I don't juggle, but I think I'm doing a good job of it

I posted this on Facebook about my day today and thought it was a good post here too:

TODAY:

- Get up to screaming baby, nurse him.

- Go downstairs to find hubby working and 2 year old tearing up living room.

- Ignore mess in living room and start making coffee.

- Ignore 2 year old sitting on foot and gripping leg while I walk around kitchen.

- Make waffles with two your old sitting on foot and holding leg while walk around kitchen.

~~~~drink some coffee!~~~~~~~

- Two year old tugging on shirt and constantly repeating "Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!""Go bye-bye to Zoom!" (zoom is his word for Zoo)

- Announce to family waffles are ready

- Two year old screams in joy over syrup and wakes up 2 month old

- Eat half my waffles because two year old has eaten other half

~~~~drink some MORE coffee!~~~~~~~

- Nurse baby again

- pack up kids and head to bookstore because it's raining and hubby needs quiet time to work on slides for office

- realize I'm hungry and head to Maggiano's for lunch where idiot teenager or college student tells me they don't allow strollers in the restaurant and offers to put my baby in a high chair.

- explain to idiot teenager/college student that my baby is only two months old and can not sit in a high chair yet.

- finally realize that idiot teenager/college student is not going to let me eat in the restaurant despite it being 2pm and totally empty.

- walk down to Clydes

- get crayons and books out for 2 year old to play with while I nurse the baby and eat a hamburger at the same time

- walk back to car to drive to grocery store

- arrive at store and have to use bathroom, unload both kids from shopping cart to use bathroom

- come out of bathroom to find shopping cart gone

- go back to front of store and get another cart

- get shopping done and come back to car to find some asshole has parked their minivan so close to the car that I can't get in, let alone wedge the baby & carseat in.

- security guard offers to watch the baby while I back the car out.

- get in car from passenger side and back out.

- put baby in back seat of car while asshole in SUV honks and security guard goes back to tell him to chill

- drive home

- in 10 mins it took to drive home 2 year old has fallen asleep because we missed his nap with this little outting

- sit in car and wait to let 2 year old sleep

- baby gets hungry and cries and wakes up 2 year old.

- get out of car and wait for traffic to die down enough to open car door and get screaming baby out.

- walk around to other side to get toddler, groceries and my bag out of the car

- waddle across the street holding hand of toddler and his balloon (procured at grocery store) in one hand, the car seat with screaming baby and 4 bags of groceries in the other

- get in house put away groceries (baby still screaming and hungry)

- sit on couch and nurse baby

- log on to facebook.

.... whew.....

Baker, Baker, Bake me a Cake...

I'm baaaacck!...  :) After being quiet, so to speak, for a month here I am with two posts in one day!  Woot!

So, I just posted about my parents' bday party and how I paid to have a cake made.  I was somewhat disappointed by this cake... I mean... I COULD HAVE MADE THAT CAKE!  Or so I think...So $160 for a cake that freakin' simple looking..hmmm... can I do it?  There must be a reason I was charged so much for a simingly simple cake.  

I'm putting my money where my mouth is.  It is my goal to create such a simple cake, smooth sides and hopefully the way I would've wanted it for my parents' bday and we'll see where it goes from there...

Photos to come...

Jenn

Unemployed, but busy!

I've been pretty lax in posting lately.  Mostly because of, well, life!  Why has an unemployed woman been too busy to post?  Well....

I've been planning a 110th Birthday party for my parents; they turn 50 and 60 years old this month.  Their birthdays are only one day (and 10 years) apart hence the 110th bday party - cool huh?!  The party was this past Saturday and I think it was a success.  I had a cake made, I hired a group of drummers to come in (this was the coolest part of the party), and decided to bring the food in myself (can you say Costco?!).  The drum circle made the party a success, since the bulk of the guests were research scientists I was concerned they would all be a bit too reserved to join in on the drumming fun - but that was no issue at all, everyone had a blast!

THEN, my husband has been battling some work-visa issues - I think I've mentioned that he's Canadian, if not, well now you know!  So basically the renewal of his TN-visa was denied (we weren't surprised by that); it was denied a bit faster than we expected though.  We had already applied for a change in status since he's married to an American (me) and we are just waiting for that application to go through.  BUT...he's not allowed to work until either the change of status comes through or his application for a right to work comes through...whatever comes first.  So...VACATION TIME!!  

That leads to the OTHER thing I've been doing.  I've been spending time researching beach houses.  We really, really want the classic beach cottage type thing (ala old Hollywood) where you walk out your back door into the surf...I haven't been able to find anything like that on the East coast.  There are tons of cottages like that in California, however but we're not willing to fly all that way.  So, we may settle for a lake.  Still researching that one...

The other thing that has been filling my days is figuring out Paul's eating/sleeping patterns.  I guess they are still in flux, because he randomly sleeps for 6 hour stints - sometimes at night, sometimes mid-day.  I can't get this kid into a pattern for anything.  This equates to one tired mama!!

