Deployment

Last week I was asked to deploy down to TX for Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts through work. They originally asked for me to go down for the entire month of November, but that wasn't feasible either for my work here or in my personal life. They still want me for the time that I am able to spend down there so I will be going for 18 days starting on November 1st. I then cleared it with both my boss and CP.

The next day while I was at work I got the following email from CP:

Can you give some thought to what you typically do, that I don’t do around the house-

·         Laundry

·         Clean bathrooms

Also, since I will be less mobile with the kids, can you think of any shopping items that we should stock up so that I don’t get caught with kids in bed and needing to run out to stores for stuff:

·         Dog food

·         Diapers

·         Wipes

This email made me laugh because CP can only come up with two things that I do around the house that he doesn't do and they are laundry and clean bathrooms?? I mean, sure, laundry is a big one but really? How about cleaning basically the entire house (he will clean the kitchen but that is mostly filling/emptying the dishwasher and wiping down counters)? Remembering what the kids need to wear or bring to school almost every day? Etc. I'm happy that he is thinking ahead, but it just made me laugh because I have sent him a few articles on the mental workload of a mother and he has basically poo-pooed them.

I never had to email him before he left for any of his one or two week work trips asking him what needs to get purchased or what I need to think about while he was gone...because I just did it! The one thing that CP usually did before he would leave for a long trip that helped was to cook a big meal so that I had food for a few days while he was gone. I mean honestly.

I'm not sure if CP ended up reaching out to his mom or if she happened to call him, but on Sunday she booked a trip to come out here for two weeks while I am gone so he won't have to worry about most of this stuff anyway. Not that I would expect her to come out to help me while he was away on a work trip, but where was the support for me when he was traveling to Thailand for half the month for 9 months in a row when Izzy was an infant? 

On one hand I was wanting CP to do the 18 days by himself to see what it is really like to be the sole person to drop off and pick up at daycare, to hustle around during the kids' waking hours as the only adult in the house, and to be organized and on top of things. I wanted him to know how hard it has been when he was traveling a lot. Does that make me a terrible person? I guess it would just be nice to get some recognition that parenting while the other person travels is difficult. On the other hand, I'm happy that he is going to get some help.

*Sigh* Men.

Day in the Life- Fall 2017 edition

Once again it's time for the quarterly Day in the Life post! You still have a few days to get your post up- find the details here.

Day in the Life- Fall 2017

Wednesday, October 11th

CP is 41 years old

NSC is almost 39 years old (two more months)

Izzy is almost 4 years old (next month!)

Wes is 15 months old

Buster is 6.5 years old

I meant to do a weekend day this quarter and then tried to do it on Monday while I had the day off with the kids, but it just didn't work out.

5:11am- I wake up before the 5:15 alarm. CP hears me rustle and gets up to get in the shower. I am supposed to start strength training any day now on my days off from running but am too tired (yet again) so I reset my phone alarm for 5:40. It comes quickly (booo). I turn on the light and put Buster’s harness on. Today he was able to stand by himself without too much trouble which is really helpful when trying to put the harness on. We head outside and into the cold rain. He poos and pees and barks at someone walking to the train before we head inside. I dry him with a towel while CP puts food in his bowl. I then head upstairs to shower. 

6:15- I'm out of shower and now have Frozen's "Let it Go" rock version in my head. The past few days it has been a Moana song so this is not any better. I try a new hairdo that I found on Pinterest and hate it. I really should try them at night when I am not trying to get to work. Time to get dressed! 

6:35- I head into Izzy's room to get her dressed because she is yelling at CP asking only for me. We get her clothes on and then she complains and runs away while I try to brush her hair. This is always the most fun part of my morning. :-/

6:45- Izzy and I head downstairs. 

Izzy admires the flowers CP got me for our anniversary

Wes is busy snuggling with CP while drinking his milk and is CP trying to teach him how to fist bump. Wes likes to pick up people's shoes and bring them over to them, so he starts to do that with Izzy's light up shoes.

Izzy drinks her morning milk while taping pieces of paper together “to make a boat.” CP leaves for work. I finally get everyone out of the house by 7:08. Drop kids off at daycare.

