Day 59 - Roots

In my adult life I have relocated 3 times. First to Vancouver for 3 years, then to Virginia for 5 years, and now we're 2 years into our Indianola lives. This is our final stop. We love Indianola for so many reasons and I finally feel home. Making friends in a new place as an adult is difficult. People are busy, they generally already have a set group of friends and don't need to add more, and finding people with similar values/hobbies/etc. doesn't always happen right away. I've been working on establishing our roots in Indianola and building our friend network. Sometimes I get frustrated and feel like I’m not really getting anywhere. Well, tonight was the opposite of that. We went to the Kid's Halloween Party at the Clubhouse and between neighbors, friends we've made along the way, and Paul's preschool class, we knew most of the people at the party. It was so great and fun and it feels so good to know we're really getting established in our home. Oh- and it was Halloween and these little munchkins are adorable!

Day 58 - My Perfectionist Husband

My perfectionist husband:  You can't ask Matt to do a project "real quick".  He needs to think it through, lay out a plan, and execute the plan precisely.  Tonights task was carving 3 pumpkins.  We're a match made in heaven.  I only like to scoop the guts and bake the seeds.  Matt only likes to carve.  Perfect.  I scooped the 3 pumpkins and Matt got to carving.  I went upstairs to put the baby down and came back to the beginning of Matt's masterpiece.  I rolled my eyes.  2.75 hours later we had a final product.  And WOW!! What a pumpkin.  Nice work Matt.  I am remembering to appreciate you for your special traits and skills.  Planning, project execution, and perfection.  Well done.

Day 57 - The Running Room

Well, the house didn't pan out... but it was fun looking at it.  ONLY because my little babies are so funny in big empty houses.  They love to look around and explore.  They dubbed the living room the Running Room.  Round and around they went.  It's so fun to watch them.

Day 56 - Future

Matt and I plan to someday (hopefully soon) become home owners again.  We've been waiting and watching the market.  Waiting and watching.  Today a new house popped up that fits lots of our categories.  We took a walk and peaked in the windows and walked around the property. It's so exciting to wonder and dream and speculate.

Day 55 - FREEDOM!!!

I got a little antsy today and needed some grown-up socializing.  Matt and I planned to go to a party at the

Clubhouse, but when it got cancelled so did our plans.  So instead, I headed out to the city! ALONE!!!!  Matt was so kind to offer to watch all 3 kids for the afternoon and DURING COUGAR FOOTBALL!!!  I was able to enjoy a ferry ride, some time in the city with Amanda, and lots of silly girl talk.  It was so great to be out and about on a normal day like this.  Left to my own devices.  With so many responsibilities these days I really REALLY appreciate times like this when I am nearly responsibility free.

Day 54 - Sometimes I know stuff

So far in my career I've made 3 dramatic changes that continually lands me at the bottom of the totum pole.  I usually get up to speed fairly quickly and that's the fun part.  I like learning new things.  It's not fun to continually be the rookie, but I do enjoy learning new things.  This job is a little challenging because it's not like anything I learned in school or any of the work I've done.  The work talk is like a foreign language.  Today I had a meeting to attend and I was the point on the project.  I brought back-up because I was nervous talking to these guys about the scope.  Well, turns out I didn't need the help.  They asked questions, I knew the answers, I provided more info, it looked like my info was sufficient, and I was adequately prepared.  It was such a relief to realize that I'm at a level where I can *maybe* start to hold my own.  Even if it is just catching back up with the rest of my peers. Somewhere, someday, my wide range of experience will prove invaluable.

Day 53 - A Package from Grandma

We got a package in the mail from Grandma Dawn tonight.  Paul and Olivia were so excited to see what was inside.  She packed a box full of Halloween fun and the kids loved it.  Silly straws, fun flashlights, treats, and stickers.  It was really fun to see them so excited.

Day 52 - Down Time

Tonight I was getting the kids in bed and had this tense feeling all over my body.  I needed a little downtime.  It would have been a good night for an early bedtime and to catch up on some sleep, but I needed some awake Lisa time.  I grabbed my current knitting project (Will's Christmas stocking) and headed to the tv.  I watched one of MY shows.  I haven't seen one of my shows since I was on maternity leave.  It was great.  I knitted and watched a funny and emotion evoking show that Matt would hate.  I felt the tensing throughout my body melt away.  It was a very refreshing feeling.  It may have been a better idea to get the extra sleep, but my mental state was much improved by having a little zombie time.  Oh, and I had some chocolate milk. :)

Day 51 - Peace

Last night was.... challenging.  There were a few sibling assaults that horrified me.  Then there was bedtime... but enough about the bad.  On to the good!!

