Summer!

I guess posting every six months is better than not posting at all. In all honesty, I should be working right now but the universe gave me a gift of a super long oil-change and the inability to connect to my work computer at the moment- so I'm taking advantage of the time to revisit this blog.

Nora changes by leaps and bounds almost daily it seems. She's 22 months and a toddler to the core. She's super active, chatty and fun but she also has her toddler moments complete with glaring at me and saying "no mama, mama stop!" We have our hands full but we wouldn't ask for it any other way.

I've been thoroughly enjoying this stage. Nora is so much fun and has such a happy and vivacious spirit. She is chatting up a storm and loves to point out everything in her environment. Her verbal skills are so incredible. She said her first completely thought out sentence today when she asked me, "Where did Bentley (our dog) go?". She's been saying "I love you" but that's more of a phrase that she knows and one that I, of course, love to hear often.

I've found that since she's turned 18 months I've been somewhat melancholy about how quickly each stage goes and how quickly she changes. I wish I had much more time to spend with her as I know that these days and moments are precious and are so short-lived. We're doing our best to fully enjoy all summer has to offer and create many fun memories along the way.

Life Update and Home Study

There are many days that I really miss blogging and keeping up with all of my bloggy friends, but, sadly, my new reality is too few hours in the day to even maintain order let alone find time for hobbies. This morning is a rare exception as Joel took Nora to go see his parents. I blazed through our taxes (yeah adoption tax credit!) and now I find myself with a nice little caffeine buzz and a few minutes of free time - hooray!

Life has been so hectic but fun. I started a new job right around the holidays and that has me pretty much exhausted. It's a demanding job with a learning curve but I'm definitely enjoying it. I'm also proud of myself for maintaining pretty decent boundaries around leaving in time to be able to spend some time with Nora and put her to bed (which is remarkable considering that she goes to bed around 6:30 pm and I have a 30 minute commute).

Nora is fantastic and is learning and growing every day. She literally adds a new word to her vocabulary daily and is constantly surprising me by what she knows. She loves to recite all of her body parts and she'll often look down at a shirt and point to the design and say "heart" or "bird". It's so incredible how quickly they learn at this age. At the end of this month she'll be 18 months- so hard to believe. The baby days seem like an eon ago when they were just not so many months ago.

In the midst of all the craziness of life, we decided that it was time to start the process to adopt again. We submitted our paperwork at the end of last year and just had our home study on Thursday. It's interesting how things change. The house was tidy but far from clean. I was on a business trip much of the week before and then there is only so much time on the weekend since I try to make it a priority to spend time with Nora on the weekend. It's funny how my ego and priorities have shifted in not being so obsessed with the condition of our home. It was sort of freeing. Clearly, we wanted it to be clean but it wasn't "scrub the baseboards" clean which is what I would have preferred. My new way of operating is something has to give and the orderliness of our house has become that thing.

The most ironic part of our home visit was that Nora hit her head at daycare earlier in the week and had a huge yellow-blue bruise in the middle of her forehead. What are the odds of the timing? Our caseworker is fantastic but I kept the accident report just in case. Nothing like a visit when your child's forehead is black and blue! Luckily, Nora wasn't hurt and just had a black and blue mark to show for the continuing development of her spatial sense. (I'm uploading a photo from her first haircut yesterday).

The wait for #2 is going to be long so I don't think that Joel and I are even processing the adoption much yet. I know that our caseworker was probably shocked by my lack of Type A questioning but I think it doesn't seem real yet. I'm sure once we delve into the dreaded checklist again it will all seem very real.

It's going to be interesting this next time around as our next child's story will be so different. We have had a pretty amazing adoption experience with Nora and I'm a little worried about what that can mean for #2 but we're ready for the ride!

Milestones

Yesterday was a pretty significant day for Nora. I've noticed in parenthood how things will be status quo for a little bit and then all of a sudden your child will surprise you by doing things that you had no idea that they knew how to do. I've had this experience a lot recently with Nora as all of a sudden, she's helping to dress herself or will only eat if she's trying to feed herself.