7:20- head back home. Check work phone and my customer service employee is not coming in today (she did the same thing yesterday). *sigh* Take Buster for a short walk in the rain, then dry him with a towel. 

Buster still loves his walks

7:30- I eat three dried apricots because I am starving and then head out the door to walk to the train in the rain. As I am waiting for the train I curse the small hole in my shoe because now my sock is wet. Once on the train I email two employees to try to get coverage for the front desk today. Ahhh the joys of being a manager. :-( I type up some notes from this morning.

During the train ride I also scroll through Facebook, stopping to watch Eminem's freestyle rap against Trump from the BET awards. Eventually, I turn on the Pod Save America podcast for the last 10 minutes of the train ride. I start my walk to the office, stopping at Dunkin Donuts to buy breakfast (ham, egg & cheese on a croissant) because I am still starving and change to the next podcast (the latest Lovett It or Leave It Podcast). Once into the office I greet some coworkers, then make some hot water for my Starbucks Via Cafe Mocha packet to get some caffeine in me while I eat breakfast. 

Quickly check and answer a few emails before heading into a 9am meeting.

10:30- meeting is over. I head back into my office to read and answer a few more emails, then talk with my boss about his Chicago marathon experience. I jump on another call at 11am that I have to lead. Call lasts until 12pm. 

12:10- I hit the bathroom before going outside to grab lunch- thai chicken crunch salad. I read the Washington Post Daily 202 email which infuriates me but also keeps me informed while eating. 

Right after lunch I receive an email asking me to deploy down to TX for Hurricane Harvey efforts. I call CP to confirm that he is okay with the deployment (I would get back the day before Izzy's 4th birthday party) and then email my boss for approval. Looks like I'm going to be busy getting ready work and at home before I leave on the 1st! The rest of the afternoon I am checking to-do things off my list.

4:30- I rush out the door to try to catch the train. I continue to listen to Lovett It or Leave It podcast while playing Sudoku. Finish the LILI podcast and start listening to The Daily podcast. I get home a few minutes before 5:30 and first take Buster for a short walk. Afterwards I change into more comfortable clothes.

5:40- CP gets home with the kids and he starts to make dinner while Buster and the kids all clamor for my attention and for snuggles. 

Dinner is veggie omelettes with sauteed mushrooms on the side. Dessert is fruit for everyone- peach for CP and Izzy, fruit salad of papaya, mango, and kiwi for me and Wes.

After dinner CP starts to do dishes but Izzy is crying/getting jealous of Wes because he is taking up much of my attention so I tell CP that I will do the dishes later and instead, let's play. This is something that we talked about over the weekend- essentially that at times I need help from CP to run interference with Wes so that I can pay more attention to Izzy. I start to build a castle with Izzy from MegaBloks and she gets up to exclaim "one person needs to go poop and it is me!" LOL.

Showing me her new Paw Patrol coloring book

After I help her wipe CP becomes Izzy's jungle gym and Wes toddles around playing with all of the toys in the room. 

7:20- I head upstairs with Wesley. As we walk by the living room he points at the light up spider decoration in the window. We brush his  teeth and go into his room to change into pajamas. Not sure why he is crying while I am changing him, but I get him to laugh when I pretend to eat his feet through his socks. I read him three books, sing two songs, turn his white noise on, and then leave the room. I walk into Izzy's room to give her a hug while CP is putting her to bed and head downstairs.

First I put CSA veggies away into the fridge. I realize Buster is outside in the rain so I let him inside and towel him off. I turn on another The Daily podcast and CP comes down a little after 8 to help unload dishwasher; he then heads downstairs to set up speakers to the new tv. I wash dishes then take a melatonin before I start to clean counters and sweep the floor. I also listen to another Pod Save America podcast.

8:30- I hear Izzy crying so I head upstairs. She was sad that she was in the bathroom by herself so I sit with her while she pees and she complains that “Daddy didn’t sing me any songs.” (True) “Daddy didn’t read me any books.” (False) I promise to sing her a song and do so when she gets into bed.

