bubble Bobble

Seriously, how cute is this goober? BL loves to fill MR's bath up as high as (safely) possible, and always makes sure there are lots of bubbles for his boy. Tonight was especially bubbly, as you can tell.

In non-cute picture related news, we have lots going on around here. We have started the liquidation process of our animal stock, which is both very sad and also very relieving. They were our first babies, so it is disappointing that we couldn't see the relationships through, but we also know that this is the beginning of a better path for all of us. One of our dogs has already been placed in a new home with someone who already had a dog of her breed, our other dog is on a waiting list for a shelter. Apparently this is a high volume time of year for shelters. Our kitties too have been taken in.

BL just had a second interview for a promising position with an insurance company. It's a management training position, which would give him exactly the experience he is looking for. Hopefully we will be hearing some good news early next week. Thing good hired thoughts for us.

And finally, me and the mister are going to be flying solo (well as solo as it gets around here) without BL as he is off for his best friend's bachelor party/weekend. So I am looking forward to lots of quality time with the kiddo, though I am sure I will be glad to have the husband back on Sunday.

Things are finally starting to resemble something like normalcy around here.

Wordless Wednesday- Dahg!

*True, this is early again and true there are words where this should be wordless. But, I had to share that I think the kiddo has his first (definite) word: Dog

One quarter

I am officially a quarter of a century old, as of yesterday. Twenty five is not scary to me, it's actually pretty nice. In itself it sounds like a good solid age, and for the place I am in my life twenty five sounds bit more mature than twenty four. Not that I feel more mature, but then that's not that point.

My actual birthday day kind of sucked, which was unfortunate considering how hard BL tried to make it, um, not suck. In truth it really wasn't that bad, it was just one small part that soured the whole day's outlook. Allow me to preface this by saying I have a younger (23) brother who is somewhat lacking in the motivation department. He is still living with my parents, I know I shouldn't throw stones but still- he is here by choice and hasn't left. Ever. He has started and stopped his education with two different colleges and if it weren't for my mom's diligence he would never have graduated high school. Great brother, right? Regardless of his faults, he is still my brother and I want to see him better his life. While we have been living here all under the same roof we have tried to push him to be more interactive (he's a bit of a shut in) and just really make him engage with life. Prior to this we have also encouraged his efforts to move forward with his education, though now it seems he may have been leading us on with his so-called attempt. Now going back to my birthday, we all had plans to go out to lunch for my birthday. This was common knowledge in the house, my brother was aware. Time comes to go and he is nowhere to be seen. The sh*t left twenty minutes prior for no apparent reason, suddenly he had business to attend to. My brother never leaves the house, he has no friends, no job, no outside engagements. He just left because a free lunch on my birthday was too much for him to commit to. This is not unusual behavior for my brother, and I shouldn't have been surprised, but I guess I thought maybe this time it would be different. It left me feeling hurt and embarrassed. Hurt because he dismissed me intentionally. Embarrassed because now I had to go through my day with my family and then BL's family all knowing that this is my relationship with my brother. At least my family expects this, but for BL's family something like this is pretty incomprehensible. It just left me feeling exposed, knowing that this would never have happened to them.

Sorry, I think I rambled a bit there. The point is the whole thing with my brother got under my skin. It plugged in to some deeper issues I have with him and just put me in a dark mood. BL and I did manage to redeem it by getting out for the night and catching a movie (Baby Mama, hilarious!). And today I had a second birthday with his family where I was spoiled rotten with food and gifts (I am going shopping!). So I am feeling better now. The slight is still there, and my "relationship" with my brother has suffered some more damage. Ultimately I came to realize that those who really matter were there for me and made sure I did feel appreciated. I love my family.

