Girls Trip

Josh's Mom, Grandma and Aunt Julie decided to take a girls trip to San Diego last week!  So we were lucky enough to hang with them for a few days.  The kiddos got lot's of quality family time :)  Everyone had a blast!

A moment in time

I am not big on taking videos.  I take the odd one here and there with my phone but I am not an avid videographer.  Hopefully I won’t regret that one day…

I love photos.  There is something about capturing that single moment in time, that single emotion that I don’t think you can really get from a video.  You can set tell the story by capturing the environment and the emotion on someone’s face or in their movement.  And the light, it makes or breaks a picture.  My brother does an amazing job capturing people’s emotions on film and with nature light.  I aspire to be like him.

Here are a few shots I took the other night.  Don’t know why but that last one is maybe one of my favorite photos I have ever taken.  Well, maybe the second.  The dual thumb sucking picture is the best ever.

Weekend

The weekends just keep going by faster and faster it is crazy.  Saturday was a busy day so today we had a nice quiet afternoon at the flower fields in Carlsbad and hanging around the house.  Another busy week ahead!

Here are a bunch of pictures.  I swear I don't always have the camera out ;)

Emmy insisted on bringing and carrying her purse everywhere!

 Always stopping to smell the flowers.  I hope she never stops doing it.

Nice little tractor ride

 I don't take enough pictures of my handsome hubby

A picture of innocence.  For the moment anyway ahahaha.

ALWAYS pulling her hair.  

Up to no good!

This is Ryan's new smiling face.  He laughs through his nose and it is the funniest thing.

Rants and Opinions

I have reinstated my second blog, the ultimatemulti-tasker.blogspot.com.  I figured I should keep this one for all the amazingly cute pictures of my kids and save my rants and opinions for another place.  So if you are interested in hearing my stance on a variety of topics from working full-time to home phones, raising kids and making baby food, check it out.

My Beauty

 

Weekend

Another weekend has come to an end.  As always it was crazy busy but I loved every second of it.  Josh is heading out of town again this week for a few days so it'll be me and the kiddos.  So a crazy week ahead too!

We had a little Tupperware band

 Emmy's two current obsessions - coloring 

And reading books!

 

Ryan's obsession - magazines!  He goes absolutely nuts!

 

Emmy asked if Brother could play in her room with her.  Of course I spied on them and this is what I found.

Who is that handsome dude?

 

I tried out the bijorn so Ryan could face outwards.  Ryan dug it.  My shoulders, not so much.

Hmmm, grass...

My sweet little buddy, I am so in love.

Trying a teething biscuit for the first time.  He bit a chunk out of it immediately.  Pretty sure that isn't supposed to happen.

International Woman's Day - Can We Have it All?

Apparently today is International Woman’s Day.  Honestly, this is the first I have heard of this day, who would have thunk?  Ironically, I found myself reading a series of articles debating about whether or not women can really have it all?  Be able to balance a family and a career?  Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Anne-Marie Slaughter who previously held a senior position in the State Department published pieces on this topic (Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead and Why Women Still Can’t Have it All) with very conflicting opinions.   Sandberg, who has created a very family friendly work environment at Facebook says there are ways to juggle both.  As opposed to Slaughter who stepped down from her position to raise her kids.  I haven’t read either in their entirety but based on the articles I read that compared the two, I can’t believe they are even being compared.  Sure, if you work for Facebook and have a flexible schedule that allows you to work around your families schedules and probably work from home, etc., you should agree you can juggle both.  If you were literally living in Washington DC M-F and commuting home to be with your kids only on the weekends, then absolutely that is impossible!  If you ask me the shitty thing about the whole work/life balance thing is mothers really don’t have a choice.  Their employers dictate whether or not they can have the flexibility needed to be there for their family.  Someone else gets to decide whether or not you can have a flexible enough schedule to pick up your kids from school, telecommute or work part time.  You can pitch it any way you want but if there are policies in place or your Supervisor has a different opinion you are screwed.  Look at the people who work for Yahoo who may have taken the job because they had the ability to work from home only to be told they have to be in the office 5 days a week.

Yes, I am a working mom who is constantly trying to find work/life balance.  Is this my choice?  No.  Did I try and ask for more flexibility?  Absolutely. Unfortunately, I was told I had to be in the office 5 days a week.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not conflicted about what I am doing.  I am sad to leave my house every morning and the more I do it, it is still just as hard.  My favorite time of the day is when we are finally home together and I get to put on my sweat pants.  Unfortunately, I only get to cherish this moment for a few hours a day until we go to bed and do it all over again as I fly out the door at 7:30a the next morning.  5 DAYS A WEEK.  I live for the weekends, I start thinking about the next one Sunday night.   One of the articles I read actually spoke to this conflict stating there is such thing as mommy brain!  Not in the forgetful way, but in the I am so torn up inside trying to balance work and family way.

The Mommy Brain is a very real phenomenon, says Brizendrine, a neuropsychiatrist, who didn’t expect to want to stay “glued” to her child. A woman’s brain, she says, becomes “structurally, functionally and in many ways irreversibly” altered by motherhood. “In modern society,” Brizendrine warns, “where women are responsible not only for giving birth to children but working outside the home to support them economically, these changes in the brain create the most profound conflict of a mother’s life.”

So who is right Sandberg or Slaughter?  Both.  It all depends on what company a mother (and father) work for and how accommodating their bosses are.  So for all of you who are in the position of power to make decisions on how flexible your work environments are going to be, remember, you are dictating the family lives of everyone that works for you.  Your decisions don’t just affect your bottom line, but the lives of the children of the employees who work for you.  Please do not take those decisions lightly.

Ryan

Ryan went for his 6 month appt this week.  He is holding steady at 22 lbs 7 oz and 28 1/2".  Thank God he weight gained has slowed down or I was afraid he'd hit 30 lbs before he was one!  He is ready to be on the move.  Rolls everywhere and doesn't like to be held anymore.  He still giggles at everything Emmy says and does, he just wants to do whatever she is doing.  He slept through the night for like 5 nights but that was short lived.  He wakes up every morning around 4:30a doesn't sleep much more until 6a when I get up with him.  So yes, we are still exhausted all the time!  He LOVES his blankie and thumb as much as Emmy loves hers.

His most recent trick is trying to clap his hands.  He loves when I clap mine and has now started trying to copy me.  He was so proud of himself!!

A whole lot of pics

 Honk honk!  Check out my new ride!

This picture does not give his thighs justice...

When did she get so big?!

 Constantly performing :)

This is pretty much how you will find Ryan these days.  Rolling around on the floor, soaked with drool with his tongue out.

Ryan and his new little buddies.  So damn cute!

Bath time just reached a whole new level of fun!

Why do we work so hard and pay so damn much to live here?  I've been questioning living in San Diego a lot lately... Until we have a weekend like this one - 75 degrees and sunny - and I remember this is exactly why we live here!

 

Stoned cold chillin in the swing.  If I left him in here any longer, I swear he would have fallen asleep.  You could just see it in his eyes "this is the life".

I think it took Josh longer to put the kite together than it was actually in the air ;)

And the dancing continues!