Nakita Baby

Ok, I really have just about had it with these au pair meetings! I am just not sure how/what to do at this point. I have planned some really cool events and I’m kinda sick of being treated like dirt by a massive amount of international au pairs. I mean, really….  here’s my for-instance that happened today that really just kinda pushed me over the edge. Last month, we all met at the Custer Street Fair and I thought they’d really enjoy the festival, the artists and performers. 90% (or more) of them left and did not seem to really experience the fair at all. During that meeting I asked each of them what kind of meetings they would enjoy having, especially through the summer. Several of them did not respond but to say they enjoyed the events and anything would be fun. And then a good portion of them said that going to the beach would be really fun.

So, sure enough, I take that idea and run with it this month. I choose a beach that everyone can get to really easily, and for free. I did not want them to have to pay much at all (other than parking or the train). I dug out some fun sporting equipment from the storage, including the badmitten, volleyball, soccer ball, beach tennis, horse shoes, etc. I had it all pretty much. Brought extra blankets and saved space for the entire group. People start showing up and I try to psyche them up to play some games. One or two would want to, but then a couple other would complain about something. Some complained about hunger or being tired and tried to convince others to leave. What a huge bummer. Others would show up and wonder where the others had disappeared too, so they did not end up staying long either. Literally, out of 30 au pairs only 2 really stayed and enjoyed the beach with me. They played a bit of volleyball, enjoyed the weather, the water, took fun pictures of themselves. That was sweet to see. It was just so disappointing to have the rest of the group treat the meeting time like this, and…. me really.

Bummer. I could rant on, but really why bother. It is what it is, I need to separate from that. The highlight was that the family did come with me and we had a really lovely afternoon at the beach despite. I am thrilled that they did too b/c otherwise I would have been sitting there pretty lonely and mad. So at the very least we had a lovely Sunday afternoon together!

Busy weekends like this make me look forward to Mondays ; )  Yesterday we dropped in at the Ethnic Arts Festival. We always enjoy that one. It was quite warm though…. as it has been the entire week. The heat is physically draining and makes activities somewhat less enjoyable with so much effort needed… unless, of course, we can incorporate water! But certainly not complaining b/c it’ll be just a few short months that we wish we had this heat again! I’d rather have this weather than the cold anytime. And not to mention the SUNSHINE! I am so thrilled to be able to absorb so much natural Vit D, it’s been so healthy for all of us! Playing hard and sleeping great!

Anyway… yes, Monday is welcomed this time around. Looking forward to some fun stuff this week, but not too much to overwhelm (me) ! I’m getting quite a bit larger and much slower ; )  So at that point where I enjoy a little more home-time, or down time on a beach ain’t so bad either!

Time for me to turn in…. and inevitable grow some more!

Hectic weekend led to a semi-restful Monday. Starting last week, Friday, we made the insane decision that beach day at Foster and then a drive across Chicago (west-ward) during rush-hour was a wise idea. May not have been so bad if we weren’t in the midst of a torrential down pour, and we hadn’t had the beach day from hell. Well…. it was the getting there and settled that was slightly insane, and then we were thrilled to be there. But apparently it was Chicago’s half-day/last-day of school and it’s “tradition” for everyone to head to Foster on that Friday! And yep…. I had no clue of this lil’ tradition and got suckered into the trek. So parking was a nightmare. Probably a good mile or so from the beach. Beach totally crowded, people on top of each other, which for the J’s just does not fly. BUT…. it was so stinkin’ hot that it was a blessing to be settled and cooling off in the water!

The drive to the b-day party was a nightmare, but again, once we finally arrived, the skies totally cleared and the kids had a blast with their friends. It was a super fun time for all. Of course we all returned home completely wiped out and totally needed to wash people down. It was a late night to say the least.

Sat. I had an au pair meeting, meeting the au pairs at the Custer Street Fair, definitely one of my favorites. S woke up feeling kinda funky. He had a rough night the night before, and was not feeling great that day. He passed out for a nap just before I needed to leave, so I ended up taking K and D to the fair instead of everyone. I met up with the au pairs, and we saw a bit of the fair, but unfortunately, we had to head out quickly as I had another meeting to get to. Kids were bummed and I felt bad b/c they hadn’t gotten to wander the fair much.