Now, the weekend in pictures:

I got to snuggle with this on my big day

Uncle Zach with MR assisting in the sprinkling of my cake

MR took a more hands on approach

Literally

Happy 25 to me, though the cake said 43 (thanks BL)

Wordless Wednesday- So much fun

Erm, not Wednesday...and not a still photo... but I don't think you will be disappointed:)

Baby of the sea

Since coming back to Vancouver we have had the pleasure of far warmer weather than what we had become accustomed to in Spokane. Today and yesterday though were above and beyond, we hit the nineties! This was an entirely new experience for the mister, last summer he was pretty oblivious to the sweltering Spokane heat. Seeing as it's pretty much a rite of passage to own a cheap, plastic kiddie pool at some point before the age of three we decided that today was as good as any bright sunny day and went out to buy one for the MR. Thanks Fred Meyer.

He really enjoyed sitting outside of the pool and sloshing around the contents (sans trunks) and even continued to enjoy the experience one we had (re)pantsed him and plopped him in the water. He crawled around in it and did some cute little splashing, proving yet again that so many children's toys are designed as much for the parents entertainment as for the kid's.

It was great to just relax outside and enjoy the weather and our little kiddo. As MR gets older it's alot of fun to witness these kinds of firsts. Incidentally he had his first taste of Slurpee today as well, he enjoyed the pool much more.

After the pool he spent the rest of the interim before his bedtime lolling around in our laps drinking water. It was a big day for the little guy, I think he and summer will get along just fine though.

Oh my, oh my, oh my ovaries

The last few days have been pretty unpleasant, and for an entirely new reason than our other recent discomforts. I have been suffering a pain in the area that I can only assume is my ovaries, I can't say I have a perfect picture in my head as to the exact location of those little guys. But if I had to make an educated guess, my left ovary has been killing me. It started out as a general discomfort, the whole of my lower abdomen seemed uncomfortable and bloated. Things escalated the next day to the point that I became concerned enough to concede to a trip to Urgent Care. I am pretty conservative in seeking out medical care, it's not that I have any distrust or dislike of doctors themselves. I just don't care for the hassle of seeing a doctor when generally things get better with a little time and rest. So for me to actually go to Urgent Care was pretty unusual, I really was in pain. We saw the doctor with relatively little to-do and he seemed to think I had suffered a ruptured ovarian cyst. I wasn't too surprised to hear this, I had came to the same conclusion in self-diagnosing via the internet. He prescribed some vicodin, an anti-inflammatory and an ultrasound to be performed the following day to ensure nothing else was amiss. I went home and dutifully took my doses, the vicodin knocked me out within minutes. Things would have been fine if they had continued like this, unfortunately this was not the case. Me and vicodin don't mix apparently, as became violently apparent the next day after another dose and two upchucks later. I was miserable. I still had the pain in my ovaries but I refused to take any more pain medication because of what they were doing to my stomach. Of course I wasn't sure at the time that this was the reason for my stomach revolting, so we went back to the Urgent Care, which then sent me to the emergency room, which ultimately led us to spend nigh on five hours waiting just to be told that my ultrasound showed nothing out of the ordinary. Thank you, goodbye. I'm still feeling pretty uncomfortable, though at least today I was lucid and not losing my lunch. I am reassured in knowing atleast that things down there are all in fine working order. BL, who is well aware of my general distaste for receiving medical care, told me that if only my other ills were tied in to my reproductive health I would have seen them taken care of long ago. Sad but true, there are very few things on my person that I value as much as my uterus and it's tagalongs. I think the whole experience was just scary in the fact that I was worried that something seriously wrong had happened down there. For now I will just be thinking happy ovary thoughts and self-medicating with some tried-and-true tylenol.

