Mikhail got a new job! Many happy dances were done.He started a little over a week ago, and it's a one of those jobs that you can characterize as a really great opportunity. He is really excited about it, and I'm really excited about it. Even our houseplants are excited about it.Gift from Mikhail's new boss, a money tree -- a houseplant we're really going to try not to kill!And now, it's time for me to figure out how to to arrange all the pieces - Elan's preschool, childcare for Emry, napping schedules and household schedules, bedtime routines and get-out-the-door routines, and all the millions of little tasks that make up the days of mamas the world round, so that Mikhail can be working his new job, which will involve a lot of travel, and so that I can continue to work part-time. I've currently got two different grantwriting clients, which complicates things, deadlines and schedules (more schedules!) that I committed to before Mikhail got this job. I'm smack dab in the middle of the process of finding a new babysitter, training a new ... more
Farmer's market, SeattleLaundry, dishes, cooking.Laundry, dishes, cleaning.Laundry, dishes, picking up.And then you turn around, and it's all messy again.(sigh)Is this why the housewives of the 1950s were desperate to get back into the workforce?
Emry Isaiah is 6 months old.Six months is such a great age. He's awake and aware, he likes to chill out and observe (and especially loves to watch his big brother's antics), he smiles, giggles, and shrieks with delight, but he can't get into anything yet.And though he can put on a good frowny face, he's an extraordinarily good-natured baby. ... more
We are waiting for some big job news. Some big, long-awaited job news. My hubby has been semi-employed for 15+ months, and we're hoping that will change. Soon. But for now, we're in waiting land, limbo land, promising-and-hopeful-but-nothing's-certain land.It's hard to wait.I wish I were more patient. It appears that is a theme for me lately.The distracted feel of the past few days reminds me of how I so often felt early in my pregnancy with Emry: promising and hopeful, but nothing certain. I couldn't be blissfully trusting after ... more
New Year's Resolution: Lose 20 pounds. Months 3-4.I've been thinking a lot about patience. Before I became a mother, I knew that patience would likely be one of my biggest challenges once I had kids (that, and getting up early in the morning). And lo and behold, I was right! (A plus to having children in your 30s instead of in your bounce-back, energetic, can-get-no-sleep-and-still-function-just-fine-thank you very much 20s: you know yourself better).There's having patience with my kids, which some days is hard, and then there's having patience with myself, ... more
Before breakfast:I nursed Emry at 3 a.m., 4:30 a.m., and 6 a.m. By 6:20 a.m., his cheeks were the size of small cantaloupes.Also at 6:20, Emry started working on perfecting his teradacytle shriek. The happy kind.I waited for my mom to wake up so that I could hand off the adorable, shrieking-with-delight baby to her and go back to sleep.I cursed the light streaming into the bedroom, cueing the baby's brain that he should start waking up at 6:00. What happened to 7 a.m., my dear babykins? On that ... more
Should I try to explain my 2-week absence?I fell off the blogging horse. I got overwhelmed. I tried to figure out a new way to post pictures, and couldn't do it in the 4-minute increments I had, so I gave up.There. Now you know the exciting stuff.Don't listen to what she's about to tell you.Emry has a cold, just in time for his first flight on Saturday, just in time for me to fly alone with both the boys. And he was up most of the night last night ... more
If Emry was on Twitter, this is what he'd tweet: "You know you're fat when your dada can froozle your shins."In our family, froozle means to blow a raspberry, you know that thing you do when you can't resist squishy baby tummies, and, in our case, shins. A piece of terminology a la Mikhail's family.Do you see that chin? Elan has it too. That's an Alper chin, a la Popa Al Alper, my mother's father, who is 101 years old. The ears, however, appear to be from my dad's ... more
I have many posts sketched out in my mind but am drowning in work right now. Mikhail brought Emry by the cafe where I am holed up with my computer so that I could nurse him. Emry thinks Mama's office is pretty cool, especially when he gets to stare at my computer screen while I work.
After Mikhail lost his job over a year ago and started working from home, he took over our home office and a corner of our bedroom became my office. It was a plain little space, my beautiful vintage table that I used as a desk perpetually piled with projects in progress.Truthfully it was not a very inspiring place to work, but I don't usually do my creative writing at a desk anyway. I use a desk for paying bills and doing household and organization work. The work that needs more ... more