Evening meeting was the mamas/daughters group and it was really really nice. I am getting a good feel for where this is going and how it’s evolving and look forward to the time when the girls are involved in the meetings. Looks like we are going to attempt one moms meeting a month and one girls meeting a month. It’ll be great to see how things transpire when the girls are participating.

Father’s Day was lovely and low key. The kids picked out a new bike helmet for daddy’s gift as he’s been quite the biker lately. He’s got the bike and now the helmet and enjoying the exercise he’s getting and the additional special time he’s getting with the kids. The kids each drew nice pictures for him. That is really D’s thing. She loves to draw book-fulls of pix and thoroughly enjoys giving her art to her loved ones. So sweet.

So. After a lounging morning we decided that K and S could get out to the Brickworld festival for a bit and I would hang with the other 2. S was still not feeling tip-top shape so it was not worth trekking around with him and D is not that totally into Legos that paying her admission was worth it. After they got their little traps around the festival we stopped by the garden to see what was left standing…. not much at this point. But hopefully we’ll get at least 1 vegetable out of the whole thing. : ) After that stop-over we headed back to Custer Street Fair. It’s a fun festival and I enjoy peeking around at people’s cool stuff. I swear every year, that the next year I will have a table there. But each year comes and goes and I fail to get my butt in gear to do so. Maybe next year will finally be the year. At least I’d hope so!

Ah… so headed home and everyone crashed. That’s pretty busy for us as I kinda love the more mellow weekend times, but it was really fun and worth it all. S was still not up to par as of yesterday and so we opted to stay home today and kinda catch up and enjoy some down time. Today he’s kinda back and forth on whether on the mends or not. Not even sure what’s happening with him as he seems to only have stomach issues. No fever, nothing else to go on. What I think is going on is teething. Those stinkin’ molars still have not completely come in and I think there’s lots of drool making its way down to his little tummy and he’s got some major upset. I started him on probiotics yesterday seeing as he’s not nursing anymore, I thought that might help. I am hopeful this will pass soon. W/o a fever, cold or any other symptoms I have no clue where to go. He’s diapers are so loose, but yet not so frequent, and he still wants to eat and drink. Thought not eating a ton (or as usual) he wants to eat. And he’s drinking great. So go-figure. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.

Had a good day of Blockus and Wii, drawing and movies. I love those kinda days with the kids, and enjoy the down time for myself. I have been pretty pooped lately. I think it’s time to start turning in far earlier than I have been lately. The belly is growing and baby’s super active. I feel hungry every 2-3 hours and it’s tough to keep up! But so eager and looking forward!

And on that note…. I think I will do as I suggest and hit the hay.

Yes, it’s happened… just when I said it wouldn’t be for awhile…. the nesting syndrome has kicked in. This is the second go-around. I suppose we are scoring a once per trimester at this point. I don’t know what comes over me when it hits, but man it becomes quite the obsession to just DO! So this time around it’s a big one. I felt the dyer need to purge. Clean, purge, and slight reorganization. So much so, we will have a garage sale next weekend! ; )

Not sure how the family reacts to my sudden nesting mania episodes. So far, no major complaints. I never really expect anyone to help out (unless it’s furniture moving and I’m prego… then SBJ needs to help me out a bit). And he is so graciously there to do as I order : ) So it started late last week with the bedrooms and then Saturday I tackled the dinning room. I have the living room and kitchen left, and my goal is to get through them this week so that we can have a garage sale on a nifty 70-something degree, sunny, Saturday. Place looks great and thrilled with as much as we’ve gotten done so far. The purging of just stuffs feels awesome too.

We had an awesome day today. The weather was amazing. The fam joined along with me on my au pair meeting adventure. I was doing my monthly meeting with them at the park and the kiddos got to run around a lot with daddy in the sunshine all afternoon. It was such a beautiful day. Afterwards we headed over to G’pas to check out the garden’s latest status. And guess what?!? We have sprouts! It was a thrill to see peas, carrots, onion, peppers, sunflowers and what we even thing might be the ambitious beginnings of watermelon! Super fun. And the kiddos got some cool time with g’pa fixin’ his basketball hoop and shooting hoops. Really looking forward to this week…. yea go-figure. The gripper about our schedule is looking forward to this week! Nope, classes still intact, and busy as ever, but feeling great…. maybe it’s the nesting hormone got’s me on a high or something? ; )

Life’s been so busy here, and yet in ‘peace only’.