Trece

Not only was today Mother's day, but today was also the MR's thirteenth month on the outside. Strange to start counting months again, there was so much anticipation leading up to his one year birthday. This last month has been one full of transition for our poor little kiddo. I feel so bad for him because he is so obviously on the cusp of so many physical advances, but being in a new environment (and one not laid out with him in mind) is stifling. He's so curious, and fearless, he wants to explore every corner and open every door. He always wants to be standing, often because he has spied something he wants to get his little hands on. He is also always on the move, which is how we got the picture above. Diaper changes have become increasingly difficult since MR has not a single second to spare for idleness. What we see here is the result of yet another failed diaper change, someday I will make sure to share this with his significant other. Than I shall have my revenge, oh yes. But really, our kiddo continues to be such a joy for us and others. Now that we are closer to family, some more than others, it's very obvious that this little boy brings light into more lives than just our own. He's also growing two more teeth, which will bring the count to ten! So much going on in such a little life, thankfully we have such a resilient kiddo. Happy thirteen months booger bum, mama loves you.

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

Even though we have already passed the mark for MR's one year, there are still moments when I reflect upon all that can change in just a year. For last Mother's day I was not quite a month past delivering the MR and the whole concept of motherhood was still pretty fresh and not quite fully formed. Now a year (and change) into this role I see that although things are not quite as new and frightening as they were then, I still have a lot to learn. Thankfully our mister is kind enough to provide me with lessons. Happy Mother's day ladies!

Then

and now...

Mom hair

See, I told you I would do it. I am sure by now you all thought that I had chickened out on the whole haircut issue. Well, proof positive, I most certainly did get some hairs cut. A whole lot of hairs actually, I didn't ask the stylist how long the tail was that she chopped off but it was long enough to donate so that was good enough for me. I certainly didn't need the hair anymore, so why not give it to someone who did?

I told BL that the one thing I really wanted for Mother's day was a hair cut. It had been so very long since I had even gotten a trim, and I just wanted some freshening up. New city, new stage, I needed new hair. So BL called me up on Thursday and notified me that I would be getting my Mother's day wish a few days early, my appointment was at six. He'd made it at a nice new salon a friend had recommended to me, which turned out to be really nice and worlds trendier than anything I have ever been too. It was a really fun experience though and I was so pleased with what I ended up with.

If this is a "mom" cut, count me in

The hardest part

Things have been tough, it's true, but I think that with all this transition that we have been going through we have really gained a lot of perspective as well as insight to where we want to go from here. We now know that we can survive moving with a one year old, and we can make the best of what may seem like a bad situation. We also have come to recognize the value of simplicity in our life and in the road to reaching that conclusion we stumbled upon a decision we have been tripping over throughout this whole process. The animals are going, to better homes and more attention we hope. Right now the cats are staying with BL's sister and the dogs are with his parents, but in the long run we have come to the realization that we just can't continue down this road with them in tow. This was a very hard decision, one that I think we had an answer to all along- we just really didn't want to believe it.

I remember several years ago, back in our child-free days, we were roaming through the adoption center of a local pet store. BL and I would do this sometimes because we are both animal lovers at heart and neither of us can resist a sweet furry face in need of a home. Now you can see how we ended up with two cats and two dogs in the first place. Anyways, the animals up for adoption often had little anecdotes from their previous owners explaining their disposition, likes and dislikes, etcetera. One kitty we came across had a story stating that she came from a loving family who had to give her up because she just didn't get along with baby. I thought this was so sad at the time, quietly vowing that I would never feel this way. I thought you simply had to try harder, that it was always possible to make things work with the two if you just tried. Ha, judge not lest ye be judged I now know. We have tried, we really have. This time and this place in our lives is just not right for us being pet-owners. Though things will become more settled as we move forward and find our own place, in another way things are only going to grow more complicated. Both BL and I will then be out of the house all day with work, our free time will become even more precious, and eventually we will muck it all up with more kids. All this adds up to even less attention and time devoted to the animals, and they already don't get enough.

So this weekend we are going to take them to the local humane society. We are going to make sure that where they are placed doesn't exercise euthanizing, fortunately being back in the Portland area ensures the prevalence of more animal friendly policies. Our goal is adoption here, not destruction. Please think good thoughts for our kitties and dogs.