A night like last night REALLY helps me appreciate nights like tonight.  My babies weren't spectacular, but they were good.  We had no time outs and almost made it through the night fit-free (the fits we had lasted only seconds).  We played a bit, had a nice dinner, giggled some, had baths, watched a show while I got myself ready for the next day, and had a pretty good bedtime.  After last night I really started to wonder what I was doing wrong, but tonight, everything went just right and I was able to FULLY appreciate it.

Day 50 - New Opportunities

Today I went to learn more about a new job opportunity.  I've been working at the shipyard in Bremerton for 1.5 years and it is so depressing.  The morale, the surrounding, the work... so today was a refreshingly new opportunity!  The job is at Bangor and the work is very similar to what I do now.  But the change of scenery is very nice.  The water is cleaner, the location is safer, and it's closer to home.  It may not be the perfect job, but it's just a bit better in all sorts of ways.  The idea of a change of scene is very exciting!!

Day 49 - Pumpkin Patch!

I love fall and all the fun things that go along with it.  We took the kids to the pumpkin patch today to pick out our pumpkins, play at the farm, and have a little chilly fun!  Being a parent makes silly things like this SO much fun.  I appreciate the new way I can appreciate at things because of the way they enjoy them.

Day 48 - Girl time

I needed to go to Costco for a BIG shopping trip.  Lara wanted to go check out Costco.  We had fun shopping and laughing and hunting down all our stuff.  It was really nice to have someone to be silly with and who loved being at Costco as much as me.

Day 47 - Somebody else is cooking!

Tonight Mike came into town for the weekend and Les and Kathy came over too.  What was even better was they all cooked dinner at my house!!  We had a nice evening with wine and conversation and kids.  And it was so nice to have a break too!

Day 46 - Crock Pot

Yup.  Today I am just going to appreciate my crock pot... And maybe my food processor too.  These handy kitchen appliances make my job easy.  Lara put some meat in the crock pot in the morning, and it's ready to go that afternoon.  I needed several cups of shredded cheese and my food processor did the job in about 30 seconds.  Sometimes it's the little things that make life easier, and happier. I love my kitchen tools.

Day 44 - Deutsch Nacht

I've been planning our weekly meals in an effort to not completely freak out 4-5 nights of the week about how/what to feed our family.  This week we added a theme night to our rotation.  We will have one night a week when we eat a meal that is one of Lara's favorites or hales from Germany.  I wasn't intending to make her help me cook, but tonight we had our first Deutsch Nacht and she was there with me in the kitchen!!  We also took the opportunity to practice my German skills.  It was so much fun having a friend to cook with and laugh at my lame (but improving) German!!  And dinner was delicious too!

Day 43 - The Breeze

Indianola has a local newspaper that comes out monthly.  It includes information about the community, events, and tidbits about happenings around town.  We occasionally send in family updates like birthday, Lara's arrival, etc.  I hadn't read this month's Breeze yet, so I took it to bed with me.  I read it and read specific sections to Matt that I thought he might be interested in.  I love that we live in a place where this exists and it was so fun and homey feeling reading it with Matt.

Day 42 - Dance Party

We put Will in the walker for the first time tonight.  He LOVED it, as all our kids have.  We turned on some music and then silly things started to happen. 

Will started to wiggle a little and it looked like a little dance.  Then I jumped in and started shaking it.  Paul was skeptical.  Olivia wasted no time, she loves to dance.  Then Matt was dancing.  And pretty soon Paul decided it was cool to dance too.  There we were, 5 Fitches dancing in the kitchen.  So fun.

Day 41 - Day Date!

Matt and I went to breakfast today.  All by ourselves.  Lara watched the kiddos.  It was spectacular.  We've been getting out and doing more and more of these 'normal' things and I can really tell it's making a difference.  We are having so much fun just doing whatever sounds good at the time and reconnecting, hanging out like we used to.  It's good for our family and good for our spirits. 

It doesn't hurt that the eggs benedict was outstanding (made with pesto cream instead of hollandaise ~ can you even really call it benedict ~ I don't care.) and the Irish Coffees were delightful. 

Then we went exploring Bainbridge and even went on a little walk through the woods.  Sometimes the simplest things can be the most fun.

