Babysit for a Friend

Thank you Mandy and Aaron for helping me check one more thing off my list! I got to watch Miss Bridget this afternoon while Mandy had some solo time. She was an angel and it all went smoothly enough to continue to offer my services to my friends with kiddos.

I was curious to see how Harrison responded to a small one around. In the beginning he was all about showing off for her, complete with turning circles and drop kicking balls. But I think when Mandy left and he realized that she was staying with us he got a little more wary. They both shared well. Ate lunch at the same time, and danced to music. But whenever Bridget got too close to him (which lucky for him, she's still crawling) he got whiney and kept looking at me as if to say "call her off!".

One thing I noticed having two sweet babies around is that I couldn't watch one's acts of cuteness without missing the other. Tricky! As a second, and middle child, I feel bad for myself knowing now that Kellie got more attention :) Well, I turned out well enough anyway :)

Holiday Cheer

Harrison and I have been in full vacation mode since Friday, my last day of work for the year! We've been sleeping in til almost 8am, watching a lot of Caillou and Pocoyo, running around the park in the unseasonable weather and making frequent walks to the local mall where we point at the fish and play with the trains in the book store. 

Now that his Aunt Katie has left for her second home in Yellowstone we have been keeping each other busy and happy. We've put up a tree, decked the halls and even threw our very first holiday party at the house. 

And there is always more good things to come. We get to see Kellie and Dikran in a couple days, see Jonathan on his first day off in like forever, watch H open gifts and play in our annual poker party. Yay holidays! 

Ships Passing...

Do you feel like a ship? Well, that is the way of the Randall household from Thanksgiving til New Years. I will now throw myself (and my family) a one sentence pity party.

It is 8:30p, baby H has been tucked in by me, we stopped by Jon's work for a 2 minute visit because they haven't seen each other properly in 3 days, the meatloaf and potatoes that I made are cold and Jon has yet to start cycling home after leaving here at 5am.

Whew. Done. All that being said I might have reason to be sad. However, I will try to stay positive and just keep swimming. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. And this is just one of those times. Now I will fill my head with cheesy metaphors, go reheat the potatoes and get myself into pajamas.

Keep your head up!
Keep on Truckin'
Make hay while the sun shines (I got that one from Laura Ingalls :))
Don't sweat the small things (could this be counted as a small thing?)
Don't cry over spilt milk (or cold dinners)
Pull yourself up by the botstraps
etc.
etc.
etc.

Together Time

 I've spent my days playing, working and cleaning lately. Very little blogging, very little working out. H celebrated his 18 month on the outside and he's been learning a whole lot. He has a fun loving personality with a determined edge. The boy knows what he wants. Tonight he threw his first melt down fit because he simply had to have a bath. I mean HE wanted a bath. I wanted him to read and wind down, but we ended up splashing around in the tub. He won.

 This picture says it all. Smiling and laughing are his favorites. 

 Together time is happy time. I finally got to see the tree lighting ceremony! I tried many times in New York to see the big tree lit but failed always. I think this is the one time I managed to see it in all it's anti climactic glory.

A brief note: my poor blue, beautiful Giant bike is in the shop and in need of 200$ worth of repairs. I was on my way to work Wednesday crossing a quasi-highway when a car hit me. That sounds a bit dramatic. My body was not hit, my back tire was, causing me to go down while clipped in and yelling the entire fall. I scooped myself and the bike up, berated the driver and hustled him to the side where I continued to lecture him about right of ways and that turning right on red is not a given. I have a good bruise on my knee but consider myself fortunate for not been injured further. But my poor bike :(

Thankful Thursday!