Sunny Sunday

Okay, so I just finished uploading all of the pictures I intend to use for this post and realized that, erm, there are lots. But hey, I went to the zoo today with the kiddo and hubby and there were just too many good ones (imo) it was hard to choose.

It was soooo nice to get out and enjoy the nice weather and just enjoy the company of my own little family unit. We are slowly recovering from the moving process and having the last two days together has really helped us all recuperate in general. Today though was momentous, it was the first time in a long time that I actually looked forward to something. With everything going on with the move I didn't realize what a hole I had gotten myself into mentally. So today, was great.

Knowing how much I had been looking forward to taking MR to the zoo as soon as location and weather permitted, BL had suggested it as our weekend activity. This is why he is a good husband, among many other reasons. So we got ourselves out the door around noon and took the MR to the Oregon Zoo.

I suppose I had envisioned that MR would be a little, okay a lot, more enthralled by all the beasties since he has shown such enthusiasm for our local wildlife (cats and dogs). The reality was that he didn't seem to notice them at all, if you need proof just look at his expression. I think he really was just so overawed by everything that was going on around him. It was a beautiful day and the zoo was packed. So he spent the majority of the visit just quietly looking around. Everytime we took a break or got into a quiet section he returned to his usual chatty self, regaling those who would listen with his day's adventures.

Regardless of MR's interest level with the animals it was still a fun trip, it got us out of the house and gave us a fun opportunity to spend some quality family time together. And MR got a monkey hat out of the deal too, so nobody really lost.

The rest I will just leave to pictures, mostly because I am tired and out of words to spin a story around them. I am going to bed with a lighter heart though, we are still adjusting but today reminded me of all the reasons we're doing this.

I've lost my AH

Since I am officially back to working in an office (and not my recliner) I suppose that means I am no longer a WAHM, work at home mom. Now I guess I am just a WM, which really just looks sad. Pretty much sums up how I feel about it too. The first two days back to work weren't bad in themselves, I got to have a nice welcome-back lunch and it was nice seeing all the faces that I have been communicating with solely via e-mail all these months. But still, it sucked. A lot. I have been so spoiled getting to make my money and have my baby too, not getting both has left me feeling pretty glum. I had a full-out bawl fest on the hubby last night and I have just generally been feeling out of sorts about it. I range from feeling like an idiot for crying over something so trivial (things could always be worse) to just wanting to crumple up and feel sorry for my sad, sad self. It's like being post-partum all over again.

It doesn't help that things are pretty rough for us in general. The settling in process has not been easy, mostly because we are so definitely not settled. We highly underestimated just how uncomfortable living in someone else's house would be. It is not that my parents aren't accommodating, in fact they have been doing their very best to make room for us and assure we are comfortable. Nevertheless, we are still in a very foreign space for MR where there are no real baby safe spaces and just not a whole lot of space in general. My parents have been living a long time without babies and have filled their house up with all of the comforts that middle-aged yuppiness can provide. This unfortunately just doesn't translate very well for our needs. MR needs room to roam safely, we need a place to recede from my parents company at the end of the day, we all just need more room. And poor BL is feeling terribly awkward being the one staying home with MR in his inlaw's house. My dad works from home and my lazy 23 year old brother still lives at home (oh yes, that's right), so BL is constantly trying to shuttle himself in and out of the small available spaces and make due with the company of two males completely ignorant of the napping needs of a one year old. There is no more eloquent way to sum it up other than it sucks. We've made it to the weekend though. I am thrilled to get to spend some solid time with my little man and hopefully we can rally as a family and get ourselves back on track.

Oh, and a side note- I probably won't be posting quite as frequently as in the past. Seeing as I will be sitting in front of a computer all through the workday yet unable to spend that time (guiltily) blogging I won't have as much opportunity to get on here. So in anticipation of this, sorry if it goes a few days in between posts and/or if I don't comment as often as I used to. Things they are a changin'.