Long Overdue....
OK, so I've been a bit busy lately. Actually a lot of busy.
Before I get into my own rant - Congratulations, Condolences, Happies, and all that - Hugs! - I've been so busy that I didn't get an opportunity to post any of those when they were needed...
life the last few...
Work has been, shall we say, "interesting" the last few months without my boss. Concerns about the transition still exist, and they finally posted the position. I am applying for it, and see me as the obvious choice unless they've already made up their minds not to push me up.
They've hired a consultant to review (and trash) my database that I've "slaved" over the last year, and they've made more of an issue of my hours lately and the fact they don't want me as flexible as I used to be (and at the same time, complain I'm not as flexible as they'd like). Whatever. I could go on and on about my frustrations...
The archives job is just, well... non-existant. I've basically gotten the official word that salaries weren't approved. Not like I had the flexibility to juggle two jobs during the same business hours, but still. I liked the archives job even though it wouldn't pay all the bills... The NYPD (remember them from 2 years ago?) got their grant and might need my assistance (as part of the grant) depending on how far they can stretch the less than desirable grant monies they will be receiving for the 2008-9 year.
Sheryl has not one but two jobs - chef at a law office, and at a restaurant... she posted some of the details on her blog (I think) but feel free to ask if you'd like more details. Needless to say, she's wiped out!
Onto Natalie... yeah, she's cute and adorable. She's still babbling a bunch and now being a little more emphatic when she points at what she wants (backhanding whatever we offer her if it isn't want we thought she was asking for). She's also taking a few steps on her own across a room. Her first three steps were at a bookstore. We have this practice where we let her play in the kids section... if she's fixated on a book, we buy it for her (she cannot have too many books). Well, her first three steps were actually towards Calculus for Dummies... We decided to wait a few years before introducing her to Calculus (let her master the letters and numbers thing first - not just eat them!)
Onto the "negatives"... we got her into day care. She loves it, we love it, etc.... We have the day care cold that just doesn't want to go away. Sure, it gets better for a few, but then I'm back to coughing, hacking, sniffling - the works. This has been 6 weeks so far for me and I'm sooooo done! *cough, cough*
We've also attempted to break the "Co-sleeping" routine that we've found ourselves in. Months ago when Natalie woke up in the middle of the night, we brought her into our bed and she went right back to sleep. We were zonked so we let her sleep there and we crashed shortly after. This became the routine for weeks... (Let me tell you, even though we have a king bed, that little one maneuvers herself into a horizontal position to create the perfect "H" between us, and inevitably kicks, pokes, prods our sides, making a restful night sleep non-existent) So... we've tried many things to get her to sleep in her crib... so far they seem to be working. We moved her bedtime earlier, stopped putting her to bed with a bottle, stopped putting her to bed on one of us before moving her to her crib, etc. And when she wakes up in the middle of the night, we do not pick her up (unless she points to the changing table). We sit in the rocking chair or stretch out on the floor (and eventually we doze while we sit there) waiting for her to get back down. Now, she screams in the middle of the night, sees one of us come in, and automatically goes back down... pops her head up a few times to make sure we're still there and then goes back to sleep.
Now all we need is for her to do this without us having to come into the room once or twice a night (anywhere between 1AM to 4AM)... Our recent attempt (as per suggestion) is mellow music. Last night it worked, so we're trying it again...
Anyway, enough rambling....
Family shot from her birthday party....
Testing the waters of her new swimming pool....
Neighbors of ours donated their backyard toys as their boys were no longer playing in them (jumping off of them, yeah, but not the way they were intended). Just in time for Father's Day...This was Natalie's first chance at exploring the house... Can that smile get any bigger?
And this one is still my favorite shot. The way she's looking at me is just.... awesome!
I'm getting ferklempt! My baby's all grown up!
I've read some awesome books so far this year (LAMMY Noms, LAMMY winner, and a few others that caught my eye), but will post them soon (I hope).
Before I get into my own rant - Congratulations, Condolences, Happies, and all that - Hugs! - I've been so busy that I didn't get an opportunity to post any of those when they were needed...
life the last few...
Work has been, shall we say, "interesting" the last few months without my boss. Concerns about the transition still exist, and they finally posted the position. I am applying for it, and see me as the obvious choice unless they've already made up their minds not to push me up.
They've hired a consultant to review (and trash) my database that I've "slaved" over the last year, and they've made more of an issue of my hours lately and the fact they don't want me as flexible as I used to be (and at the same time, complain I'm not as flexible as they'd like). Whatever. I could go on and on about my frustrations...
The archives job is just, well... non-existant. I've basically gotten the official word that salaries weren't approved. Not like I had the flexibility to juggle two jobs during the same business hours, but still. I liked the archives job even though it wouldn't pay all the bills... The NYPD (remember them from 2 years ago?) got their grant and might need my assistance (as part of the grant) depending on how far they can stretch the less than desirable grant monies they will be receiving for the 2008-9 year.
Sheryl has not one but two jobs - chef at a law office, and at a restaurant... she posted some of the details on her blog (I think) but feel free to ask if you'd like more details. Needless to say, she's wiped out!
Onto Natalie... yeah, she's cute and adorable. She's still babbling a bunch and now being a little more emphatic when she points at what she wants (backhanding whatever we offer her if it isn't want we thought she was asking for). She's also taking a few steps on her own across a room. Her first three steps were at a bookstore. We have this practice where we let her play in the kids section... if she's fixated on a book, we buy it for her (she cannot have too many books). Well, her first three steps were actually towards Calculus for Dummies... We decided to wait a few years before introducing her to Calculus (let her master the letters and numbers thing first - not just eat them!)
Onto the "negatives"... we got her into day care. She loves it, we love it, etc.... We have the day care cold that just doesn't want to go away. Sure, it gets better for a few, but then I'm back to coughing, hacking, sniffling - the works. This has been 6 weeks so far for me and I'm sooooo done! *cough, cough*
We've also attempted to break the "Co-sleeping" routine that we've found ourselves in. Months ago when Natalie woke up in the middle of the night, we brought her into our bed and she went right back to sleep. We were zonked so we let her sleep there and we crashed shortly after. This became the routine for weeks... (Let me tell you, even though we have a king bed, that little one maneuvers herself into a horizontal position to create the perfect "H" between us, and inevitably kicks, pokes, prods our sides, making a restful night sleep non-existent) So... we've tried many things to get her to sleep in her crib... so far they seem to be working. We moved her bedtime earlier, stopped putting her to bed with a bottle, stopped putting her to bed on one of us before moving her to her crib, etc. And when she wakes up in the middle of the night, we do not pick her up (unless she points to the changing table). We sit in the rocking chair or stretch out on the floor (and eventually we doze while we sit there) waiting for her to get back down. Now, she screams in the middle of the night, sees one of us come in, and automatically goes back down... pops her head up a few times to make sure we're still there and then goes back to sleep.
Now all we need is for her to do this without us having to come into the room once or twice a night (anywhere between 1AM to 4AM)... Our recent attempt (as per suggestion) is mellow music. Last night it worked, so we're trying it again...
Anyway, enough rambling....
Family shot from her birthday party....
Testing the waters of her new swimming pool....
Neighbors of ours donated their backyard toys as their boys were no longer playing in them (jumping off of them, yeah, but not the way they were intended). Just in time for Father's Day...This was Natalie's first chance at exploring the house... Can that smile get any bigger?
And this one is still my favorite shot. The way she's looking at me is just.... awesome!
I'm getting ferklempt! My baby's all grown up!
I've read some awesome books so far this year (LAMMY Noms, LAMMY winner, and a few others that caught my eye), but will post them soon (I hope).