Time is going by so fast and I still feel like my head is spinning. It’s been 2 months since moving back and everyone keeps asking if we’re settled in okay. Things are going very smooth, but I’m not sure I feel completely settled into a new routine yet.
My new job:
I really like a lot of things about my new job, but I also really miss the comfort of my old job. I am working slightly longer hours mostly because I haven’t figured out a routine and it’s all new to me. I don’t want to say much beyond that because talking about work in a public forum has not bode well for many other people. It should be enough to say that I am incredibly challenged and I love the people I work with.
My new commute:
I love taking the lightrail to work. It’s like having an extra hour and half everyday all to myself. I’ve gotten back to reading again because I have the free time on the train to do it. I’m still adjusting to the hour each way, up from my 20 min commute each way in CA. At least I’m not having to deal with the stress of traffic, and like I said it’s sort of like free time.
Me:
I’m a little homesick for the familiar restaurants, neighborhood, friends, job, and weather, but overall I really love being back. This was absolutely the right time to come back for us. I’m still not quite settled into a routine and that’s why I’ve put off blogging. I’m getting there, but I’m trying to give myself time to get back in the groove without pressuring myself or feeling guilty. I’m trying to manage working out, time with friends, taking care of house stuff, time with family, my new job, and all of the other normal life things. Slowly but surely.
Our new house:
We still LOVE our house and have found it very easy to make our home. It just feels right. It helps that we’ve started making it ours. We’ve painted the kitchen and both offices, plus put in wood floors in the offices. We’ve also purchased new furniture for the living room, new appliances and hardware for the kitchen cabinets. We are installing new baseboards next and then it will be time to finish decorating the spaces we’ve started, and also think about the rooms we want to do next. It has been fun to do all the things we’ve always talked about, although we aren’t used to having a never ending project list.
The kids really love the new house and all the space. They play tag for hours and love having a huge yard to play in, as does Scout. We are all enjoying our new space.
Our family:
It has been a big adjustment for us to be so close to our family all the time. We are not used to being so involved in everyone else’s life, and just aren’t sure how to deal with it all. It’s a tough balance to be involved and care, but not get too involved and step on toes or forget about our own life. It has been wonderful to be able to see everyone so easily and so often though! The kids are loving it, that’s for sure!
Charlotte’s baby sister Lexiz Nomey was born early August. She was placed with another family member and we are hoping to go visit her soon. My youngest sister is pregnant and due at the end of March. We are excited for her and I can’t believe she is old enough to be having a baby! It seems like yesterday I was curling her hair (and burning her neck) and taking her to her first day of kindergarten. She’s asked me to do her maternity photos and the newborn photos, and I told her not to expect much but I would be happy to try to get some memorable photos.
Our friends:
I LOVE that I work out with Che twice a week, and that we’ve had a BBQ or get together every weekend since moving back. I LOVE that we trade off date nights. I LOVE that we can go to the park or the railroad museum with the kids on the weekend. I especially love working only 2 blocks from Heather and running into her on the corner then deciding to stop for coffee before we both go to work. This is exactly how I imagined living my life.
Chris:
We fully expected Chris to get started on his business when he moved back (property management), but with further investigation into licensing he is required to be a real estate broker for 2 years prior to being a property manager. This puts the business on hold for a couple of years. Instead he’ll be getting his real estate license, and then likely heading back to school.
I’m struggling a bit with the idea of our family dynamic changing with Chris possibly not being a full time stay at home parent. I’ve really enjoyed the luxuries our arrangement has allowed for both of us.
Our children:
We have not had Charlotte evaluated since moving back because we really aren’t as concerned about her development. Her speech, especially, has just taken off and she regularly speaks in full sentences, is fairly easy to understand, and mimics/parrots everything we say. I love listening to her talk. We think most of this is from spending so much time with Maile.
We think she is still behind in some other areas, but we aren’t overly concerned. She seems slow to remember how to do certain activities, like getting dressed/undressed, and she remains very inflexible. She still has some rage/emotional outbursts, but her speech has vastly improved her behavior. We’ll probably have her evaluated anyhow, given her history, but we fully expect her not to qualify.
Charlotte still love trains and when I get around to posting on the photo blog you will be able to see our latest trip to the train museum. We cut Wall-E out of the rotation for awhile, her new favorite is Cars. She has a whole Cars set and constantly reenacts the scenes from the movie, especially tractor tipping (which sounds adorable when she says it ‘ trator tippin’). She still loves Handy Manny and sleeps with her Handy Manny doll every night. She is adorable when she watches Blues Clues and interacts with the show to answer questions. She has memorized The Sneetches, The Lorax, and The Giving Tree and can recite most of the book/finish the sentences when we read them to her. She also sings along to several songs she knows. The biggest thing she says is her last name: ‘Dare – IT – WYler’. It’s quite amazing to see all the new things she does.
Cooper is as ornery as ever and we continue to be outsmarted by him. He LOVES gum right now and despite our best efforts to keep it out of his reach, he somehow manages to find it, then hide and proceed to eat the entire package in one sitting. He is talking up a storm, and is learning all kinds of new things. He knows all of his colors, likes to practice counting on his fingers (although he seems to only get 7, 8, 9 in the right order), and still enjoys puzzles and challenging learning games. He knows how to get past all of the baby proofing, including baby proof cabinet locks. His favorite movies are Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc, Toy Story (1 & 2), Mickey Mouse The 3 Musketeers, and Cars.
Charlotte is still fairly petite and just now wears a size 3T, which is still fairly big on her. Cooper on the other hand has grown out of 3T and moved onto 4T, and in jammies is wearing 5T. We get fewer and fewer questions about them being twins since Cooper is so much bigger, and we find more 4 and 5 year olds being puzzled on the playground when Cooper talks ‘baby talk’ to them.
Both kids are still napping for 1-2 hours a day, and then sleeping through the night for 10-11 hours. We are so glad they are back to a normal routine. We plan to start back at
We plan to have the kids start pre-school in the spring and I have to say I’m excited, but also sad at this new milestone. For the first time the other night when I picked up Cooper, I thought, wow he’s getting a little big to be carrying around now. I just can’t believe how quickly the time passes and I desperately want to keep them little just awhile longer.
Okay, I think that’s mostly it for now! I’ll have to post about shopping for Halloween costumes and get caught up on the photoblog. But I’m off to bed for now!
