I feel like something is missing now that I'm not posting every day (don't worry, it won't be daily again)! At the same time, life has been fairly uneventful (this is a good thing). I mentioned that one of my goals for the year was to complete a month-long organizational challenge so I signed up for the January Cure. The assignment this weekend was to clean the floors (another part was to get fresh flowers but Chad is allergic. I'm thinking of getting a mini-terrarium though). Cleaning floors of course, necessitated finding floors in some rooms. :)
The house is capable of looking clean when the toddler is at school and the husband is running errands.
Knowing that the semester is beginning has prompted me to reorganize a number of things including our coat closet, game closet, and pantry and refrigerator. I think those will all come later in the challenge and they may have other things I can do to make it even better so I'll hold off on showing those photos.
Not much else is new. I'm excited about OSU having heat to go in to work tomorrow!
In a previous blog post I mentioned that I've been reading a lot about outsourcing and wondering how that would look for us.
Baby A is shocked, too.
A major stressor has been our front yard. Since Chad started working in OKC, it has gotten out of hand but our schedule is such that we never had the time (or energy) to deal with it. Chad has wanted to hire someone to put down some stone work for awhile so we decided to have them just work out the whole front bed. I would ask you not to judge but I know that isn't realistic!
I also had someone come in to hang out with A last weekend so that I could go in to the lab for a writing meeting.
I've discovered that I don't need to look outside the house for outsourcing though. Baby A is quite the jack/Jill-of-all-trades.
She can do the driving.
And the cooking.
And baking.
She loves feeding the puppies.
And saving our money.
She can handle my pleasure reading.
I may even have her start running for me. Though she needs to learn to keep her shoes on.
Where did summer go? Seriously. This is ridiculous.
Classes started yesterday. While I want to be in denial, the flocks of students creating their own crosswalks in the middle of the road make that difficult. Every August I question working at a university. However, parking has been great so that's a plus.
As of August 1, I became the new Associate Director of Clinical Training for our program (thanks, Maureen... :/ ). I think it's a good fit for me as it will force me to start making connections with a number of clinical sites and psychologists around the state. But so far it has just been a trickle of emails related to grants and contracts I know nothing about. But I have a course release this semester that should help me get somewhat up to speed. Along with writing three grants (due 2 weeks apart...), several manuscripts, and preparing an online course for the winter intercession. Yikes.
I can't recall if I mentioned it previously but Chad has taken a new position at Stillwater Medical Center. The hours and insurance are great and he likes how fast-paced it is. He likes his new co-workers though he is also missing the friends he made at his previous job.
Alaina is doing fine. Her cough is back with a vengeance but we are treating that with an inhaler and occasional Benadryl.
Friday night her cough was so terrible she couldn't stay asleep. Chad was holding her while I got some medicine ready and she took that time to projectile vomit all over him (and herself; thankfully they were in the tiled foyer). Poor guy. His face was sort of priceless. We think it was a combination of allergies, the cough, and too much dairy. If we were questioning if she's still allergic to dairy, I think that has been answered. Oops.
She's been up to a lot of fun stuff, though. She asks for "bath (ba)", "snack ('nak)" and will say "baby (bayba)". She will also repeat (er, tries to repeat) ball, bubble, and goat (!!). I really think most everything sounds pretty much the same but it's cool to be able to watch her try to communicate and magically know what she means. She also has started signing "help". Instead of what it 'should' look like, it's more of a 'slow clap'. Pretty hilarious.
She's also into giving kisses, especially to her favorite characters in books. She really isn't very into stuffed animals yet though she apparently loves her 'babies' at school.
She really loves her Mirabelle books.
She's currently most into shoes and cleaning. Ah, gender stereotypes.
Sometimes there is crying on the floor. (Okay, honestly the only reason I posted this picture is because it's the first one I have taken where you can see Alaina's top teeth!)
There is modeling of funny bows. Madeline photo bomb! (she is doing much better, by the way)
There is judgment. So much judgment.
There is eating crackers.
There is always laughter (everyone who meets her says she has the very best baby laugh. We agree!).
There are kisses.
And just general silliness.
There is a lot of play time.
And fortunately now, Alaina loves to clean. We are trying to capitalize on that. So there is a lot of cleaning (and screaming. Girls apparently love to scream).
But cleaning gets old (trust me, I understand!)
There is lots of time to play with the dogs. (she is just soooo pretty. Sometimes I have to say it.)
And model new shoes (that don't quite fit...). This video is awful and makes Chad and I crack up every single time. If you only watch one, it should be this one. If you want to laugh and feel like you're a terrible person, that is.
And go outside.
And learn culinary skills from the master (daddy). Mmmm, Miss Fancy Pants like fetuccinne bolognese.
The weeks are just flying by now! My school semester starts Monday and I am SO not ready!
