New Home

As you can tell Jake is very happy with the home we're planning to buy. Our offer was accepted, we had our inspection (all went well), now we're in the attorney review. Then it's loan process. Can't wait! We close mid April and we're so excited to be moving into our new space.

Diaperless

Jake has started to wear underwear more and even when we go out, so as long as we're near a washroom. He's has to be with us too since we're so paranoid of spillage.

At home he's wearing underwear, thankfully b/c having a half noodly boy in the dead of winter never feels right. So now he wears his diaper to nap and sleep. We maybe able to stop the nap b/c his diaper is not wet, after a week's worth of watching. So by the time #2 comes around we'll have 1 out of diapers. It never bothered us that he wasn't potty trained earlier or isn't even now. We're the "not pushy" type and he will do diaperless, eventually. I can't keep changing him when he's 10 - hahahaha.

At least by the summer he'll be able to run around in shorts w/o a bulk diaper, which is great.

I get 5 months before we go to newborn diapers again. So small!!!!

Turkey Cheese

Here are pictures from the ultrasound on Tuesday. Jacob named the baby "Turkey Cheese". It was nice to get so many pictures! We do not know the sex of the baby yet. We'll find that out at the next ultrasound sometime in 20 weeks.

Updates

We have moved to my parents. Sold our condo in Chicago back in August. It's been hectic with the move and settling here.

Here are some recent pictures from Halloween of our blue monster.

Thanksgiving was great. Had Tim's parents over with us here with my parents and HJ. It was a full house and Jacob loved it.

Busy with work. We're looking to move in spring.

New Look

Tim took Jacob to get his hair cut. His is his new hair style. I was shocked, not mad or anything b/c we'd talk about doing it and hair will grow out. It took me a little bit to get used to but I also have mommy eyes, where everything is cute to me b/c he's mine.

Getting the Scoop

Summer 08

Quickly

Vacation was great. I feel like I can do another one. But alas we have our next big life changing event, we're moving. We put our home on the market and got an offer quicker than we had anticipated, which is great. Of course the move is now a month away - less now. We do not have a new home lined up. We're moving back home, to my parents until we find or new home.

We just went through inspection and the review period is done. Just waiting on a few more things but it looks like we're well on our way to moving. ugh!!!

It is so sad to say goodbye to our home/city/life here but I know new and wonderful things are in store for us, especially a backyard for Jake. Even being at my parents he gets a backyard there, which is great for him.

We close on the 8th. We plan to move out and be gone by the 6th. Then after our closing we'll start to focus on what or where we want to be. Everything is happening so quickly but it's also so exciting!

Suburbia here we come!

Vacation

We've been gone the past 9 days in sunny hot beach weather, Florida. It was hot when we arrived and steaming hot when we left. What a worthwhile trip for us.

Tim is done with his tests and classes. He has begun his job hunt. The 3 girls who came to work here for 3 months left a week ago, so no more travelling to another office for me. Care for Jake is back to normal and we're back!

2 years of craziness with school schedules and work for me is over. Of course we have new ones but this one is done! We celebrated it by going away for a week to Florida. It was great. No schedules, no worries or care. Just hanging out at the beach with Jake. He loves the beach and loved being in the ocean.

It's good to be home. This is probably one of the few vacations that I've come back feeling rested. I suppose doing nothing for a week will do that to onself.

Updated Picts

I like this one. So cute! Mommy and my little one. This was taken at my sister's a few months ago when the Yu's were visitng.

Sweet little Aara and Jake. Cousins together. They both did their best trying to smile. How precious!

We were at a wedding and Jake did so well at the reception. Here is is posing! So cute!

I love this look b/c it's his "look" when he's being so cute. Also a great little poser!

Market

We are on the market along with so many others. One great benefit is that our place is cleaner than we've ever had it. We have not pursued any home searching ourselves yet. We want to first sell our place and go from there. Although now that our house is cleaned it's a lot easier to live in it.

One week till vacation! Ok, semi workcation for me but away from the office. We'll be on the beach and Jacob gets what he's been telling us he's wanted - the beach and ocean.

1 more exam - for Tim - to get certified. This is the easiest, so it is said, from the others but needed to get certified. He's also looking for jobs, hence the hold on house hunting b/c we have no idea where we'll end up, but I have faith so no worries.

I'm semi-back and very excited about our next adventure with selling and buying - new jobs - of course then there is daycare. But the weather is somewhat warm? Yesterday was great - 80's and humid - just as you'd expect here. Today is cold and raining. I'm happy to not have snow.

Life is good and we're all good.