I finish cleaning up the floors and head downstairs to see if CP is done. I turn on Full Frontal and watch for a few minutes. CP comes upstairs and we watch an episode of Modern Family. 

10pm- I kiss CP and head upstairs as I am exhausted.

10,628 steps for the day

50 Questions You've Never Been Asked

A few weeks ago Risa and Amber both tagged me in their 50 Questions You've Never Been Asked post. I'm finally getting around to answering them!

01. What’s your favorite candle scent? Cinnamon or Lavender. I am pretty obsessed with Lavender.

02. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? Tina Fey or Amy Poehler.

03. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? Someone funny like Chris Pratt. Wait, no, he is too attractive (he is seriously hot but if recent rumors are correct, he is a total douche). How about Will Ferrell then.

04. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? My "plan" was to get married around age 30 and sure enough I was married when I was 30 years old! 

05. Do you know a hoarder? Sort of. One of CP's good friends from growing up (and his best man) has a father who is a hoarder.

06. Can you do the splits? Nope. I am not flexible.

07. How old were you when you first learned how to ride a bike? No idea.

08. How many oceans have you swam in? 3- Atlantic, Pacific, Indian

09. How many countries have you been to? 21 plus a bunch of islands on a cruise (not sure of which ones we went to)- Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Mozambique, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahamas, Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Monaco, Denmark, 

10. Is anyone in your family in the army? No one in my immediate family

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? Isabel

Izzy's first selfie. LOL.

12. What would you name your son if you had one? Wesley

13. What’s the worst grade you’ve got on a test? Probably a D? 

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a kid? He-Man

15. What did you dress up as for Halloween when you were 8? No idea

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? All of the Hunger Games books. I want/need to read the Harry Potter books. I have no interest in reading the Twilight series.

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? I guess British but maybe just because it's different than what I have.

18. Did your mother go to college? Yes and she also graduated from law school.

19. Are your grandparents still married? This must have been created by someone young. I never met my grandfather on my mother's side (he died when she was 19). My dad's parents died when I was 7 and 8, then my grandmother on my mom's side died when I was 16. Neither pair had divorced before passing.

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? I took a few in college with a friend but dropped out quickly.

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is? Of course!

22. What was the first amusement park you went to? Great America (Six Flags) in IL.

23. What language beside your native language would you like to be fluent in? I took Spanish growing up and in high school. I wish that I would have continued to take it in college. I gained back a lot of fluency when I studied abroad in Argentina, but since I haven't been practicing, I have forgotten most of it again. :-(

24. Do you spell the color grey or gray? Gray.

25. Is your father bald? He has been going bald for a while but I think Rogaine has helped immensely. My husband still has a gorgeous head of hair.

26. Do you know any triplets? Not personally.

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? I have never seen the Notebook but would hope that it would be better than the Titanic? That is a terrible movie.

28. Have you ever had Indian food? Love it!

29. What’s the name of your favorite restaurant? Not sure I have a favorite restaurant as most of the ones that we go to these days are kid-friendly and not so fancy.

30. Have you ever been to Nandos? No

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, Bookers, etc.)? Costco

32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? Not sure. I do know that my parents floated around naming me "Jennifer" for a while. 

33. If you have a nickname, what is it? Unfortunately telling you my nickname would give away my maiden name and because this is a semi-anonymous blog, I'm going to keep it to myself.

34. Who’s your favorite person in the world? My mom.

35. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city? How about the burbs? Close to a city but not actually in the city. I would be too far from things in the countryside, but want a lawn for the kids.

36. Can you whistle? Yes

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? No I need the room as dark as possible to sleep.

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? Yes. 

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? I have been taking melatonin to help me sleep and it has been amazing.

40. What medical conditions do you have? Infertility. Fibroids.

41. How many times have you been to the hospital? For myself or also for my kids? Two c-sections, a couple surgeries, a small number of ER visits with my kids, a few visits to friends/loved ones. I would say that I have been pretty lucky so far.

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? I don't think that I have actually watched the entire movie....CP is usually the one that gets to sit down to watch the movies with Izzy.

