Minnesota Adventures (Part I)...

I'm perpetually behind on blog posts (I still haven't blogged any pictures from Marcus' graduation and that was  month ago). So I decided I better quickly do a Minnesota post to try and stay on top of things. I didn't take very many of the wedding mostly because I was trying to deal with the babies the entire time.

Here's my Cousin Kathryn and her new husband Nick

My aunt and Uncle (who are also my godparents) and my cousin

My Grandparents with all of their great grandchildren. Eli and Emerson were not very pleased with this idea. (Only my sisters baby is missing). 

My grandparents. Papa & Mama Mou and we call them

Then on Sunday we went to the horse races. This was my first experience with any of that and my betting strategy was pretty awesome. It consisted of me going to the window and just putting money down on random horses. We won $60 that way.

Me with Eli & Emerson waiting for the horses

The family in front of the track

Some horses

Then Eli rode on his own racehorse and really seemed to like it...

Emerson was less thrilled at the prospect so Eli finished the rest of her turn.

And us by a random fake horse.

So that's a quick picture summary of our first few days in Minnesota. More to come later because it takes forever to upload pictures at my MIL's house. 

Quirky things about my kids (Part II)...

Part I is here. Since the last one was about Eli this one is about my silly little Emerson. Lately she's developed quite the personality and so much of it cracks us up and amazes us.

1.) She carries things around like a dog by putting them in her mouth and just keeping them there. It's actually pretty genius she gets to carry things around and still have her hands free. The funny thing is she does it with everything. It doesn't matter what it is. Every time we look at her she has another thing hanging out of her mouth.

2.) She's discovered eyelashes. She will quietly sit and just feel her lashes. She also does this with mine while I'm feeding her, and today she did it to Eli's while he was laying on the floor (and he really didn't seem to mind). It's adorable to watch her tiny little fingers delicately touch the eye lashes. She seems utterly intrigued by their presence. 

3.) She sings when my MIL's clock chimes. Lately she has started humming sweet little melodies. I had no idea babies did that but it's among the sweetest things I have ever heard. When the clock chimes she always seems to start.

Now if she would only get over her separation anxiety and allow me to leave her sight without having a total meltdown we would be in business. (Oh, and sleeping through the night and napping would be nice too). 

Can you guess what we spent our day doing...

This.

We dropped the babies off with my mom and went to a local coffee shop to apply for jobs. Fun times, fun times. I can't get over how time consuming the process is. Hopefully we both find something soon so we can get out of here. It's not that I dislike my hometown I have just grown accustom to living in larger communities. Today for example Marcus and I wanted to go somewhere with wifi to work on our applications, easy right? We thought maybe the library would be the logical place... yeah no wifi. 

There were decidedly few places to go to do any kind of work. Two local coffee shops or two of our casinos. Awesome just where I want to work in a smoke filled casino. We need a good local bookstore or a library who can get with the program a little bit. Exasperated I looked at Marcus and asked, "Where do people go to do work around here?" Which is just a sign that I've been a student for the last 7 years and my "work" has involved a constant connection to books, my laptop, and the internet. 

The babies seem to be feeling a little better today. For the first time in about a week they both seem to be holding down their formula and we made it through the day without any throwing up. (Thank the lord). Emerson had a huge attitude with my mom today. She usually has some separation anxiety but once we leave she's usually fine within a few minutes. Not today, today for my mom she screamed at the top of her lungs for 3 hours. Then as soon as we arrived to pick her up she stopped and smiled at my mom. Any one have any great suggestions on how to fix that battle? She's so stubborn and has the longest attention span. One would think a baby would get tired and just calm down, but not Emerson when she decides she doesn't want to do something that it's there's no changing her mind (This includes things like naps and going to bed at night). It's a constant battle as she fights these things. 

Marcus starts a job here tomorrow which will just be a source of some income while we both continue to search for our "real jobs". 

Happy Father's Day...

We're home (or whatever since we're currently homeless). We're all exhausted and the babies are still sick (Emerson threw up yet again today. Poor baby it's been almost a week). I have a ton more to update but that will wait since today is father's day and I wanted to pay tribute to Marcus who is among the best dads I have ever met/seen. 

I honestly could not have survived this last year without him. As he picked up the pieces and the slack when I physically and mentally just couldn't do it. While motherhood does not come easily or naturally to me, Marcus was born to be a father and it is among my biggest joy watching him with our babies. 

Marcus with Eli

Marcus with Emerson

(Photos by Brisham Photography)

Happy Father's Day Marcus the babies and I all love you!

Pukefest 2010 (Possibly TMI) ...