I can't be too angry with Paul though, because he's giving out the coos and smiles like crazy!  I love that he'll break into a huge smile the minute I walk into his line of sight...LOVE IT!  I haven't thought to get the camera out to catch it.  You can see my little man smile and coo at the video camera below.  We've seen him actually laugh a couple of times now too.  Mark was tickeling Peter while we were on the metro and everytime Peter laughed, so did Paul...it was great!  The guy sitting behind us was very amused and kept laughing as well!  

Finally, all of this "research" is interrupted by my determination that everyday (no matter the weather) the boys and I get out of the house for some type of activity even if it's just to walk the block.  A few days ago we went to the Air and Space Museum where Peter went balistic playing in the hands on physics area.  Yeah.  He's a genius.  He'll be attending MIT for sure!  The day before that we walked to the Zoo (again).  The Zoo is by far the most requested outting.  The day before that we hit the Botanic Gardens and their kids' area courtyard again.  That was a big outting/walk.

So, life is busy in the Golden/Kushnir household.  Busy, but fun!

Summer Time, Summer Time

Summer Time, Summer Time

It's 90 degrees in DC today! In honor of that, I give you this little 1960s song about summer and a little picture of Peter playing with the water hose today! I hope you have as nice a day as we do...wherever you are!

Summer Camp - I can't wait!!!

I’m having a stressful day today and my 2 year old is NOT helping matters. So, thanks to the response of my cousin to my Facebook status reminding me that summer camp is just around the corner, I am now dreaming and looking forward to my 2 year old’s up-coming summer camp! Woohoo!

Uhoh! And I’m also reminded that the stack of papers, forms and doctor releases are still stacked up on top of the radiator waiting for me to fill out and return to the camp ... gotta get on that!

Also among those stacks of summer camp papers is a list of things my son is to bring with him EACH DAY to camp:

Diapers
Lunch (no peanuts or nut products!)
Sunscreen
Towel
Swim suit
Full change of clothes (including socks)

So, I’m thinking this one through and realize I should probably put my son’s name on his belongings. Now, I could just whip out the Sharpie and write his name on everything. But why do that when I have this awesome opportunity to have some fun?! Check these out: http://www.mabel.ca/mabel.php?n=clothing+labels Cute huh? Or what if I went with this: http://www.lovablelabels.ca/Label.aspx

Oh the possibilities. Thank goodness my husband doesn’t read my blog, he already thinks I spend money on senseless stuff and this would DEFINITELY fall into senseless. Especially since that Sharpie is already purchased and sitting with all the other writing utensils.

Any other ideas out there? How about summer camp warnings and tips...anything I should watch out for or do to make this whole first-timer's (for both me and my son) trip to summer camp as organized and painless as possible? Oh, and it's not the typical "camp" where he's sent off somewhere to sleep overnight for a month. No, it's a 3-day a week 9am-1pm type "camp".

Postpartum Yoga Mom

Image taken from: http://www.gregoryangell.com

For any of you that practice yoga, you know the benefits - I don't need to get on a soap box about how amazing it makes you feel. For me, it has always, always made all the stress in my back just go away.

So, after having done NOTHING to stay fit for over 2 years, since the birth of my first son, and used the pregnancy of my second as an excuse to continue to do nothing...I'm back on the yoga wagon!

So...imagine my surprise at how very different the moves all felt with this gigantic belly I have right now! Ugh..I'm still limber enough to sit with my legs out straight and fold all the way down with my forehead touching my knees...but what gets in the way is my huge freaking belly! Where did that come from?! Thanks Peter...thanks Paul! : OK...and another thanks to Ben & Jerry's! double grin! or double chin...whatever.

I'm doing it as best I can. I was always a stickler for trying to get the poses exactly right and now, thanks to my new shape it's damn near impossible.

So I'm on the road to recovery...my body needs it. It's amazing how many body parts hurt from sheer weight. I have constant water retention (my ankles ... well, are gone), my back always hurts, my knees hurt, my arms swing (no not down by my sides while I walk... I mean the bottom part of my upper arms. When I wave bye I almost give myself a black eye!). My husband is a saint! He's still in the house with me, makes no remarks and I guess I should wonder if he's even noticed...whatever..I don't feel bad about my weight because of him...only because of me! As it should be.

I hiked up a steep hill today with the 12 pound baby strapped to my chest and thought I was going to die of a heart attack...those poor calf muscles haven't seen that much work in ages! I may start sprinting up the stairs in my house every time I have a moment to get a jump start on things! I kid...

I've only been cleared for yoga (so ignore that I hiked today up big hills ... shhhhh) but I'm aching to get down on the floor and crunch out some sit ups! Ah well...stay tuned...I'm taking before and after shots of my bod but I'm not posting them until I see some results! Wouldn't that be embarrassing to post the before now and never reach any kind of noticeable result?! yikes! depressing...won't happen.

stay tuned...

- The Postpartum Yoga Mom