43. Where do you buy your jeans? My latest pair is from Ann Taylor outlet.

44. What’s the last compliment you got? My boss said that I was "dressy" on Monday.

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? Sometimes. CP HATES it when I remember my dreams because then he has to hear about them!

46. What flavor of tea do you enjoy? Chai tea. Cinnamon tea. My latest tea find is this which is pretty good:

47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own? Probably 15 pairs of shoes but really only wear three pairs regularly- flip flops, Sketchers sneakers that I wear during my commute, and running shoes.

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? No religion

49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? No idea. Boy is my memory bad!

50. Why do you have a blog? I like interacting with my readers. I I also use it as a journal because my memory is so bad!

Hmmmm who should I tag? Let's go with the following:

Jane at Mine to Command

Harriet at Feisty Harriet

Jess at My Path to Mommyhood

Lacey at Perks of Being a JAP

Cristy at Searching for our silver lining

8 years

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary! It's funny, looking back over the years of this blog, I haven't always remembered to post about it and it hasn't always been a good time of the year.

2016- CP was traveling for work and I was home on one of my last maternity leave days with Wes. 

2015- We were in the depths of IVF #2 drugs and about to get my cycle transferred to an IUI. I made a quick note of going out for our anniversary, but that's it. 

2014- CP was in Thailand, I had a horrible day at work, and then had to take Buster to the emergency vet that night. 

2013- CP was traveling for work, my job was affected by the government shutdown, and I was heavily pregnant with Izzy. 

2012- I found out that I had another fibroid despite having surgery the year before to remove some.

2011- Dealing with the upcoming fibroid (and endo!) surgery. 

2010- Only a year into our wedding and a few months into trying to get pregnant. Still fairly hopeful. 

My how things change in 8 years! And frankly, I now hope that with family building behind us, our anniversaries will be a little better. This weekend my mom will be watching the kids while CP and I go out to dinner and catch a comedy show.

This year the world may be going to sh*t with islands in the Caribbean totally destroyed from the hurricanes, the massacre in Las Vegas, and a racist dictator as our President, but CP is not traveling and personally things are going okay for our little family unit. Our house renovation is basically complete, CP and I are in stable jobs (as far as we know), and we have our health (white privilege at its best).

What will next year bring?

Races

Wow I only posted twice in the month of September? This month has been crazy at work but that is quite surprising. I may have to do a wrap-up post for the month but for now, this post is about two races I have done recently.

Mid-September was an evening 5K run that I try to do with co-workers every year (last year I was on maternity leave and didn't race). If you remember just in late August I was pretty excited about my 5K time at a local race because I didn't want to look like an idiot in front of co-workers. I hate running at night these days, but at least there was a promise of beer afterwards.

I started out okay, but the second two miles saw me walking more than every .5 mile. Working a full day and then running does NOT make me run fast.

Mile 1- 10:30

Mile 2- 11:23

Mile 3- 11:20

Overall- 34:55

Average pace- 11:06 (according to Nike+, but Nike+ also thought that I ran 3.14 miles). Technically it is 11:14.

Okay, but I was hoping to run a bit faster. I will have to work on that for next year's race.

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Yesterday I participated in another local 5K. This one started only a block and a half from my house so I wanted to participate because I didn't have to wake up early to get to it. :-) I ended up walking over with 8 minutes to spare and probably could have left a few minutes later. I would definitely do the race again next year because CP and the kids were able to cheer for me as the race went right past our house (twice) and I saw lots of friends and neighbors along the way which helped motivate me.

I didn't run quite as fast as earlier this summer, but had two miles under 11 minutes so that at least made me happy. 

Mile 1- 10:44

Mile 2- 11:14

Mile 3- 10:50

Overall- 34:53

Average pace- 10:52 (but Nike+ thought that I ran 3.21 miles). The website said that I ran a 11:11 pace. 

I would have run a few seconds faster but when I had about .1 miles left to go, Izzy saw me running and wanted a hug so I ran to the other side of the street to give her a hug. 