Aftermath

Classes are done, student teaching is done. We spent our first weekend as a family since ummm January? The crazy times are now over and we're back to normal crazy. Tim has one more exam to complete for his teacher certification. He is starting to apply at positions. We are in the works of putting our place up for sale. So it's a new sense of busy for us but one that we are doing together, which is nice.

We have 3 weeks till vacation!!! Going to hit the beach and hopefully do nothing! Let Jacob have his airplane ride and beach. He's told us that he wanted to build sand castles and go see the ocean. I told him 3 weeks till we can do that.

It's nice to have normalcy back. More than anything it's nice to be together as a family and not have to rush to do one thing or another by yourself but having your family there to do it together.

Right now Tim is out in our front porch potting some plants. Jacob is digging into the dirt, which he's loving, and placing the dirt into the pots. My 2 gardeners. Me? Work. My work life will come to its own end in another 3 weeks. The 3 girls working for me in India head back the week I go on vacation. So no more traveling to the other office and frantically trying to work through meetings. It will be nice!

So we're back with new adventures but the big one is done! I'm so grateful to have family to help me through this time.

Update on Chaos

So the last time I blogged we were getting signs of relief with Tim's mom visiting to help us with Jake. Then it was a whirlwind. I went to India for work for 2 weeks at the beginning of March, which threw off another week for me to adjust back. Shortly thereafter the 3 girls that work for me came from India, they're working here for 3 months. Then visitors from out of town for a weekend with the arrival of my sister, her husband and their adorable sweet little girl.

Along with this Tim has begun his full time teaching and he's gone everyday so on Sunday through Wed we (Jake and I) go to my mom's b/c she watches him while I'm in the office (with the 3 girls from India but it's our other office so I have to drive there). Being at my mom allows me to spend time with my sister, who's suffering with jet lag that's longer b/c her little 1 year old isn't adjusting as quickly. Then on Wednesday night we come back home.

This week was unique for us b/c on Monday we had handymen over to paint our basement and fix up things we needed to get done. We are in a bit of disarray but hope to recover this Saturday by organizing our place to put it on the market. My wish is to put it up in a week or two and pray we have people who are interested.

What else? Needless to say, planning for meals has gone out the door. Right now I'm just eating whatever we have and at my parent's at least my mom is there to feed us, even though it's Korean (I love Korean food but there is a limit even to eating the same thing, but beggars cannot be choosers).

This is our life for the rest of this month. Today however, I decided to work from home. As much as I know I should make an appearance right now sanity is in order for myself. I think I'm also suffering from a slight possible cold, which isn't at it's fullest yet. Jake is sick. So is my sister and her little girl.

So this is why I haven't written in awhile. I have had little time to stop and think, let alone write. Now back to work.

Relief

We have Ginny for a week. What a blessing! Jacob will be cared for and I can go into the office. Perfect timing for us b/c we don't have any sitters available to us for this week.

Jacob loves having his nanny with him and she's loving the time with him.

Final week of 7. 4 day to go. The end of phase one is near.

Week 6 Ending

We are done with week 6 and now we're approaching the final 4 days. Next week Tim doesn't have to be at school on Friday b/c the school is closed for some reason, so his final mini teaching is for Thursday. Tim's mom is going to be with us to watch Jacob, a blessing! At least peace of mind for me.

Then Tim gets a few weeks before he begins student teaching. We head into 8 weeks of full time teaching. He will have to prepare lesson plans for the entire day and will be gone all day.

This is where things get interesting. I'm not sure about how we're going to manage Jacob's care. Our current reliable sitter is going through some financial problems and may not make it through to March. I've been praying and I know it will work out. We'll have to be creative.

As always it's been an interesting week but it's Friday and we've made it through. I plan to enjoy this weekend with some Jacob and Mommy time!

President's Day

I am thankful for President's Day, it's a selfish reason. Tim didn't have to go teach so he could be at home to watch Jacob, which allowed me to go into the office.

I'm at home today with Jacob who's sitting next to me, as he's watching some Sesame Street while I can catch up on some emails. There is a guilt with having him watch it b/c we don't usually let him, but without a sitter this is our only option. The good thing is that we're only doing this for 2 more days b/c we get relief on Sunday.

Our other sitter will be here on Thursday and Friday, which is great. But next week is our last week of mini teaching and Ginny is coming! Then Tim gets a 2 week break from mini teaching and he can focus on finishing up his one class, which ends in March. He picks up another one but we can all remember how everything piles on the end of the semester.

We have made it through 5 weeks. Just this and next. Then it's the next hurdle which will come in due course.

Surviving and making it happen. Can't wait for the end of it. Soon!!!!

