Ch-ch-changes

Lots has happened in our little world. First off, Boo has started kindergarten. She was supposed to start on a Thursday. Then the fever hit Tuesday, and John stayed home with her on what was supposed to be her last day of preschool. She was feeling well enough to go to school that afternoon to say bye, so I thought we were good.

Boo and her preschool teacher Miss Stacy, who was a saint throughout us getting Boo on ADHD meds because she was out of control in the classroom. Much improved!! Yay Vyvanse!

Boo felt a little clammy and barely ate on Wednesday night before school, but I was all, "Um, first first day of school can't be missed! We'll just load her up on Tylenol and she'll be fine! Besides, I want to see her in her uniform!"

I mean, look how cute that is.

Then, in the middle of the night Boo came into our room and said she was scared of the dark. That isn't really like Boo, but I didn't think much of it and told her to climb into our bed. Approximately one hour later, at 4am *barfing sounds* *puke on Mommy*

Noooooo. After rinsing her off and changing the sheets, I still had it in my head that she was going. No fever!

In the morning a few hours later, Boo was super emotional and mopey. I tried to get her to eat a piece of toast and *barf*

Sigh, Boo was staying home. She cried a little but didn't protest (very unlike her) and then slept until noon, poor thing.

Luckily, she was 100% by that evening, after some chicken noodle soup and lots of fluids. So, she was off to her first day of school, which happened to be gym day, so I was a little bitter I didn't have a cute uniform picture. 

Still cute though.

I got one on Monday, don't you worry.

Go St. Jude Jaguars!

Monday also happened to be the first day of my new job as an associate at a downtown law firm. 

After four great years at the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, it was time to move into the world of private practice. I'll be doing commercial law, so a little of everything, including securities and some insurance stuff.

Everyone at the office is great. They were very welcoming, and I can't complain about my nice view.

Since John leaves for work around 6 am, the morning routine is on me to get it all done in 45 minutes. And I have it down to a well-oiled machine at this point. 

The prep the night before is key: I get home from work, immediately load the dishwasher with the baby bottles and breast pump parts that need to be sanitized and ready for the next morning, put the kitchen back in order, open mail, etc. 

Then, I pack my breakfast (overnight oats are key) and lunch (big fan of mason jar salads because I can prep ahead), and Boo's lunch while I'm getting dinner started. John bathes Annora and lays out her clothes for the next day. At some point we check her homework folder and bang that out, then we eat, then collapse. At some point I hopefully get a shower. If not, 4am shower it is.

After Lady A wakes me up at least three times to nurse because God forbid we sleep through the night, I get up about 30 minutes before everyone to put finishing touches on lunches, pack the car so my hands are free to load Lady A, get myself dressed and ready, and then go in to try to gently wake Annora so I have happy kids in the morning. So far, so good.

After getting dressed, Boo eats her breakfast as slowly as she can (#ohmygodweneedtogochild), while I get Lady A changed and toss her a teething biscuit or let her kick on the mat/hang out in my lap.

This is all going to change when this one gets mobile.

Then I fix Boo's hair, drop her at early care to play for about 30 min before school, and Lady A and I are on our way to her downtown Cleveland daycare just ahead of rush hour. She naps the whole way, gets dropped off to some lovely women while I swallow my mommy guilt, and then I head to work for around nine hours. 

John gets Boo from extended day (she usually doesn't want to leave so at least I don't feel guilty about that). They usually go on a jog or Boo rides her bike while John runs.

An hour or so later I rush out of work to grab Lady A, she naps the whole way home while I battle rush hour, rinse, repeat. Sometimes I race around the house after the girls are asleep to pick up the house and wipe things down. Then I watch some TV with John if I haven't fallen asleep at 8pm like I usually do. 

Yes, it's exhausting, but thanks to the new job, I get to hire a cleaning person and that is going to make my weekends nice and open for quality time. I've been trying to read Boo a book when I nurse Lady A to make sure we are spending time together in more ways than racing from one place to another, and so far, so good. 

It's a busy life, but I feel fulfilled and don't have any regrets. 

Is This Thing On?

After a four-month hiatus, I thought I'd check in. If you're my friend on Facebook, you probably understand why I've been a bit absent:

That's John's chest hair, not me!

Surprise! Boo Deux (working on her nickname) made her 7lb, 3oz debut on March 9, 2016, via a scheduled csection. One that I'm glad to have had, because it turns out there was a "true knot" in the umbilical cord, and had I waited to go into natural labor (or really, any longer to get sliced and diced), she might not be with us. 

But in happy news, she is, and Boo is undertaking the big adventure of being big sister. And she's rocking it. She used to get upset by babies crying so I was a bit nervous. I shouldn't have been. She coos and sings to her sissy like a pro, and claims she already smiles at her.

It's been a month and so far, so good.

Boo had colic and was a high-needs baby. We haven't hit the 6-8 nightmare weeks to see if colic is in our future again, but I can say that this one sleeps way more already, and is far chunkier. She has some awesome cheeks, and I can't tell what color her eyes will be yet. Boo's were undeniably dark brown, but this one is still holding out. John is guessing hazel. 

And a dimple! Jackpot.

That baby is warmer than any of us. She slept the entire time we took a walk to get rid of some cabin fever.

I'll be back to work in mid-to-late May. Right now, I'm enjoying the forced slow down in life, and I'm trying to figure out how to be an organized mom of two. I'm realizing that I'll definitely have to shower at night, meal plan, and lay out everyone's clothes the night before to avoid total anarchy. John is a huge, huge help but he leaves for work around 5:30am so the morning routine is on me.