I was very grateful to have a great morning with her yesterday before all of the festivities began. We were playing on the floor with her little farm when I noticed that she paused playing and was making some tell-tale grunting noises (she's going to hate me if this is around in about 12 years). I've been trying to teach her sign language but it's been hard to tell if it's working. She then looked at me and gave me the sign for "diaper change". (Yes, the potty story was going somewhere).

She then started mimicking eating and then tried to feed me. We haven't taught her that sign but luckily I'm a pretty good guesser. Of course, after the diaper change, we had a little snack. It's so interesting how she just woke up yesterday with so many new communication skills.

We had a great Thanksgiving at my sister-in-laws house and, of course, Nora loved being the center of attention. While we were there she began to walk more than she's ever walked before. Usually, she needs prompting and will take about 6 steps before falling and crawling. Yesterday afternoon she walked across a room many times between Joel and I. She's not been a baby who is chomping at the bit to walk so I don't think she's going to all of a sudden be sprinting around the house but it was fun to see her take some steps and actually balance and catch herself several times.

I'm grateful to have a nice long weekend to spend with her.

Jen Time!

It's been a complete whirlwind of a couple of weeks! I had my business trip that ended in an emergency landing in Atlanta, a close friend in town, a big event over the weekend and lots of life changes. To say that I am feeling drained is an understatement. I've spent my morning working- and there is still plenty more to do- but right now I'm sneaking some time away at a coffee shop I used to frequent in my younger days. The view of downtown is gone but the latte and sandwich with olive tapenade are still the same.

I was tempted to feel guilty by Nora being at daycare, my messy house, piles of work, friends who deserve a phone call and all other things that compete for your time but, instead, I've decided to enjoy this moment and this time. Taking some time alone to regroup is so important and something that is so rare in motherhood. I'm thoroughly enjoying!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leaving Nora

I have a conference for work this week. I'm leaving this morning and won't be back until Saturday. This will definitely be the longest I've been away from Nora and I'm sort of dreading it. Last March when I attended a conference, Nora was still a baby and I didn't really mind the short break (and sleep!) that I was getting. However, Nora is so much fun now and so aware that I'm not looking forward to being gone for such a long time.

Nora is beginning to walk a bit. She usually takes about 5-6 steps with our encouragement. She thrusts all her weight full steam ahead like a little drunken sailor and usually goes careening into the floor. It's strange to think that she could possibly be walking by the time I return on Saturday. I've seen her first steps and my theory is that when I see it it's the first time- the mantra of a working mom.

I know I'll enjoy the conference and time with colleagues once I'm there. It's just I'll be a little more homesick than usual.

Date Night and Slumber Parties

I am so ecstatic that Joel and I are having a date night tomorrow night and Nora is going to have a slumber party with grandma and grandpa.

It's been way too long since Joel and I have been on a date. Our last date night was derailed by a stomach bug. The timing this time is perfect - it's right between Joel's birthday and our anniversary. We're going to pretend we're 25 again - or at least 30. We may even stay up until 11 pm and sleep until 8 am!

I've been dying to try a new gastropub in town so we're going to start there and then see where the night takes us. I can't really describe how excited I am to go out.

C Student

Being a working mom is a hard job. Being a mom alone is a challenge but then adding a full 40+ hours of work, friends, family and life on top of that and it's impossible to really do a good job at any of it. I used to be an "A" student in my life. I'd send cards in a timely manner, keep the house somewhat organized, be an attentive wife and generally be on top of things. Now, I'm a C student bordering on a D+ in all aspects of my life and I'm coming to accept it.

Some months I excel in some areas more than others but I'm coming to realize that good enough is going to have to be good enough - there are only so many hours in the day. Maybe this is what adjusting to new roles in life is all about - making room for those new roles and letting go of all of the rest. This new attitude is a work in progress but it is refreshing to realize one person can all do so much.