preparation for motherhood. check.

You know updating needs to happen when you're on the phone with your dad and you hear your mom in the background, "Time for a new blog post."

Ahh it's good to have....

*phone rings*

Wow...that was awesome.  Just got a phone call from a friend who is stranded at the MSP airport overnight and she is in need of a place to stay.  She lived in California, just recently got married and moved to Indiana. What are the odds?! SO CRAZY!  Ok I'm off to the airport to pick her up (after I clean my loft, that is).  I'll update this later.  =)


...And four days later, I'm back.  Turns out, having my friend here was SO GREAT!  we stayed up til around two just talking and catching up.  Anyway, on to the original post.

This past week contained my first days alone with both kids (and puppy) for a significant amount of time with no parents.  Krissa went back to work last week and so the real job has begun for me.  I was actually impressed with how smoothly it all went.

The following pictures are from two days together.  Hey, if I had time to take pictures, and there are smiles present, then you know it couldn't have gone too badly.  

      sweet little Ender.

Getting him changed in the morning is one of my favorite things to do.  He's all smiley and happy and makes great faces. 

 I decided early on that I was not going to sit around the house all day just because I have two kids under two.  and a puppy.  So we went out.  The first day was just to Target.  But Ender slept most of the time and Karlina was just happy.  

 This is what you get when you tell her to smile.Cheeseball

She loves spaghetti, by the way.  Loves it a lot.

 The kid has got the widest eyes. He just loves taking it all in.  

 

 Sometimes when Ender is sleeping, Karlina makes a lot of noise, so we designate that "play-in-your-room-quietly" time.  And it goes well.  sometimes.   Not too much of a disaster. 

 Since there are two kids, I don't have many household chores to do, but one that I am assigned is to keep the kitchen tidy throughout the day (or at least get it done right before Kris gets home!)  Point being, that is one tough job.  I feel like there are always dishes everywhere.  It is a challenge to tidy up when the kids are awake, but when they're napping, it can make a lot of noise and wake them up.  Catch 22.  

Thankfully, we have Sierra here to entertain us as much as possible.  Karlina loves going out on the little patio and "feeding" Sierra.  This consists of taking her bowl with anything in it (food, water, rocks etc...) and sticking it right under Sierra's nose until she partakes.  Then she squeals in delight and tries it again.  If the bowl isn't handy, she will be satisfied with a hand-lick.  It is so fun to watch them together.  Sierra really does well with Karlina and aside from some normal puppy exuberance, she's really pretty gentle with her. 

 

 a LOT of this happens throughout my day.  But it's one of my favorite times.  Feeding Ender is so sweet and relaxing, and he's so happy!  Not to mention the very satisfying burp he produces post-bottle.  =)  I have also learned to feed and multi-task.  I think when I took this picture I was about to write an email while feeding him.  

 And once he's fed, he's all ready to smile, coo, and stare at his little mobile. 

 When Karlina feels she isn't receiving enough attention, she enters the one room she's not allowed in (Mom and Dad's), goes into their closet where Ender sleeps and climbs into his Moses Basket.  Since there's a moniter, she'll start talking and giggling, knowing I can hear her.  And since she's not allowed in there, she knows I'll come pretty quickly and get her.  She knows how to work the system and get whatever kind of attention she feels she needs.  

 One of my more ambitious days out included a trip to the river front to play in the fountains.  It was about 92 and SO HOT outside.  But I packed up both kids AND the dog and headed down there.  I strapped Ender into the front-carrier, grabbed Sierra's leash, Karlina's hand and we walked from fountain to fountain along the river.  Ender just slept in the carrier, Sierra was pretty well behaved, considering...and Karlina had a ball.  She utilized three of her favorite words a LOT.  

"Ah-tee!...haht! haht!"

(Translation: Auntie! Hot! hot!-  she was walking on the pavement barefoot and wanted me to pick her up)

or

she'll say a string of gibberish ending with, "da puppy?"  She has a very focused one-track mind regarding the puppy.  and almost every sentence contains that word somewhere.  

Speaking of "da puppy"...

 The other day, I had her food bowl next to the counter.  She jumped up and put her paws on the counter and when I told her to get down, she obeyed....and knocked over her bowl in the process.  Well she had previously been uninterested in her food, but all of the sudden, she had such fun licking up the little kibbles off the floor.  And they were spread pretty wide.  she was enjoying the game so much, that on occasion when she's not really eating much, I'll pour her food on the floor and she'll start eating immediately.  

Silly dog.

Found out, Karlina LOVES smoothies and "tsss" (Juice) of any kind.  I love seeing her delighted over things like that. 

Me and my little man.  He's so much fun!  

Anyway, I have survived the week just grand.  And I count this fantastic preparation for mother-hood.  Seriously...the kids are alive, happy, fed, changed...we can run errands...  What more do you need?  BRING ON THE KIDLETS! well...maybe not for a while. =)

  This weekend was busy with grad parties for three of the kids at church.  Lots of work.  We never made a big deal of open houses much in California...I don't know why, but it was nothing like it is here.  I kept busy helping out doing odd jobs and serving at the parties.  

One of the girls, Claire, had a fabulous recital before her party.  It was SO amazing!  she plays violin and piano and sings...which means we have a fair amount of musicality in common.  It took me back to the old days when I used to actually practice and play my instruments.  Everything I've written on my blogs about music was true in that moment.  I closed my eyes as the melody from her violin floated through the air, hugged and caressed by the harmonious notes of the piano accompaniment.  mmm...it did my heart good to listen to her (and her family/friends) play and sing.  

I would like to do another update soon on the deeper things of life...things I've been learning and such.  I'll get to that later I suppose.