kapachino

Category: around here

  • day in the life // girls’ day off

    This year I decided that it’s good for my health and sanity to take a random day off work every month or so. Sometimes I need those days to be “me” days where I still put Meredith in daycare and have some time to myself. But other times I want some extra time with her, and that’s what I did yesterday.

    7:00 a.m. / we’re up and David’s up and we see him off to work shortly.

    8:00 a.m. / Meredith still has a cough and congestion so before we do anything else we take a steamy shower/bath. Her favorite thing is to fill a cup up with running water and dump it out over and over.

    8:30 a.m. / it’s kind of cold today so I blow-dried her hair. Now it’s a big puff.

    8:45 a.m. / time for breakfast. For her it’ll be eggs and banana, for me a bagel, coffee, and whatever she doesn’t eat.

    9:30 a.m. / I open all the doors to the house because it’s beautiful outside. Meredith plays outside while I putter around taking care of odds and ends.

    10:00 a.m. / I get to spend some time working on my advent calendar (and actually finish later on in the day). I’m very pleased with it.

    10:45 a.m. / we are all dressed and ready to head out for some errands. We drop something off at my brother-in-law’s house, return some books to the library, then head to the craft store.

    11:35 a.m. / my dad calls me and says he’s driving right behind me! He pulls into the parking lot of the craft store and we have a quick chat and hug. Then I buy a few supplies for my December daily album.

    12:00 p.m. / we visit David at work! Meredith cries when anyone other than us tries to hold her, but she gets excited when she sits in his chair. Everyone wants to see her and talk so we’re here about an hour.

    1:10 p.m. / I was hoping to get lunch in her before nap, but she fell asleep on the ride home. Unfortunately she doesn’t stay asleep when I try to lay her down.

    1:30 p.m. / so I try to feed her lunch but she only eats a few ravioli before throwing them all on the ground. The dogs are happy.

    1:50 p.m. / I expect her to be grumpy because she’s barely slept or ate but she’s actually being really silly and adorable. She played peekaboo with the curtains and tried to ride our dog Cleo. In the meantime I finish up the advent calendar.

    3:30 p.m. / I transition my craft focus to prepping my December daily album.

    4:00 p.m. / Meredith still hasn’t napped and is starting to lose her cool. I decide it’s time to take her for a drive and induce a car nap. We pack up and drive into town and park at West Elm in anticipation of the Young House Love book signing I’m going to later. Meredith wakes up after about an hour and I give her some snacks in the car. I try to read but she’s becoming antsy so I put her in the stroller, go buy my book, and get in line.

    5:45 p.m. / Lauren joins us! It’s a long 2-hour wait in line but she makes it lots better. Meredith does pretty well but wants to get into everything and I am exhausted from holding her & constantly entertaining her.

    7:45 p.m. / we made it to the front of the line! Our interaction is brief, but John & Sherry are super nice. They comment on Meredith’s hair (it’s the first thing anyone notices about her) and how they got their daughter’s name the same way we got hers (a grandmother’s name).  Afterward we go straight home.

    8:30 p.m. / trying to nurse Meredith to sleep but she’s still restless! What is with this kid today? It takes at least an hour to get her to sleep and when she finally does it’s on top of me, and I’ve drifted off too.

  • around here // this week

    >I put out our one and only fall decoration, this little pumpkin that Meredith “painted.” I’m not saying that I’m not into holiday decorations, because I am. It’s just that we don’t have many. They’re the kind of thing that you have to acquire over time. Maybe this is the year that I’ll shop the sales after Thanksgiving.

    >Switched my purse out for this messenger bag my husband got me one year. Even though it’s still in the 80’s every day here, this feels a little more like fall.

    >Enjoying the heck out of this quirky little novel, Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer. And oh! I cooked dinner one night this week, and we all three sat down to eat as a family. That’s one of my biggest goals as a wife and mother and hopefully it starts happening on a regular basis by the time Meredith is three. :)

    >Had a freakishly easy week at work. I’m kind of scared to even say so, for fear of what next week will be like.

    >One of my favorite patients was here every day this week and he and his wife brought us delicious muffins.

    >Started the snail mail challenge! I’m going to send one piece of regular mail every day in November. I’m glad to have an excuse to use the note cards I’ve been hoarding, and I hope to brighten a few people’s days.

    Have a happy weekend!

  • long weekend adventures

    I love a long weekend. Seems like that one extra day makes a world of difference. This Labor Day weekend was a good one.

    After breakfast on Saturday Meredith and I hopped in the car and headed out to do some errands while we let David sleep in and do his own thing for awhile.