I guess as she was waiting between seeing me in the beginning of the race and then at the end, she asked CP "why isn't Mommy in front?" (The person who won ran it in less than 17 minutes.) I LOVE that she thinks that I am super speedy, but little does she know that Mommy's body is made for sprints, not long distances. When we met up after the race, CP was recounting the story and Izzy confirmed it, then said "Next year I'm going to run and I'm going to beat everyone!" Gotta love that competitive spirit!

14 months old

14 months old

Cool toddler

Height- not sure

Weight- not sure

Diapers- Size 4 diapers during the day, Size 5 nighttime diapers

Retrieving Izzy's stomp rockets in MI

Milestones- Not only is Wes walking, but he has started to try to run for a few steps when he really wants to get from point A to point B (point B mostly being Mommy's arms these days)! He loves climbing up the stairs when allowed (we have now installed the baby gate which makes him very sad) and he loves standing on the couch watching what goes on outside (he especially loves watching squirrels). He can't get up on the couch just yet, but that may happen sooner than later. He plays peek-a-boo with his hands covering his eyes at least daily with us and thinks that it is HILARIOUS.

Playing peek-a-boo at a restaurant with his mat

He is now copying Izzy when she looks to be doing something fun. The other day she was jumping on packing bubbles to make them pop and he stood on another sheet of bubbles and did his best impression of jumping (moving up and down) with a huge smile on his face.

Sprinkler fun

Enjoying the water table

Finally, Wes is starting to actually build things instead of just knocking things down. I think that he has been doing it a lot at daycare, but not so much at home.

Language- Words so far- "dah" for dog, "uh oh" when he drops something, "ma ma" for milk, and "ah da" for all done. His favorite thing to say in the car is "va va" which has no meaning as far as I can tell, but he loves when I repeat it back to him. He shakes his head for "no" and cries/pouts when Izzy takes a toy from his hand or something that he shouldn't be playing with is taken from him by an adult. Mostly though he just points and grunts to let us know what he wants.

With every diaper change in his room he points to the shelf above and grunts until we give him the dinosaurs in the picture. He knows that there are three and will point and grunt until he gets all of them! Then of course will drop them one by one off the changing table saying "uh oh."

Favorite Toy- Wes is obsessed with his panda that my parents got him right after he was born. He sleeps with it every night and loves to give it hugs. He is also a big fan of the house that Izzy loved at this age.

Playing with the house while sort-of watching Zootopia

Favorite Book- The "Dog" book that Izzy destroyed. He will sit on the floor and turn the pages just like Izzy did all by himself. He is also obsessed with the "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo" book. Turns out he is really interested in trains!

"Reading" Izzy's book on the planets

Watching the train arrive at the park

Sleep- Wes is a great sleeper from about 7:30pm to 7 or 8am. He is generally down to one long nap at daycare and two naps on the weekend when home.

Clothes- 18 month clothing and on some of the shirts, his belly hangs out a little. I think it's time to move into 2t clothing.

Bright white belly!

Eating- Like what happened with Izzy right after she turned a year old, Wes has started to not eat things if he doesn't want to (and vigorously shake his head "no"). He loves fruit but he started to not eat certain veggies and depending on the day, meat. We'll keep pushing them! Wes has also become interested in using a fork/spoon so we will place the food on the utensil for him and he finishes the job by putting it in his mouth.

Teeth- No new teeth this past month.

Wes' new sweatshirt from his grandmother is awesome

Illness- It wouldn't be a trip to MI without Wes getting sick. This time it was pink eye. Otherwise this month he had a cold and his first puking incident. Thankfully his puking incident only happened twice and it was after he went to bed so other than having to give him a quick bath and change his sheets, he was tired and slept the rest of the night.

Misc- Wes finally got his first haircut. He hated the entire 4 minutes and cried and held onto me the entire time. I was so impressed with the woman that cut his hair and being able to do it while he was so unhappy.

Crying while getting a trim

Wes loves petting Buster (more like a patting of his fur)....Buster has been very good in tolerating it (especially if I am also petting him at the same time).

This month was also the first time that Wes was able to actively participate in picking apples off trees....I think that he liked eating them a bit more though.