A short but sweet list of some of my most happy spots of life;

1. HP, all that he does and all that he will do, especially his great dancing moves which it looks he's stolen from me
2. Jon for all that he does and all that he doesn't, especially riding to work at 5am on his bike, working 15 hour days and still waking up on weekends to take on bear-duty so I can sleep in
3. Katie Bug for spending her vacation from Yellowstone with us, especially volunteering to watch H, make phenomenal dinners and running with me in our yearly holiday runs
3. Mom and Pop for being very giving, especially with their time and the fact that most of our furniture has come directly from their house
4. Californian Kellie for calling, especially when she has stories to tell me or nothing at all
5. The job for hiring me, especially because MI education hates my certification
6. The friends with babies, because we can commiserate and gush together
7. The friends without babies, because we can lounge and talk about not babies
8. Coffee for always being there
9. This old house for providing years of projects to keep me working
10. Health because without it you're lost

Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. that holiday run Katie and I did today was a good one for me, 28:30! Yay!

An Update

What I am Doing:
wake up at 6, grab H and the day's supplies and jump in the car by 6:40, kiss H goodbye (as he happily runs off after the cat and dog) at his babysitter's, drive to work and arrive by 7:20. Work! Leave at 3:10, go pick up baby, make dinner, put baby to bed by 7:30, rest.

What Jon is Doing:
wake up at 4:30, bikes the 20 minutes to work, WORK, return home anywhere between 7 and 9 (hopefully). Rest.

What H is Doing:
Waking up around 2am crying for me! This has been going on for about a week now :/ Goes to play with his buddy Eli for the day. Takes daily walks to the park. Yells ball! at all spherical shaped things, gives sloppy kisses, thumps on the back and little squeezy hugs. 17 months old now!

Visitors!
Sister Katie is home from Yellowstone and I've convinced her to spend some time with us in our ridiculous excuse for a guest room. She also has taken on some bear watching duties. :)

On the homefront:
Courtesy of Katie our dining room is almost done being painted a deep red. Next is the winterizing of our 1925 pulley-system windows.

On the pavement:
We are running the Alger Halloween 5K this weekend. I did it last year and I believe havent run in like 11 months....
I also get to bike to work occassionally when Katie is here to watch the bear.

On the Menu:
Anything that Katie makes for us :) Also fall soups, including my favorite butternut squash.

On the Telly:
Still trying to get through The Wire but it's hard as we don't have much down time in the evenings. Outside of Yo Gabba Gabba and a renewed interest in 30 Rock I havent been doing alot of that...

On the bookshelf:
Just finished Walk Two Moons which totally broke my heart. I love juvenile fiction. Also on the reccommendation of my co-worker I'll try the Hunger Games and hope it lives up to the hype.

On the bigscreen:
I went to see Harry Potter at the cheap theatre (4$!) with Katie, and Planet of the Apes with Jon. I enjoyed them both. But neither of them have agreed to go see Twilight yet...

On the plans:
We're looking to reschedule our lost week of vacay for the latter part of February. We are currently debating between going to LA or NYC. Still unsure.

What to do next?
Go downstairs, fix dinner, wait for Jon and perhaps work on finishing that red wall...

A Little Perspective

Oh Tuesday, tuesday. You feel kind of like Friday. I think today marks the end of this crazy, topsy turvy week we've had over here.

On Saturday I was close to throwing myself a pity party, as I lay wide awake on a hotel bed at 6am clinging to my cell phone hoping to hear back from my husband about how baby H was doing.

But now it's Tuesday. I was treated to a dose of perspective and it didn't taste good. But it did put my head back on straight and the pity party is no more.

Yes, H was supposed to be the ring bearer at Kellie's lovely wedding. But it didn't happen.
Jon was supposed to drive over Friday, but he didn't get to see the wedding.
We were supposed to board the 11:30a plane to LAX Sunday, but that didn't happen either.

Sickness overtook poor H Friday morning. He was babied through the night by Jon and a steamy bathroom, but by Saturday morning he was struggling to breath and had a high temp. It was time to bring him in to the ER. He was diagnosed with an acute case of croup, given emergency treatment then steroids. The very worst part of all this was when I called Jon and heard his wheezing cry in the background. My skin wanted to peel off.

Getting the all clear, and calm yourself call from Jon saved the day for me. It allowed me to be more than just physically present at Kel's wedding. I got online, cancelled the trip and snapped back to the moment of a gorgeous, ann arbor day of celebration.