Okay, let's be real. You are all like, "WTF, Amy?!? You didn't say anything about being pregnant on social media, and you did all that traveling in Europe while pregnant?" Guilty. Our families didn't even know until almost November.

Let's get to the why. First, I wanted to walk everywhere and eat whatever and occasionally have a beer or glass of wine (in super moderation, naturally) without being judged or told to take it easy or linked some stupid article. Women have been birthing babies for like ever, and I don't need to sit on a couch to have a healthy pregnancy. In fact, I'd argue that all the walking I did was beneficial. And Europeans are way more relaxed on the restrictions in pregnancy and are doing juust fine. So that's how I rolled. And naps and plenty of days curled on the couch in exhaustion happened; that's just a boring blog entry ;)

I received prenatal care in Lux, and packed plenty of prenatal vitamins. Without going into detail, I prefer the American healthcare system, but suspect it may be because I had a super awful OB, who, besides making me wait HOURS every time, told me I was too fat (at 19 weeks, and had gained the proper weight) to figure out the sex of the baby. Eff. Her. Since I was on a travel visa, I didn't enjoy "free" healthcare and ponied up big bucks for blood tests, etc. but Baby was healthy and that's what matters. 

Which brings me to the second reason I didn't make the pregnancy common knowledge: I had miscarried last February like, a day before I planned to tell the world I was pregnant. We had even taken family photos with Boo holding a sign saying "Big Sister September 2015." Call me superstitious or overly cautious, but I didn't enjoy telling the few we had told "never mind," and bringing up the pain again and again. But I'm not ashamed of what happened. Miscarriage is common (1 in 4 women)  and shouldn't be treated as a secret or taboo. I just didn't feel like dealing with all that while in Europe. 

I paid $40 and learned the sex on my California trip. John was on FaceTime from Lux and it was fun. Boo pumped her arms and shouted "Yessss!" When we told her it was a girl.

Now we have our "rainbow baby," (the beauty and joy after the loss/storm) and life is fantastic. I'll probably try to write a bit about juggling two kids while working, but I won't force it.

Oh, and we bought a house two days before I had the baby, because our motto has always been (seriously, ask John): Go

Big or Go Home.

We even put our motto on our Kickstarter table at Tabletop Board Game Cafe.

 We learned we are sticking around The Cleve for at least a few years, and our dream house (John had been eyeing it while we were in Lux) dropped wayyyy down in price so we went for it. It's a combo of our home in Columbus (brick colonial) and home in Rocky River (old - but super duper updated while retaining beautiful molding and flooring). We move in in around a week and I can't wait! Our apartment is nice but very crowded with baby gear, Boo, and a dog.

And now, I try to nap. Growthy McGrowthSpurt kept me up most of the night.

But first, our professional family pics:

California Dreamin'

 We arrived back in Canton around midnight Monday/Tuesday, then hopped on a plane early Thursday morning to California. The flights went smoothly, but I was super restless. I'm so sick of sitting that long! 

Boo was a champ, as usual. It was nice to be confident in her flying abilities when this jerk lawyer (sigh, of course he was a lawyer) sat in front of us, looked back and said snottily, "Oh no. Kids on this flight?" It took a lot for me to bite my tongue and not go off on him (I'm tired and cranky), but Annora doesn't need to add to her vocabulary. Plus, we had the whole row to ourselves while he sat in the middle economy seat between two pretty

big guys. Who's winning now, buddy?

After we arrived, we grabbed our luggage and hopped on BART to meet Uncle Alex, my brother, in downtown San Francisco for dinner and a tour of his office. Auntie Shelly and Ryan, my sister and nephew, met up as well. It was great!  But, CA is nine hours behind Luxembourg and we were feeling it, so we didn't stay long. 

Boo also got her first real experience with the homeless. A guy was huddled in the terminal in a pile of blankets when I noticed her quietly staring at him while I tried to find our exit. "Mommy, is he dead?" She was relieved when I explained he was sleeping. 

Once home, I started to really feel the cold I had been denying I caught. I haven't been truly sick in quite a long time, so I was annoyed that it had to happen on my California trip when I want to see everyone! So the next few days consisted of me being a huge slug and sleeping/chugging Robitussin and Tylenol while Boo merrily played with everyone. I'm feeling much better, finally. 

A few days after arrival we headed to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, in Moss Beach (next to Half Moon Bay). Many fond childhood memories consist of exploring the tide pools with my Grammy, and I wanted Boo to enjoy the same. We saw harbor seals, beautiful anemones, mussels, crabs galore, and more. The weather was just right.

Uncle Sean and Auntie Shelly showing Boo an anemone.

I thought Boo would be more interested in hermit crabs than she was.

Seals

My nephew is the cutest.

Mussels and muscles

Abalone

Brittle star

 Scallop shell

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, despite Boo accidentally breaking a process jade statue from WWII, sigh. 

After a few epic pillow fights with my dad/Papa, some golf cart rides, and quality time with Auntie Shelly and my RyRy, it is now time to really, truly face reality and head back to Cleveland to find a place to live, pre-K and daycare for a Boo, and start work again.

Walking attire, naturally.

 I'm both dreading and looking forward to it. I love my coworkers, and it means John is that much closer to joining us.

And never fear, Boo's travels are far from over! I'm already talking about a Yellowstone trip next summer, and we will be exploring Cleveland and surrounding cities/states a lot more than we have in the past. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and a few more TBD. Stay tuned :)