We Used to Vacation

I'm exhausted.

Karl's turning into a zombie.

Soren loves "school" now, but misses his Papa all the time.

We've got 4 weeks left of this quarter.

Will we make it? Anything's possible.

Life

I should so be in bed right now, but I just found this little clip from our family trip to Avila Valley Barn yesterday. Karl was up super late paying for a day spent with us, but I think he would agree it was well worth it (right, babe? wink. wink.)

Here's Soren being afraid of the ponies. Pretty darn cute.



And more of Soren with pumpkins. **I warned you this would happen.**

Daylight Fading

I am wasting too much time trying to come up with titles to my blogs, so - from now on I'm just going to name them a title of a song that best fits my mood at the time of writing it. Ok? Ok.

I know I say this every quarter, but...this quarter has been the hardest yet. Having gone into this year thinking it might actually be one of the easiest, we were hit with a big surprise. Karl has already pulled so many get-home-after-everyone's-asleep nights that we can't even count them, and we're only 3 weeks in. In the midst of a crazy school schedule, I just went through a week from hell and Soren has been acting out waaaaayy more than usual - partly because of his age, partly because of the changes and stress in our lives. We are all fried.

I contemplated not sharing so much of the hardships in our lives on these blogs. I truly feel like a broken record and like I'm complaining. The truth is, this is our life, and if someone is reading this who can relate, or who is going through the same season of life as we are - maybe reading this can help. I am confident that someday the story of our lives is going to look much brighter, and while there are still bright moments in our lives - right now, we're in winter.

I'm not going to go into details about my 'stressful is an understatment' week, but basically, I had several major issues to deal with while Soren and I were both pretty sick and Karl was busy with school. It feels like the dark cloud has lifted a bit and this past week was much better.

Last weekend my mom and I coordinated my cousin's wedding at the Hearst Castle. It had me stressing for weeks beforehand, but it all went off without a hitch and it was absolutely beautiful. Karl was able to be there to help me with Soren while I (literally) ran around the Castle making sure everything went smoothly. My aunt works at the Castle, so we had freedom to many more areas than other people do - which made it all the more fun. Soren loved exploring all of the steps, statues and fountains - it's not everyday that a kid gets to play in a diaper at a castle! My cousin was a gorgeous bride and I was honored to help make her wedding day perfect.

This weekend Soren and I went to Avila Valley Barn with my mom and picked out some pumpkins and gourds for his classroom. He is really into running these days, so he ran around the whole time, pointing to things of interest - namely goats and tractor parts. (Warning: I'm about to say something very cliche'...) It is amazing to see the world through the eyes of your child. It's like a surprise gift that a parent gets - like a second chance to find wonder in the things you take for granted as an adult. I love autumn, and it's just a million times better with Soren around. Showing him all of the different colors, smells and sounds of this season does something good to my heart. If it's this crazy right now, I can't imagine how I'm going to be at Christmas.

In the interest of keeping these posts manageable, I'll stop here. That's a little peak into our lives as of late. We miss all of our friends so much and promise that we will be able to hang out someday...in December...hopefully.

Sunday Funday

I love my boys, and I love the days when I can be with both of them. Today was (mostly) one of those days. Coffee in Shell Beach at The Steaming Bean, playtime for Soren and Violet at the Dinosaur Caves Park, hanging out in downtown SLO in the afternoon. Super fun. Here is the evidence:

Saturday Morning

I usually complain a lot about Saturdays, since Karl is rarely home with us on that day. I always wish we could just all have a day together, like other families get to, and I get sad. Today was a different story though. Of course I wish we could have all been together, but I was determined to have a fun morning even if Karl couldn't be with us. We have had such a long and tumultuous week, that I was just happy to be home for a day with my little man.

There's something about cold, foggy mornings that invigorate me. I feel like the air is fresher and I feel lighter - I'm definitely a cold weather girl. Well, this morning I took one look outside and knew we needed a long walk. So after breakfast, we got dressed and headed out the door to run some errands and walk to the Farmer's Market that's about a mile from our house. Soren was such a good little traveler and fussed a very reasonable amount for a 15-month-old stuck in a stroller. When I let him out to walk around after Farmer's, he started saying and waving "Hi!" to everyone he saw. One of the guys that Soren said "hi" to stopped me as he was driving away to tell me that Soren just made his day. I love this new little social side of him. Anyway, here's some pictures from our morning.