I would have been thankful had sickness been the only thing that happened to dampen this joyful event. But it wasn't, and our hearts break for it. We lost our dear Tia Raquel Friday morning. She was my great-aunt, my Abuelita's sister. Somehow saying her title, great-aunt, doesn't convey how much she was like another grandmother to my me and my sisters.

I have a million memories of her and her house in Alma, M. I loved her fridge and the many colorful magnets she'd have on it. I would sort and organize the magnetic fruit from the little hot dogs and the musical ones. I loved her voice and her accent. I love that she knew Harrison and Jon. I love that I have her name as my middle name. I love how she looked like my Abuelita.

One great regret I have is not being there for my Abuelita's funeral. She passed away in early spring 2005 while I was far away in Finland. It didn't allow me to grieve amongst family and even now, 6 years later it feels like an unfinished chapter. And I don't know how to close it.

So this morning, I left the little boy with his dad and drove that familiar road up north, past the bottomless lake, ambling through the city of Amble, driving past the country club that we so often ate at, going across those railroad tracks and into the yellow-shag carpeted Catholic church that is fixated in memory. And I got to say goodbye.

Ann Arbor!

Wedding!

La Familia!

The sister, the bride :)

More to come on this a very happy wedding weekend in Ann Arbor, MI. Perfect weather and beautiful colors! They made for a very happy couple.

A Look Back and Plan Forward

Ten Things I Need to do this Autumn;

1. drink a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks and DD's
2. visit Klackel Orchards- apple picking on steroids
3. pick and carve a pumpkin for the little boy
4. dress up H and take him around the neighborhood for Halloween (talk to Jon about his costume, he believes it will be epic...)
5. host a sweet Halloween dinner
6. bake an apple pie (I do not like pumpkin pie...that texture...)
7. go on a family bike trip (perhaps the Tour de Donut, where you must consume a donut for every mile you ride)
8. family photos in a pile of leaves :)
9. make my favorite butternut squash soup
10. buy a good fall coat!

H with his pops one year ago

at Klackle last fall 

at Robinette's last fall

Remembering

Remembering September, 11th is difficult. I did not know anyone in those towers or planes, nor did I think I'd end up moving to New York in a few short years. I didn't know I'd try teaching 7th graders American history and have to explain to them what 9/11 means. The same way I had to make the Holocaust seem like a real event to them. Time passes and things you think will never be forgotten are.

The reflecting waterfalls they created over the tower footprints are really lovely. When I came and when I left the rubble was gone but the huge plywood boards bandaged over the site in an unfinished, ugly way. It looks so calm there now. Such a busy place to be so calm.

It's crazy how much someone can fit into 10 years. College, graduate school, marriage, baby, moving.

So much you can do with 10 years.

A Grand Haven Wedding

This past weekend's (5 day-off Labor Day Fest!) highlight was going to see two of my friends get married in Grand Haven. Jon was is the wedding so I got to follow him up in time for the Friday evening wedding. I went past my turn, over a bridge and back with 10 minutes to spare. Whew.

No I didn't forget my dress, it's strapless.

After all the times I went to GH growing up, I do not remember it looking so precious. I need to get back there soon. The reception was in a restaurant with a lovely view.

 Jessica getting some sweet shots of Mandy and Aaron out on the deck.

 Post-wedding, pre-reception drinks across the street.

 Two blurry groomsmen helped their bf Keith get to the altar. 

How does one not get a picture of the bride and groom? Well, I left my camera at my table too much and to my surprise I found picture gifts like these :)

  Precious moments.

A Recap of August

 My sister is getting hitched! I joined the bride-to-be for a whirlwind bachelorette party to remember. I flew to LA on Friday, played around in Santa Monica and flew away Sunday night.

 Sisters. A whole life time of stories, what more can I say? 

Except what happens in LA stays in LA.

 H has been able to see his grandparents probably every week this past month. 

Full of burley rides, trips to Frosty Treat and sleepovers.

 No long winter hours for Jon (yet) = more family play time

Little boy H. 