Mono & more

Not us. Our sitter for Mon, Tues and Wed has mono. She was sick last week with a cold. This week I talked to her Sunday and she confirmed she was coming this past Monday. Monday - no show. I found out her cell phone battery died and she got into a car accident. So she can still drive the car and said she'd be over on Tuesday. I get a text on Tues morning saying she is going to the ER. I felt like I was in someone else's nightmare. I had to give her benefit of the doubt b/c you just never know. If she really wanted to get out of sitting then she could have never called me back, but she sounded honest.

Tuesday night I get the call - she has mono. So that ended our sitting relationship with her. We need for the next 2 weeks and there is no way she can do it. She felt bad but at least we can prepare.

So that was end of week 5 for us. We worked it out (I worked at home) and Tim had to miss one day to teach b/c I had to be in the office for meetings.

Week 6 - Monday is President's Day so Tim doesn't have school. I can be in the office. I'll be at home on Tues and Wed. Then back in the office on Thur and Friday. Busy busy busy week.

Week 7 - Tim's mom is coming to watch Jacob! Yeah!!! It's his last week of mini-teaching so we get a 2 week daytime break (no sitters needed) and just dealing with school.

The 2 week break is before the crazier season of our lives. What we are going through now isn't even close to the next phase - more to come.

We will manage and get through it. It's a matter of how I'll turn out at the end of it all....hee hee.

Week 5

We start off week 5, so now we have 3 weeks left - yeah!! Last week was a bit brutal b/c our sitter was sick all weeek (Mon, Tues and Wed). So I was at home working and balancing Jacob. Our other sitter was available so I could make my appearances into the office on Thursday.

It was brutally cold here today, high of 1. We only went out to church and stayed in the rest of the day. Tim's also busy with school b/c he's being observed tomorrow.

Today, I made Chicken Cattatorie for dinner, slow cooker so 8 hours. It was very tasty! We have left overs for later this week.

I hope you're all warm.

Week 4 of 7

Week 3 for us was a bit odd b/c of the snow day on Friday, so we didn't require the sitter to come by and everyone else I know stayed home, if possible. Tim also didn't have to teach on Wednesday b/c the kids were off to a field trip, which he didn't have to go to, so we didn't need sitting.


We now begin week 4 and it's a nice relief to know we've made it through halfway. Already starting off with a bang - sitter called and she is sick (sounded horrible) so rather than have her come to get us all sick I told her stay home and rest. I'll work through it and get through my morning. I do have a conference call at 10:30 but it should work out.

The biggest struggle for us is meals. Tim needing every free time he has to study we have to really plan out our meals. Lunch is easy b/c you can always go light but having to get to a calss by 6 and getting ready (out the door), Tim needs to be eating by around 5. We've planned our meals (2 weeks in advance) and we cook Saturday, Sunday and Monday. That way Tues, Wed and Thurs we eat leftovers from our weekend cooking.

Another adjustment has been grocery shopping. The first 2 weeks we'd do our grocery shopping on the way home from church, which just left way too little time to prepare dinner, put Jacob down for his nap and eat at a decent time. So now our major bulk shopping is done on Friday and Saturday mornings is when I'd finish up the shopping (fruit market and other places need to be to get ingredients). Jacob is out of the house but Tim can study. We usually get back by lunch to start cooking up our meal.

So I think now at week 4 we have a somewhat schedule of events figured out and meals - so that we can just muddle through each day.

Week 2 of 7

This is now week 2 or should I say week 1.5 since it's Wednesday. Anyway, we are making it work, no choice. So week 2 of crazy life with work, school, mini-teaching, new sitter and all else. A lot of this is based on Tim having been gone everday for his mini-teaching. Then after week 7 he's done with that part. Then we head into a few weeks of catch up, which is spring break and then it's 150% crazier afterwards.

It's easier for me to do this in pieces b/c if I taken the entire semester it will only freak me out even more. Also milestones are good.

World of Jacob. As always quickly speeding away. He's writing a lot more, a few months ago he was up to 8 letters and now his writing has definitely improved even more and he has control in the letters he does write. I haven't counted how many but it's a lot. I really have to video it for future references. Tape ran out and I've been bad about restoring it.

Things helping me get through this period. Our weekends are really light, meaning no plans. I'm sure some of it is just cold weather. A lot more to do with Tim being able to study. Work has slowed eased, so I'm not working 2 shifts everynight, just every other night.

And American Idol has begun. Yes, I enjoy watching it. It's my one addiction, I admit. I watch alone b/c Tim has classes, so he'll be a stranger but I can be there in support with Jacob.