Best smile ever

Perfect walking weather

Strollin'

Exploring

Pointing out every sprinkler we saw today

He's a bike guy

Exhausted

Today was Soren's second day at "school" - it did not go well. I guess after the initial curiosity wore off he was left feeling very uneasy about being left all day in a strange place. I don't blame him. We both cried a lot today.

One thing that makes this transition even more lovely is the fact that he will not sleep there. Before he started there, I told his teacher and the administrative staff that I could not imagine Soren falling asleep on a mat on the floor with 17 other children around. They assured me that they do this all the time, not to worry. Well, I'm officially worried. His teacher told me that he was one of two kids who refuses to sleep there. The other one screams and cries the whole time. Soren just lays there with his eyes wide open until they ask him if he's ready to get up.

When I picked him up today he looked like a zombie. We didn't even get 5 minutes down the road and he was completely asleep in his car seat (this never happens.) His world has been turned upside down and it's rough for all of us. It is the grossest feeling to leave your crying child in a room full of other crying children and have them run after you. I used to get so annoyed at parents who would say goodbye and then linger around and keep trying to comfort their child. I still get annoyed, but it makes a lot more sense to me now. You want to make sure that your child is going to be taken care of and that somehow they will see that they're safe and that you will be back. There's just no way to convey that to a 16-month-old, no matter how long you stick around. Goodbyes have never been hard with Soren. Now, they are the worst.

I have very negative feelings about having Soren in daycare, and despite what other people tell me (i.e. it will be good for him, he'll have so much fun, it will build his immune system, it's a good program, blah, blah, blah...) it doesn't make this Mama any more thrilled to have someone else raising her child. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that's the only reason we're doing this. It still doesn't make me excited about it.

Uh-Ooooo

The newest word of Soren's is "uh-oooooooo" (supposed to be 'uh-oh') and it's a good thing, since we've been saying it a lot lately. He has discovered everything above his head and is trying to scale any object to get up there. For the most part, he's done a great job, but we've had some minor mishaps along the way.

Here's the injury report:

• 1 bloody nose from falling on a nightstand.
• 1 bloody upper lip from falling off of a stool
• 1 completely bitten-through lower lip from falling face-first on the sidewalk.

It's been a bloody month.

On top of all of that, he vomited all over his crib after he bit through his lip (most likely from ingesting the blood) while I was attempting to see the dentist. He's also had a pretty gnarly cold for the past 10 days. He's been a trooper.

Here's what's new with us in a nutshell (Soren is whining in his high chair as I type):

• Soren starts "school" next week at the ASI Children's Center at Cal Poly. It's a great program (as much as out of home care can be) and we think he'll enjoy his 2 days a week there.
• Karl starts a new year at Cal Poly's College of Architecture. As weird as it sounds, we're both excited to be heading into the 2nd from last year in school. After a long road in school, 20 months left doesn't sound all that bad.
• I am going back to working 4 days a week (out of the house) and possibly going back to school at Cuesta in the Spring. I'll keep you posted about this.
• Karl is moving his business to a new shop in Grover Beach. After several years working at the "chicken coops", all of the guys he's worked with over the past 5 years are dispersing. Karl and our friend Ben (who originally got Karl the job at the Barn) are setting up shop together, and we couldn't be happier about this arrangement.
• Soren has started to say "Papa"! Although, true to form, it's very intermittent right now. Karl is stoked nonetheless.

So that's all for this update. I've got to leave for another (attempted) dental appointment. I'm sure there'll be more to come with all of these new things happening in our lives. Stay tuned....

Cool Outfit

A picture Karl took of our bedroom ceiling with some "architectural implications"

He makes this face whenever he hugs Violet. It looks like he's in pain...as if to say, "I love her so much it hurts sometimes."

Bathtime with Arabella