Unread Classics

I just finished my first classic book of the year (in September....took awhile) and I must say, I loved it. I finally read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Years ago I saw this movie with my sister Kellie at Studio 28. Loved it. The elegant old house, the rich ladies wandering around with little do to and much to talk about. Well, I took forever to get into the book. One of those stop and starts and shelve-aways for a later date. Finally to be finished today. I was most happy to find that all the bits I found to be silly in the movie were not present in the original.

I'm glad Fanny Price won in the end. Although marrying her cousin is still a little weird.

Now I am search of my second unread classic book.

A Highlight of the House in 10 Pictures

It's hard to take pictures of a house and feel like it captures more than just the basics; room, bedroom, couch, etc. Frustrating.

So I chose to do a walking tour of my house using 10 of my favorite corners, crevices and nooks. Enjoy.

Welcome to my house!

It has been described as a hobbit house, or perhaps a bit trollish?

Ring the bell! H loves to grab the chimes and smash them first thing in the morning.

We are a family of minimalists...just the couch and rocker in the front room.

H's favorite cut out, I can see him jumping down from here in the future...

A view from the stairs, we love the wood floors.

Laundry chute! Check out that awesome wallpaper!

The french doors at the top of the stairs is ideal for keeping H from tumbling down. 

This is right above H's changing table. He loves to point at the pictures and hear about who is in them...yeah mostly just Jon and I!

Something about a curved shower makes me happy :) 

There you have it, some of my favorite bits about our very first house. Come see the rest of it someday!

A Snapshot

It's raining and H is napping after a really long and eventful week. I'm sipping my 'Kellie's Bridal Shower Tea" tea and thinking of what I need to do. But instead of doing any of it I will write a short and sweet update.

What I am Doing:
I have less than a week til school starts again for me. Full-time ESL paraprofessional at a pretty cool school. One thing I'm not looking forward to is many of my little kiddos not having practiced English is 6 weeks. What I am jazzed about is that in addition to teaching I'll be coaching this year! Girls and boys soccer. I love love it.

What H is Doing:
He has (finally) begun to walk like a Frankenstein baby. Stiff knees and all. He loves the attention but still would rather speed crawl anywhere.
He also is going to be hanging out with a stay-at-home grandma close to Jon's work. She has a 19-mo old grandson and a funny little dog that H seemed to really like. We're going to do a dry run tomorrow morning. Sigh...

What I am Eating:
I've gotten into cooking oatmeal in the morning for us, topped with raisins or blueberries and milk. I pat myself on the back for being just so healthy :) Okay...and some brown sugar.
I haven't introduced strawberries to H yet, how does one do that? Neither of us have food allergies so why so nervy?

 Those chocolate-dipped strawberries are delicious and healthy...

What I'm Reading:
I almost finished The Lost City of Z. I consider it done because I spoiled the ending by watching the documentary on netflix. However it is an awesome read if you like the Amazon, pirahnas and beign grossed out by bugs that lay eggs in people's bodies.

What I'm Watching:
Jon and I have come late to the party and are now watching The Wire. I really like it, we're just starting the 3rd season and I'm ready for it to get crazy!

What I'm Doing to Exercise:
Cycling and burlying the baby a lot more. Have I told you I love my bike?

especially when it holds coffee from Bigbys

What I've Got Planned:

I'm heading to LA for my sister's bach. party! Leaving straight from work at 5pm Friday and coming back on the red-eye to arrive in GR for work at 8am. That is painful even to write!

What I'm Going to Do Now:

Nap and netflix.

Other People's Children

Today was the first day of my search for H's new caregiver. It consisted of only 2 people. I canceled a woman whom I was meant to meet up with "at the starbucks on alpines" as she put it. When I replied asking her for a cross street to said 'bucks she answered "you don't know where alpines is?". Call it motherly or human intuition but I'm guessing our communication styles do not match up.

The next lady ended up being a 13 min drive away from the house. The slip and slide that slipped into the road was a red flag. The chihuahua that "ignored the babies" ended up jumping up and down on H was another. Yes she meant well, but her house was sorely ill equipped for any toddler. Away we went.