    First stop was to pick up a new batch of diapers. I was really hoping once Meredith started walking her legs would thin out and she wouldn’t need to go up in size, but it hasn’t happened yet. The mediums are too tight and leaking too much, so we had to bite the bullet and go for the larges. They look comically big on her, but they are working much better.

    We were in the area, so we just had to stop at Target and Old Navy. I found some good stuff in the clearance section.

    When we got home we grabbed David and immediately left again. We decided to leave our bank and join a credit union so we needed to get there in plenty of time before it closed. Meredith amused herself with my wallet. She was unimpressed with my lack of cash.

    That evening we didn’t have any plans so we just hung around the house. I made a lot of progress on my current cross stitch project that I’ve been working on for months.

    Sunday morning was church.

    Then we went to lunch at Chuy’s for Mexican food with my whole family. We were celebrating my brother’s birthday – the baby of the family is 27 years old and the biggest of all of us. Meredith kept throwing things across the room so we distracted her with beans and guacamole.

    While at lunch we begged asked my parents to babysit that night so we could go on a date. We’re really trying to make this a priority and so far we’ve been able to fit it in every couple of weeks. Since I chose the last movie we went to, David chose this one. We saw The Possession and after I was freaked out by the previews I questioned what on earth I was doing there, but it ended up being tolerably scary.

    Monday morning we had breakfast with David’s family and it was delicious. And it’s always so much fun watching the cousins play together.

    For most of the day Monday David watched Meredith and took her shopping, giving me lots of alone time at home. I got a spread of Project Life done (to be shared tomorrow), made brownies, and did some housework. Then that night we went to his brother’s house for burgers and hot dogs before winding down at home and getting ready for the week.

    The best part is, I have another long weekend coming up! I took a full day off next Monday for a dentist appointment and plan to spend the rest of it indulging myself in pampering, relaxation, and whatever else I feel like. :)

  • fun.

    I had such a fun weekend. Meredith walked. On Saturday it was just three steps and I didn’t know when she’d repeat it, but on Sunday she took off and I knew it was the real deal. Seeing the exhilarated smile on her face makes me so happy; I know it’s the natural course of development but I have never felt so proud.

    We played together a lot over the weekend, which I am enjoying more and more. She is doing purposeful things with her toys now instead of just throwing them or eating them. She is interacting with me better and showing such joy. And as a follow up to my last post, we started a bedtime routine with her and for three nights in a row now she’s fallen asleep without needing to be driven.

    Other weekend things: A few weeks ago I started a weekly ritual of making pancakes from scratch. It’s easy and yummy. I read a lot, and finished The Age of Innocence. I started cataloging and organizing my books, and even though it will probably take me weeks to finish, I am loving the process of laying hands on all my books again. David and I went on a date to see The Dark Knight Rises. I hung out with a coworker-turned-friend, and recorded a day in the life for VEDA.

    There are some things hanging over my head these days, but for the most part life is good and I am choosing to see that.

  • relax.

    That was the name of the game this weekend.

    Last week was weird and hard. The first half was a blur because Meredith, the best nighttime sleeper ever, would NOT SLEEP. Kudos to anyone who has to deal with that on a regular basis, because I could barely function. On the fourth day, when I had to go to work after being awake since 1:30 a.m., I thought I was going to have to take a day off lest I kill a patient due to exhaustion. But for whatever reason, she has slept well since then and I am left wondering what caused the ordeal.

    Work was busy and I ended up staying late every day except one. There was an incident with one of my patients one day where we ended up having to call security because he said something so disgustingly vulgar, complete with demonstration, that I didn’t feel comfortable being his nurse anymore. It really threw me off and distracted me for the entire day.

    So when the weekend rolled around and I had no plans whatsoever I knew I wanted to do only the basic amount of chores (laundry, sweep, dishes, groceries) and spend the rest of the time relaxing.

    On Saturday Meredith was still not 100% (she’s been having digestive issues and congestion – but the essential oils are really helping with everything) so I decided to keep her home. We played, I got to work on my cross stitch, she took a great afternoon nap, did some chores here and there, and had a nice visit to my in-laws.

    Sunday morning David went fishing with his dad and brothers (an early Father’s Day excursion) so we were up early. Meredith and I had a good low-key morning by ourselves and then my mother-in-law agreed to babysit her for a few hours so I could have some alone time. It was amazing. I got Starbucks, ate calmly while reading a magazine, made pizza dough, then got completely caught up on Project Life. By the time I went to pick up Meredith the boys were on their way home, she took a good nap so I could finish chores, and then we had a nice fish fry with the family (David and I don’t like fish so we ate our homemade pizza).

    Here’s to relaxing weekends and nice, normal weeks!