Day 40 - Our New Normal

Life is so incredibly different now that we are a family with small children.  Today was a wonderfully normal day that was busy with play and sugar and fun.  We went to a play gym with friends Lauren and Natalie.  Then we stopped home for a quick lunch.  After that Olivia and Will headed to nap time and Paul and I headed to a birthday party of one of the kids in his class.  Matt got a birthday celebration day that included many, many hours of college football watching, with a bit of childcare sprinkled in.  It's rainy and cold outside, but this busy schedule and just some time hanging around the house gives me a very warm and cozy feeling.

Day 39 - Forgiveness

Sometimes Matt and I disagree... Sometimes we're not very nice about it.  Sometimes I spend SO much energy hanging on to my anger...

But then sometimes, just the right combination of thoughts/feelings/ideas turns my heart and I'm able to open back up to the idea that everything maybe isn't as awful and dramatic as I've made it out to be...

It's so much more fun to be happy and nice.

Day 38 - This Face

Day 37 - Dancing Queen

I'm a closet ABBA fan.  Today I got caught.  One of my friendly co-workers asked if I like ABBA because there's a local musical featuring ABBA (which I'm now plotting a trip to).  I blushed intensely and admitted that I was a closet ABBA fan.  Then another co-worker played "Dancing Queen"... my kryptonite.  I can't hear that song without spinning in circles, arms raised, embracing the music.  For 3 minutes I laughed so hard I cried, all the while trying to control my urge to dance, giving in a few times.  And this happened at work.  I wondered if any of my joy would come from this place and there it is... thanks to ABBA.  

Day 36 - Patience

Tonight I made a decision to enjoy bedtime.  I approached it with a much calmer outlook and methods.  We took our time and I let my babies take responsibility for themselves and be active bedtime participants.  It really paid off.  We had a mellow, sweet, enjoyable bedtime.  I even read a long story. 

Day 35 - Coming Home

Vacations are great, but there's something very relaxing about coming home...

Day 34 - Toes in the Sand

We had lots of fun today.  But I always love walking on a sandy beach.

Day 33 - Perfect Day

We set out for our mini-vacation to the beach today.  I love it when a plan comes together.  We had such a great day!!  Lara brought her friend Lisa, and she was a delight.  We stopped for a picnic at Lake Crescent and it was easy, delicious, and perfectly broke up our drive with some beautiful scenery.  Then we got to our fantastic littl beach cabin and everything was great.  Matt got to hear the Coug game on the radio.  We took a short walk to the ocean.  Nobody got eaten by bears.  Dinner turned out great.  We watched the sunset.  We had a fire complete with smores. Bedtime for all 3 kids was a cinch (even with P and O sharing a bed. Then we taught our German friends to play cribbage.  I just couldn't believe how perfect it all went.  There was joy all day long!!!

Day 32 - anticipation

We are going on a mini family vacation tomorrow. I am so excited to head back to the ocean. All the prep work that goes into these trips is totally worth it. Sometimes the anticipation of the fun is almost as much fun!

Day 31 - please sleep sweet baby

Will is the absolute best baby in every single way... Except one. This little cutie will fall asleep in his crib easily at bed time and even naptime. No rocking, bouncing, shushing. He just gets it done. But the in the middle of the night, and frequently, he wakes up and won't go back to sleep without a visit from mommy. I'm exhausted. Cranky. Dumb. And living in a very thick fog. We have to fix this for everybody's sake.

So tonight when sweet Will woke up 2.25 hours after bedtime I refused. I told Matt Will needed to learn to go back to sleep. We went through this with both kids and I know you have to be desperate to listen to your baby cry, but its necessary.

I was thrilled when he got himself back to sleep after 25 minutes!! 15 were cranky complaining and 10 were full on screaming. But he did it. And I can see the light!!

Day 30 - Relaxing

There has been so much to do lately and so little free time (and sleep). Today Matt came home from work sick and didn't feel well enough to go to Les and Kathy's for dinner. I considered dropping the big kids off so I could have some free time getting things done, but didn't want to be rude and it had been a long time since we went to dinner at L & K's.

So we went. Me and the big kids. And we had such a good time. They love to play at grandma and grandpa's. I suddenly realized how relaxing it could be to sit and chat with a glass of wine, no chores, and somebody else making dinner!

Day 29 - Drive

Tonight I was driving home in my zippy little car and realized I was really enjoying myself. I love little fast cars and it was nice to slow down (my mind) and just enjoy the ride.

Day 28 - Sleep

After a huge weekend of fun, and with a mid-morning doctor's appointment for the babies, I decided to stay in bed this morning rather than push myself out WAY too early.  I got some work done later in the day and stayed extra long... but that few extra hours in my bed was true joy this morning.