The fun never seems to end with us. On Monday night Emerson threw up, multiples times. In the process I discovered dealing with puking babies is so not my forte, as she threw up all over me and I worked incredibly hard to maintain my own composure. (Luckily Marcus seems not to be bothered by all of this). Not to mention a sick, barfing baby is one of the saddest things ever. Then yesterday Eli got sick too only he threw up millions of times (okay not millions but it sure did seem that way). Neither baby could keep anything down, they wouldn't take water or apple juice or any clear liquids, and so off to urgent care we went. (Have I mentioned we're still in Minnesota). The doctor and the urgent care were great and we were in and out in a matter of about an hour.

We were suppose to fly back this morning but luckily we were able to change our flight (thank you Delta airlines for taking pity on us and waiving the $300 fee). Then to add to the excitement I also got sick last night. All night long and now this morning. The babies seem to be feeling slightly better although poor Eli is still so lethargic and whiney, and now my cousin, aunt, and grandpa all have it too.

Yup, we sure do know how to have fun on a vacation. We're attempting our flight tomorrow and hoping for the best. I have a feeling it could possibly be one of the worst flight experiences of my life. We're also hoping that Marcus doesn't get it.

Still here....

We're still in Minnesota. I haven't had access to the internet on a regular basis so I haven't been around much. The wedding was beautiful, the babies had a great time swimming at the hotel. Yesterday we went to some horse races and we won $60, today we just had a relaxing day at the house we're staying at, and tomorrow we're off to the Mall of America to have lunch at the America Girl store. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about that. I love the America Girl dolls and have always wanted to go to the store. Tomorrow Marcus and I are also going to  Minnesota Twins game and on Wednesday I hope to get to a museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. So we've been incredibly busy seeing things, hanging out with family, juggling our poor babies (who are doing a great job just going along with things all things considered).

I lost the cord to my camera so I can't post pictures but hopefully soon I'll have time to post more detailed accounts of everything with pictures if my life ever slows down for two seconds.

And now...

We're in Minnesota, because we're insane, (and for a family wedding) but mostly because I think we're insane. In less than a week Marcus and I have been in 14 or 15 states. We drove to Idaho last night to stay with my sister since that's where we were flying out from. It was great to see her cute little house and she was such a great hostess. I love seeing my little sisters turning into adults (which I know sounds weird) but I've always just thought of them as little girls and then all of a sudden she's living in a house, cooking me dinner and breakfast and giving me a place to stay.

Then today we caught our flight, had a connection in Utah, and now here we are in a hotel in Minnesota. The babies did amazing today the only problem is Emerson slept on both flights and now it's 11:30 pm and she's just ready to go. At least 50% of my babies are currently sleeping.

We also took them to the ER yesterday to have their ears checked. Which is a whole other drama. I called every single doctor in my hometown and the doctors who were willing to see them didn't have any room in their schedules and the other doctors just refused to see them and told us to go to the ER. I wanted to scream I was so frustrated. It takes two seconds to look into a babies ear and see if it's infected. (I miss my Pedi. who always saw the babies at the drop of a hat). More stupid transition stuff that with time I'm sure will work itself out.

The babies didn't have ear infections thank goodness just a virus that's going around. They seem to be feeling better today, I however am now sick. (It probably has something to do with 14 states in 6 days, no sleep, and two babies sneezing in my face).

Not the greatest day...

Today kind of sucked for a variety of reasons.

1.) A job rejection from the interview I had yesterday. Although I will say I appreciate their promptness with all of this. (The last job took weeks to go through the process before I had a clear answer). They told me that they decided to go with a candidate who has 5 years experience, but should that not work out for whatever reason I'm next in line for the job. It was just such a disappointment, especially since I took a chance in not taking the other job I was offered back east. So the job hunt continues and I'm hoping something comes along soon.

2.) Meeting with my Grandma. It's way too complicated to get into the specifics of why this contributes to a bad day, but I'm not close with her, I don't really know her, and I felt uncomfortable having her around my kids. We did meet at a park and only for about 30 minutes because I couldn't think of a graceful way to get out of it without seeming like an awful person.

3.) Emerson fell down a couple of the stairs in my in-laws house. I am so not used to being in a two story home. We usually have a gate up but it was down because both babies were napping. Then Emerson woke up so Marcus brought her down from upstairs and then he went outside to unload some more of our car. Then Eli woke up and without even thinking at all I went up to get him. (Not thinking about the stairs and the gate). Emerson was only on the first or second stair when she fell but she has a huge bruise/knot on her head. Poor baby I'm clearly mother of the year.

4.) Both babies have fevers and if I were to guess they probably both have ear infections. I've talked with urgent care and we're treating the fever with pain relievers tonight and seeing how they sleep. If they get worse we'll probably take the them in.

So yeah.. I've had better days.

That said I am trying to remain positive in the midst of this transition stage and not let myself get overcome with worry and anxiety so to uplift the positive...

