Check, check, check

-- Chie and I got through our morning, even if it was tumultuous. Shopping with a teething toddler is definitely not on my top ten list. I really, really hope that these canines come through soon!

-- I got through two more tests in Behavior Analysis (it's a self-directed course; you read the material and take a quiz)

-- I got through it quickly enough that I had time to come home and edit some photos before pick-up time at Chie's childcare. It's the fastest editing job I've ever done-- 62 photos through Lightroom in 2 days. I have a bit of minor editing to take some spots off under Lizzie's nose and then they're ready for the viewing session tomorrow.

Whew! Off to pick up my crabby baby!

Edit: Oh! Oh! and we're actually having dinner. And it doesn't involve pre-cooked ingredients. We're having cod roasted with white wine, olives, and lemon zest, sauteed kale, and rice. And it's taking me about ten minutes to prepare. How beautiful is that?

Crap Party

In all the business of starting our business, I've been really remiss in posting pictures of my baby. Here are some recent pictures:



I think that she's gotten used to having pictures taken of her. Often, now, she'll just sit and do her thing. That is, unless she wants to PLAY with the camera.





Gus took these while we were out to dinner at Pastini. They asked if we thought she could manage a booster and we were like, "Sure. We'll give anything a try once." She liked it so much that we've now moved her up to our table and now the table top is her tray. And, as you can see, she's mastering utensils.











We've now gone scouting twice at Gus' elementary alma mater for a shoot we're doing in a week. I needed a test subject...

In search of managed soil

I feel like an immense weight has been lifted since I finished my last summer session class. I was just feeling so frazzled, in every area of my life, and I don't think that I could have continued much longer. The question, then, is begged: How am I going to do this fall term? Right now I'm registered for 13 credits. We've been discussing the possibility of me taking two night classes, as opposed to two afternoon classes, so that Gus would be home to watch the baby and reduce our childcare expenses. However, my semi-part-time job has the potential to increase, as the board just approved 10 hours a week (and a pay raise!). I don't have to do it but the truth is that I really like my job. I also like feeling like I'm contributing, in a real way, to our finances. Add to that work on our photography business and then the normal life of a wife and mother of a toddler and... I can feel my blood pressure increasing as I type that. Gus and I had a really serious talk the other night about expectations and actually tossed around the idea of doing some couples counseling in an effort to come to more of a meeting place. He tries to help-- he really, honestly does-- but I often feel like what he sees to be done and what's really there to be done are light years apart. We agreed that I would put together a list of everything that needs to be done, which I have yet to do, and I'm hoping that if we can really, for once, get on the same page then it might actually be possible to live a semi-sane life. It will definitely take more organization than I've ever implemented. Even though I like things to run smoothly, I'm really not as fabulous as I often come across at doing things to make that possible. As Gus pointed out, "Some times you slack, and other times you clean obsessively." He's right. And for our life to continue to function at the pace that it has been, and likely will for the foreseeable future, I need to find that middle ground once and for all.

Because I just haven't been posting...

here's a quick recap:

-- anniversary week started on Monday with flowers from Gus and also some gardenia scented candles (he got me one, single gardenia for my prom corsage and I LOVE the smell). Last night we went to the temple. Tonight will probably be low-key and then, with a little luck in the form of a babysitter, we're slated to go out on Thursday to our favorite restaurant. We'd talked about getting away for an entire night but I'm just not ready to leave overnight yet. Next year, maybe, for a weekend? It'll be our fifth then so a big to-do seems fitting.

-- swamped with class (huge amount of chapters to read, a test to take, and a paper to write), practicum, and work. I just wrote my boss an email and said, "If it doesn't HAVE to happen this week, I'm deferring it to the weekend."

-- Chie is doing amazingly cute things, like bringing us stuff when we ask her, taking us to what she wants, and climbing stairs standing up

-- I really need to remember to move the stroller over so I can get out for a run. It's good for Chie to be out in the air (I didn't have it yesterday and so we went to the park) and it's good for me too, even though I dread it until I'm actually out.

-- oh, and our website is finally in development. Hopefully we'll have an alpha version to show soon.

The advent of Swedish goodness

It was a long day yesterday. Long but fun. I woke up for the first time somewhere in the four o'clock hour as Gus printed out directions to our new Ikea. He was the avant-garde, securing places in the line to be among the first to tour the facility. I arrived a few hours later with child and Ikea-rabid neighbors in tow (the occupants of the two apartments downstairs, Jill and Val, are total Ikea devotees. They are best friends and regularly take trips together to what has been our closest store in Seattle. Needless to say, the opening has been eagerly anticipated in our stairwell). We got there at about 8:30, oohed and ahhed over all of the free gear that Gus had acquired, and bided our time. The employees were super pumped and did lots of marching drills, and then the flags were raised and the US and Swedish national anthems were sung. And then we were in. We had to walk through a gauntlet of employees that included screaming and pounding of those little rubber ears that are used at sports events (Chie was NOT a fan of the noise) and then it was up the escalators to the showrooms. We didn't last long there. Both of us decided that we were famished and so we went to the cafe to get breakfast. I had forgotten how cheap their food is! And it's so good too. After breakfast we toodled around for a while but quickly hit the "ok, let's jet" place. Chie was ready for a nap, Gus was past his limit, and the crowds were just increasing. In the end, he took off by himself and I waited a bit longer for J&V to finish their perusing. They were quite satisfied with the new store and bought a few bags worth of stuff: new textiles for V's bed, some cat and baby toys, and lots of food stuffs.

Once we were home we settled back in, but that part was short-lived for me because I had class that afternoon. My second speed class started on Monday; it's two days a week for five hours. I'm really psyched (no pun intended) about the material (the class title is Counseling) and the prof is phenomenal. He actually wasn't there yesterday, though, and instead we got to hear from his recently-former TA. John just finished his Ph.D. program, specializing in addictions and trauma, and the lecture was absolutely fascinating. I did take a 15-minute fiesta sometime around 4:00 because I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I'm very glad that I went, though, and that I actually stayed.

We collectively crashed last night. We traded off baby entertaining and ate fruit for dinner. I think that we were all in bed well before nine, a rarity for us. I'm still a bit wasted today but I have a lot to work on. Hopefully a morning nap will be in order soon.

Finished product

I promised a friend pics of our new living room photo wall, decorated with photography by yours trutly, so here they are. I would have posted the older images but those got dumped by Flickr to make room for new stuff, and I'm too cheap to pay the pro-price.



We gave the room a new arrangement as well. I love it even more than I'd anticipated. It makes the room feel bigger and just looks fabulous, in my humble opinion.



Closer shot of a grouping.



My newly green table. This had been one of our bedside tables but when we moved the bedroom around, I 86'd the tables. I am in love with this color and I think it ties the room together well.



A closer shot of the lovely roses that I bought for a baby shower I'm throwing tomorrow. I didn't notice until I returned home that they match my decor!