Ramblings from an unemployed mother.

I realize this blog is mainly devoted to our sweet and adorable boys- and we aim to keep it that way. I think this post is more just to offer a behind the scenes look at our Berkeley life, especially the parental part. We've learned that this blog serves as an amazing reference to our past and with all that's up in the air...I know I'd like to have a glimpse of the thought processes that go into the numerous decisions to be made in the next several months!

First, let me point out that we love Berkeley and especially our amazing community, ridiculous amount of parks, and enviable fresh produce. The bad news is that Berkeley is part of the Bay area, which is notorious for being 'impossible' to land a career-related job. With kids, it would have to pay enough to include child-care/school costs and transportation plus some to be worth it in the balance of our lives.

Needless to say, right now, I'm unemployed. I daily wonder whether I'm 'unemployed' or is it more appropriate to say I'm a 'stay at home mom'? Don't judge me and I won't judge you, but giving myself that title makes me cringe....I want to work as I actually love my area of expertise and I want my boys to see me as more than mom. *Please don't make me include a PC disclaimer as, if you're reading this, you can figure-out how much I truly adore and respect being a mom.*

In hopes of feeling productive/ academic/ sane, I've worked frequently on our community garden (which we are leading) and the crops are thriving- the leafy greens are already harvest-ready! Jacob is very patient with the crops though weeding was a very sad concept for him as he felt it wrong to decide which plant lives and which dies. My tender yet aggressive/testosterone-filled little 3 1/2 year old.

I've also become a breastmilk donor for the CA Milk bank which provides the best nourishment for preemies and other sickly people in need. And let's be honest, I was truly blessed with the gift of making really powerful milk that chunks-up some babies; may as well share.

Seeing as I also aim to become a Lactation consultant down the road (actually on my 5-year professional development plan for being an RD), it doesn't hurt to know more names of those involved in the field!

While those are my "things", Daniel went and got elected as Student Body President for the seminary! He's holding himself together beautifully, per usual, and continues to amaze regarding what can get accomplished on any given day. Daniel truly is the yin to my yang; excellent with words both oral and written, quickly rational and efficient, doesn't quickly tire of strangers or big groups, organized and without procrastination.... All this is to say that being an involved dad of two, a full-time (excellent) student, plus student body president and he doesn't wear-out. He then goes on to write full plays, read for fun, and devotedly watch Cardinals football.

That's where we are right now. And I have to remind myself of those awesome things while taking deep breaths before those other things cloud over. You know, the "what about Thomas and his breathing? How long do you fight insurance companies before they win? Should we keep sending Jacob to this school that we can't afford even if he isn't loving it or should we pull him after Christmas?If we do pull him, then will he be missing-out socially and academically? Where will we be moving after Daniel finishes school? Should I seek employment elsewhere (with the boys) next semester and leave Daniel by his lonesome so that we can jump-start the moving on from the schooling phase of life and toward professional and financial wellness." That stuff.

It's too much.

And that's why we breathe, shut our minds down, listen....and play in the rain.

9 months.

To continue the trend of titling blog posts with numbers, this one will cover Thomas at 9 months (yes, he's really ~9 1/2 months).

Thomas has a slew of nicknames, though most commonly used are Thosmos, Tomasito, or Thosatron; even Jacob uses 'Tomasito' during his sweet and snugly moods...but it's certainly 'Thomas' when sharing is involved.

Thomas is our strong, stubborn, and curly-haired sweet giant.

Strong: Just today he both stood on his own for 3 long seconds and stood-up from squatting with no help whatsoever (following a breathing treatment, he could probably lift a car with all that caffeine-crazy energy).

Stubborn: Thosmos has already learned that by lowering his head while crawling, he can just use his heft to get closer to what he wants regardless of any obstacles (be they chairs, brothers, toys, etc). He also reserves most of his crying for expressing frustration at having a toy removed, plan diverted, ie. not getting exactly that which he had set his mind. I respect that...and I'm grateful he's not the first born getting everything he pouts about (HA, like Jacob ever did)!

Here's a video when persistence doesn't pay off.

Happy Giant: Today Thomas weighed in at 25 1/2 pounds (completely off the charts huge) and 29.5", which is between the 75th and 85th percentiles. holy moly. And he bypassed yet another size and comfortably wears 18 month clothing (but it has to be stretchy or it doesn't fit).

This video just shows both the continuation of Jacob being hilarious for Thomas and me being bossy(...truthfully, I'm not so bossy rather Jacob had been popping these very loudly for 10 minutes and our walls here are paper thin. I was feeling guilty for our noise!) Thanks Uncle Dana for the package and the packaging!