1.) Happy babies swinging for the first time at the park (despite Emerson's bump on the head which I think worries me and Marcus the most) she seems to be be just fine.

The both loved swinging, and they both fit really well in one swing.

2.) Home cooked meals. Marcus and I never really cooked much and after the babies were born grocery shopping took a huge backseat to things like school, sleep, and surviving the day to day. One nice thing about staying with my in-laws is eating actual meals. They make me feel a little more human.

3.) Sunsets. While living in Connecticut Marcus and I always noted that the sun just seemed to disappear there was no real beauty in it. Not at all like the summer skies we're used too. 

Which come alive and glow as the sun sets. (This isn't the best picture since it was taken on my phone in a parking lot). I forgot how much I love the sunsets over here.

Just trying to keep some perspective. It's not all bad. 

Job interview...

I had my phone interview today for a job I really really want (and can I just say I despise phone interviews. I'm much better in person). It was an interview with 6 people on the other end so I was on speaker phone and it made hearing really difficult.

I'm not feeling overly optimistic about how it went. I just don't really have a good feeling about it. I was so prepared for some of the standard questions I assumed they would ask and had spent a ton of time researching and preparing lots of things I hoped to share (based on the job description and my previous interview) but they didn't ask any of those. So I stumbled out answers, really long winded answers (which is another reason I hate phone interviews. In person you can gage body language and get a sense for if people are with you or if they have a puzzled horrified look on their face). So it was a lot of me talking... they kept saying, "Wow that was a very thorough answer." Which I took for code as, "Holy crap you talk a lot."

Then during another question I totally spaced out mid-answer. I had no idea what I was talking about, what the question was, I just paused awkwardly, apologized and fumbled my way through it after being reminded what I was about to say.

They interviewed all top 3 candidates today via phone and I know I was interview #3. The whole thing was over really quickly and now I just wait and hope that I'm remembering things worse then they actually were.

Now I wait and hope for the best.

Back tracking... May 21, 2010

So much happened in May and I just haven't had a chance to keep up with any of it. So the next few of my blog posts will be my effort to remember and record our last few weeks in Connecticut. As I mentioned (I think, I mentioned anyways) my sister, brother-in-law and niece came to visit for my graduation. Although it was a crazy time in general, I did want to try and show them at least a little bit of the east coast since it was the first trip for all of them. So our go to attraction is to take our visitors to lighthouse point. A little beach area of long island sound, with a lighthouse and park.

First task was getting a family shot in front of the lighthouse. This is when they weren't quite ready for the camera. So it's more candid.

Second task was a family shot with Long Island Sound in the background. My niece Hannah was a little bit tired at this moment.

  Then we decided to play too. This is actually a pretty awkward shot of me and Emerson, but Marcus  looks pretty good though. 

Marcus & Eli

Me & Emerson

And then my favorite discovery was just how much of a water baby Emerson is. I took her to dip her toes in the water assuming she would freak out because it was cold and the dirt. But she was so excited. She kept laughing and kicking and digging her feet deeper into the sand. (Don't mind my hunchback Emerson is short and my back was hurting and I couldn't bend over all the way). 

My niece Hannah hated it. Apparently it was a little too cold for her.

But not Emerson and because she was so excited about just dipping her feet in, we promptly took the babies swimming the next day. Which was equally adorable and hilarious. (More to come about their first swimming adventure soon). 

2709 Miles later...

and we made it yesterday! (Well we made it to our hometown where we both grew up, we'll be staying here for a bit while we continue our job search. Interview on sunday *fingers crossed*). I think I blocked out just how awful the drive across the country is because I don't remember it being so bad three years ago. Nebraska and Wyoming are currently among my least favorite states as they seem to stretch on and on and on.

I suppose part of it is we were trying to get here as fast as possible so we traveled those 2700 miles in our moving truck pulling our car in 3.5 days. We pulled into town around 1:00 and immediately went to go see our babies who stayed with my sister. They were so excited to see us. Emerson kept jumping from my arms to her dads back and forth as though she couldn't decide who she wanted to see. And Eli... well he was just delirious with excitement. He was rolling all over the couch and smiling and laughing randomly.

We also pulled into town in time for my littlest sisters high school graduation (there's no rest around here). Today Marcus and I are dragging (as in barely functioning as we work to put all of our belongings in storage, handle the babies, and essentially destroy my in-laws house as we invaded every corner it seems).

I so can't wait until we get somewhere permanently and can start the new next stage. I hate this in between chaos.

And then...

one year ago today we brought our little Emerson home! Our crazy, observant, stubborn, hilarious little peanut. What a joy she's been. Coming around to things in her own time, relishing each successful milestone and almost immediately becoming frustrated at what she still can't do. What a joy and a blessing each of our babies are to us.

Then: June 1, 2009

Now: May 9, 2010