The last lady, a grandma, called us into the house as she was washing up her grandson who was painting. Immediately there was both a cat and a lap dog at my heels. Sigh. However, after the initial let down of animals (small ones) I got to look around and see the active, jabbering 19 mo old boy show us around the house. H was out of my arms in a minute and after being licked clean by the dog he was in the toys throwing balls around. I stayed there for an hour and it was nice. Just the two little guys playing peek a boo and chucking toys at each other. We left with vanilla wafers in our hands as they waved bye bye from the porch. Kind of precious.

Three more tomorrow.

As a side note I made H laugh so hard today we were both dying for a solid ten minutes. Days like this make it hard to be okay with going back to work.

A Bear in the Woods

H practically begged to go down to his first nap at 8:45a. Why so sleepy? That is perhaps the worst thing about camping with a 13 mo old, the readjustments. H is all about his schedule, for the good and the bad.

On a whim a few weeks ago we decided to look up Sleeping Bear Dunes campsites. I had heard about them through a co worker and since it is on my 27 THings to Do While 27 I thought why not go there? As luck would have it, the campsite we were aiming at had one night available amidst weeks of being booked up. We registered for it on the spot, 15$ campsite. I was happy about it already :)

So we woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning. The car was (very wisely) packed the night before. I only managed to forget both of our toothbrushes. We loaded a sleepy bear into his car seat and took off with coffee in our hands and cautious anticipation in our hearts!

It took us 3 hours and 15 rounds of The Ants Go Marching sung by me in the back seat to get to our first destination. We arrived early at the Platte River and loaded up the little one in the borrowed 25+ year old Gerry baby carrier (the BEST contraption and the winner of What to Bring While Camping with a Baby). We got to see large nesting cages of endangered birds. Discovered that we should have brought waders to ford the river and also maybe should have bought a map. But the river felt delicious on our feet!

Jon flashing some skin to avoid the water.

We lounged on the grass and ate some snacks while planning our next stop. We decided to head to our campground to see if our spot was open and then continue on to the Dunes.

View from the car, just the first of several dunes to Lake Michigan.

Because our site was still occupied we headed north to Glen Arbor (perhaps it was Haven?) for lunch and a stroll around the cute town. Very beachy. We grabbed some slices of pizza and H even convinced me to buy him his first ice cream (superman flavored) which we split. He was techni-colored around the face for the better part of the day.

Me and H decided to race up the dune...not a good idea.

The initial dune was huge yes, but I've done several before so thought nothing of it at first. But those dunes were deceiving us! Each time we crested the sand hills we just saw another looming in front with the false promise that the lake was right after that one. Well no it wasn't.

Jon reacts to seeing yet more hills between him and the water.

22lbs of precious cargo still feels like 22lbs.

H had a lot of fun removing his hat and throwing it to the ground while we climbed. Hilarious. But it really was a great hike. The best part was the descent though :)

The view before descending the big dune.

Another thing I learned was this, carry your camera everywhere if you want pictures. Sadly this is my last picture. This was taken at 6am Sunday morning while Jon was tearing down the tent and I placated a sad baby with crackers and milk.

To streamline the rest of the trip for you:

Things that went well:

H slept- from 10:30 to 5:30 the baby slept in his diaper between us. Little angel. It took him 2 hours of ping-ponging around the tent before he collapsed from exhaustion, cute but tiring even to watch!

We got to see such beautiful things in northern MI that we really want to go back. That along was a success :)

I made and lit a campfire (albeit with 6 matches but who was counting?) that lasted long enough for our hot dog dinner and smores.

We went through Traverse City on the way back- what a fun mix of Ann Arbor, Holland and Chicago. I want to go back!

Things that were less than awesome:

The camp stove was not our friend...a fire hazard for real! No pancake breakfast for us.

It thunder stormed as we woke up (which was actually pleasant) but packing up camp in it with a cranky baby not so ideal.

A loud raccoon got into our campsite and scared me silly. I couldn't see it and only heard piggy-like noises and lumbering about. Yeesh.

So that in a nutshell is what I learned. The best thing was we left tired but wanting to do it again. Success!