Time Flies When Life is Wonderful

We have settled into a comfortable routine now as a family of four.  Parenting comes more naturally to me, and doesn't seem so overwhelming anymore.  I no longer agonize over every decision, wondering if this will be the action that will steer the ship off course, irrevocably heading straight for the iceberg that will Ruin. My. Kids. Lives. Forever.  I'm now able to approach my day to day life, actually believing that mantra my friend Will instructed me to repeat daily:

I am doing my very best.  And my best IS good enough.

I do my best.  And I know I will make mistakes.  And those mistakes can be fixed.  They are not irrevocable.  This new enlightenment has opened up a wonderful world to me, one in which I can relax and enjoy this wonderful Little Kid Years.  They're not toddlers anymore, you see.  They're officially Little Kids.

Since the last time I posted...

We went to Oregon again to experience such wonders as flower gardens, sandy beaches by the river, and a lot of cousinly love.

We celebrated Adoption Day (August 24th, our three year anniversary) by giving the kids a zipline that runs across our back yard.  Many good times have been had by our little munchkins and their cousins and friends.

Victoria turned four years old.  She is now in her second year of preschool and has really come out of her shell.  She's quite outgoing, and according to her teacher, she's very friendly with all of classmates,  both boys and girls.  In order to attend kindergarten in the school district we have chosen, children must have turned five years old before September 1st.  Because her birthday is September 25th, she will attend preschool for another year and will end up being one of the oldest kids in her high school graduating class.  At first I was disappointed by this.  The kids are 16 months apart in age, and I wanted them to be only one grade apart in school, so that they would attend the same school together as they move up to middle school and then high school.  My sister and I were only two years apart in age but we were three grades apart. That meant that after my fifth grade year, we didn't attend the same school until my senior year of high school, and it would have been nice to see more of her.  But as for little Victoria, I'm not too worried about her.  I see her interacting with other kids and I'm so happy that she is full of confidence and makes friends easily.

We had some holiday fun and did all the things I always imagined I would do as a mom.

We took a day trip to northern Arizona to play in the snow.  The weather was so crazy that four days prior to our trip, the play area we visited was closed because of too much snow.  By the time we showed up, the weather had turned warmer and now there was hardly any snow left.  However, our kids didn't seem to notice or care.  I forget... these are kids that got really excited about a pile of snow that somebody trucked in and deposited in a parking lot, covering an area of maybe 20' by 20'.  They just never see snow, so even a little bit of snow seems like a whole lot to them.

We also saw snow when we went to my mom's cabin in Alpine over spring break.  Readers from colder climates will find the size of these snowmen quite puny (and I'm sure you will be amused by their attire as well) but the kids were very proud of their creations.

Valentino lost his first tooth.  This seems like a big milestone to me.  A year ago, he was deeply disturbed by the very idea that his baby teeth would fall out.  I wondered how he would handle it.  But when his tooth became loose, his reaction was that of fascination rather than fear or distress.  Each day he would implore me, "Mommy, will you please yank out my tooth?"  Truthfully, I was a bit more anxious about it than he was, but I would try to conceal my feelings and give a dutiful tug at the tooth.  Then I'd say, "It's just not ready yet, love.  We'll try again tomorrow."  And one day, when I wasn't even around, he was eating lunch at a restaurant with his Nana, bit into a burrito, and the tooth came out.  Just like that.  Later that evening, the tooth fairy swapped out the tooth for a golden dollar coin.  And now I am left with the dilemma of what to do with the tooth.  Do I save it?  Or throw it away?  I've consulted the internet on this, and it seems the consensus is to save the tooth, at least for the time being, but feel weird and a little creepy about it.  So it's in our safe now, along with our marriage license, kids birth certificates and Social Security cards, our will, etc...  Dave insists this is the most appropriate place to store it.

Valentino did kindergarten.  He has one week left!  He has a great teacher who appreciates his sense of humor and isn't perturbed by his inability to sit still for long periods of time.  He has learned so much in school this year and always comes home eager to share his new experiences.  On the first day of school, we were running late and it didn't occur to me to bring my camera, but then I saw all the other kindergarten parents madly snapping pictures, so I got this one with Dave's cell phone.

I celebrated my one year anniversary of working for my new employer on April 30.  This job has been a very positive thing for me and for the family.  I'm no longer managing a team, but instead I'm back to an individual contributor role.  I work from home, which gives me flexibility, control over my own income and schedule, and most importantly, the freedom to work in my pajamas if I choose.  :)

Because Dave runs his business out of our house as well, we see each other several times a day.  I wasn't sure if we would get in each other's way, but my office is far enough away from his that my phone conversations don't distract him from his work, and when I'm in a meeting, I simply place a sign on my door to let him know not to interrupt me.  Occasionally we have lunch together, but mainly our interactions consist of quick chats.  He's running to Target or the hardware store, do I need anything?  I ask him what he wants to do about dinner.  I never have that Sunday-afternoon-pit-in-my-stomach feeling of "oh... the weekend is almost over, tomorrow I have to go back to work..."  because I know that I'm not really leaving in the morning.  I'm just going to get up, shower, dress, and walk the 15-foot commute to my desk.  We have divided the kids transportation responsibilities equally.  Dave is the Official Dropper-Offer.  We all get up and scramble to get dressed, feed the kids, distribute vitamins, finish up homework, get the kids buckled into the car, and then I wave as they all drive away at 7:15.  And then... I have 45 glorious minutes of "me time."  In my old life, these minutes would have been spent on the freeway, driving to the office.  At 5:00 sharp, I wrap up and leave to pick up my kids from school (I'm the Official Picker-Upper).  If I'm not done with my work,  I resume it after they go to bed.  If I finish early, I leave early to get them, sometimes stopping by the park on our way home.

My new company is much smaller than the prior company, and very much a start-up environment.  The executives have a tremendous amount of respect for the sales team, and I really enjoy this.  When I travel to the corporate office (in Seattle), the CEO sits down to meet with me for an hour.  If I have ideas about how our software can be improved, I contact our development team directly.  One of the biggest product enhancements they are working on currently is happening due to feedback from me and my colleagues.  We recently restructured our pricing schedule for a new product line after receiving input from the sales team and some prospective clients.  Things change at an incredibly rapid pace and it's exciting to be a part of it.  I feel valued and respected and I know that my individual contribution is having an impact on the company's success.  This is a very good place for me at this time in my life.

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What a joy it is for me to watch my husband grow as a father.  The kids adore Dave, and over the last few years, I have seen how their love has nurtured his soul... New ways of expressing his love have blossomed.  If you have read the truly wonderful and life-changing book, "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman, then you will be familiar with this terminology.  Dave has always leaned more toward "Acts of Service" as a way of expressing his love for others.  Now I see him incorporating "Physical Touch" and "Quality Time" into his repertoire much more regularly.  My heart overflows when I see this.

I have been practicing taking pictures on the manual setting with my DSLR camera.  It is such a wonderful camera.  I'm not looking to become a pro, but I'd really like to get to the point where I can take quality photographs.  My goal is to become good enough that I'd want to hang my own work on my wall.  I'm happy with my progress so far.  These are a few pictures that I'm proud of.  They're not technically perfect, but for me, they capture the feelings I felt when I took them.

My cousin Kevin once accused me, "You're one of those people who only take pictures of people, right?"  And I suppose he is right.  There are a lot of beautiful things to see and photograph in this world, and I'm trying to remember to stop and snap them all, but really what fascinates me most are the people I love.  I'll close with this lovely photo that was not taken by me... but I love it and I think it reflects the happiness we experience in our home that I never imagined would be possible.

Photo by Herb Stokes, December 2013