Part of the 9 month check-up was discussing development: if you mimic him, does he then repeat what you say? I'm gonna have to say yes.

28.

Daniel turns 28 years old(young) tomorrow. Hard to believe the pace by which these years are sliding;

we're still trying to wrap our minds around the fact that this will be the 11th year of us celebrating dp's birthday since beginning this crazy fun ride of love and then marriage. Whoa. Imagine who you were at 18...then at 28- Hopefully some changes and hopefully some things are the same; I'm just happy that we keep getting to celebrate Daniel for who he is each year.

Happy Birthday mon ami prefere!

On an entirely different note, here's a bit about our life the past week and a half.

When we lived here previously, the community garden was really important to us and we knew we wanted to see it flourish this year, too. So, last Saturday, we got to work with fellow neighbors and 'farmers of the Dels'. (Our apts are called the Delaware Apts...the dels...get it?).

Jacob refueled between shifts of digging in dirt and talking about "ew..smelly dirt and chicken poooop". Yeah, he's a 3 year old boy.

Thomas helped by being the sweet, mellow boy he is and NOT eating the dirt.

A look at the crops (lettuce, spinach, a bunch of herbs, kale, peas, basil) and some cute boys a few days later.

I just include this cause it makes me smile that Thomas gave up on steering. Smart cookie.

These tidbits are just to make you smile. This nugget was hiding in the files from the first few weeks after arriving back in Berkeley; this sweet boy can make anybody grin with this smile and laugh.

In this picture, we have Roman (4 1/2months old, daughter to our beloved KD and John whom we spoke of years ago while living here) and the feet of Thomas. He rather enjoyed sneaking a ride under Roman in her stroller, there was laughing, poking, and kicking involved.

Crawling and other fun things

We visited the little farm nearby to feed and meet some animals. Jacob enjoyed conquering the playground and feeding every species of animal.

Thomas enjoyed gnawing on celery and watching Jacob feed the animals.

He did NOT like the rooster crowing. Everytime we went into the barn and heard that thing, Thomas cried!

Berk-E-lee

We made it.

One car plus one full van concludes what we brought from Phoenix (several furniture items stayed here last year). The first week here was truly recovering and establishing that this is 'home' for all of us....and especially trying to reign in a confused, excited, and exhausted 3 year old.

We've completed the necessary Ikea trip for Jacob's birthday present / bunk bed (though he can only play and 'nap' on top during the day until he gets bigger...the guidelines recommended 6...we'll see).

We've visited the aquarium (in the Green Pond tie-dye-this was his excited dance)!

the Oakland zoo (a time-tested favorite), and gone to the marina.

With the dramatic climate change, there was a necessary visit to the children's ER for Thomas and his impressive wheezing. Fortunately, after an hour long breathing treatment (like crack for the kid) followed by one more small hit of medicine, we were allowed to bring him back home..

And we discovered that he weighs 24 pounds at 8 months. Explains why 18m clothes fit him so well...!

Speaking of Thomas, he's broken 2 teeth since we left Phoenix and has finally shown true interest in crawling (as of today)! Though he still refuses foods placed in his mouth or fed from a spoon, he will eat anything he can scrounge from the carpet or generally shove into his mouth!

Thank you LA (and Fuller family)

You must be wondering how the move back to Berkeley went...

The actual drive was split in half with a stay-over at the Fuller house in Redondo beach with buddy Elgin. Jacob was thrilled about that but the 7+ hours to get to his friend, well, the face at a pit-stop says it all.

Thomas hung in there alright with naps, laughing at his brother, and driving lessons during stops.

Despite our engine light coming in on the Neon about 100miles into our trek, we made it to LA and beloved Elgin (Tripp and Alecia, too!).

Friendship meant to be?

After this and other fun things, a projected movie was enjoyed in the backyard to which Jacob fell asleep. Upon waking and patiently waiting until a 'reasonable' hour, Jacob honed his drum skills on Elgin's set.

We were all enjoying our time together....and unfortunately, took minimal photos. Jacob was sad to leave and pines for the day he is reunited with Elgin. (Don't worry, it looks as though though this fall will be bring such a reunion).

Thanks for helping minimize the boredom of a long trip, giving us a great place to stay, and hanging-out with us Fuller family!

Continued more. Part III

Overall, GP is awesome. You can beach bum cute.

Gently overcome water anxiety by jumping in 1ft of water and chasing fish.

Make a beautiful mess.

Relax in hammocks.

Hang-out with family.

And eat insane amounts of food. You may have noticed in the bear picture that there was a grill and smoker in our backyard. Be jealous. (And Thanks to all who helped!)

There are a few Minnesota wedding photos...but we've got to have something to share for the next post!