That’s always a blessing isn’t it? I reflect on where I last left off and we had just celebrated K’s 8th birthday. It’s sureal how much he has grown both physically and mentally over the last 6-ish months. There have been tremendous changes and I’m thrilled to say that much of the emotional rollercoaster that we were riding along with him has seemed to be slowing down, if not to a halt. There have been far (far) fewer emotional bursts that it’s felt quite pleasant and joyful hanging out with this amazing little man. He’s a joy and a wonder. I’m so proud and honored to be able to share life with him on a daily basis.

We are our first check up with our new midwife towards the end of March (and yet another visit just yesterday). The first visit went quite well, aside from her not being able to track a heartbeat! Little buggar was running for sure and gave her a run for her money. After about 5 or more minutes of playing hide and seek she asked if she should keep looking. I was feeling pretty great and did not feel it was totally necessary to actually hear a heartbeat. And wouldn’t you know it, just a week and half later, over Easter weekend I felt the baby for the first time! Very exciting. This one is very active and much earlier than I felt the others during pregnancy. Just yesterday we had our recent visit and this time we found a heartbeat. That was super fun, reassuring and just plain joyful. We have our 20 week ultrasound is just under two weeks away and I’m really excited. On the one hand I can’t believe it’s already been 20 weeks and complete flip, I can’t believe I have 20 weeks more : )

Aside from the typical classes and such keeping us busy, K had his Princess Bride Show. Three full performances and he did such a fabulous job. He really thrived during that class. Not only in the acting department, but the social as well. He met some new people and developed some new friendships and I am so proud of all that he accomplished. He worked really hard and felt really comfortable in all that he did. It took me so long to post pix and videos to Facebook, I will have to take the time to get them up here as well. The show was fabulous and everyone did phenominal.

So let’s see, since Princess Bride ended, K’s started up natural science classes at Emily Oaks and really seems to enjoy it quite a bit. He’s got that going and a game club till the start of summer. D’s still finishing up the girl scouts session as well as two gymnastics classes, and next week starts a shorter stint clay class. All of this will be over by the end of May. And Mr. S is finishing up his lovely music class with Ms. Leah. He just loves his music class and we are really enjoying these last few weeks of class. Other than that, we have a park day on Thursdays and other random classes that we have thrown in here and there. I am feeling pretty ready for summer to come along and for us to have everything yet nothing to do. I’m feeling that hoarding feeling of family time now. I remember feeling this during the end of S’s pregnancy. The overwhelming feeling that things are about to change drastically for all and just wanting to cherrish this time right before. Not over-booking ourselves (as I feel we kinda are right now) and just cherrishing the simple times of being together. It’s all positive just a strong longing and desire to cherrish this before it changes. It is going to be a lovely summer of beaches and pools, and working our new garden at Grandpa’s house! I am looking forward to it!

Recently, D’s feeling changes a ton too. She seems to have picked up K’s emotional rollercoaster where he left off : ) Her 6th b-day is coming around the corner and she’s going through some woes of her own. Lot’s of lost teeth and an energy that can not be harnessed in any way, shape or form. She’s discovering lots of things socially she’s not too sure where she fits in to the mix and that’s a challenge as well. I feel she wants to be doing more than she is currently capable of and that’s causing frustrations for her as well. It’s been interesing to say the least. She is an amazing being. Recently we attended this annual Reptile Fest downtown and as cool as it was, I was more than happy just looking from afar. Ms. D walked straight up to several critters and held them without qualms. It was remarkable. (Yes, the pic above his her taking a snake in her own bare hands…. Yipes!) She had a blast. We all did for that matter, but all in our own ways : )

We just celebrated Grandpa’s and Grandma’s birthdays. We took each out for a special birthday meal and that was fun to see them each. With G’pa we also saw the new movie, How to Train Your Dragon and that was just incredibly good. G’pa treated us to a 3-D show and that was very fun. S even sat through the entire show! Remarkable. I also had the privelege of seeing a “grown-up” movie in the theater just last weekend as I took the au pairs to the local theater for our monthly meeting. We saw Date Night and I have to say it was incredibly, roll-on-the-floor-in-laughter funny! It was so hilarious. A must see in my book.

Probably the biggest change this month has been our families conversion to vegetarian/veganism. It’s something I’ve been on the verge of doing for myself and recently saw the movie Food Inc…. and…. yipes. That just pushed be over the edge. After having SBJ watch it as well, he was onboard with the idea and we took the plunge. Vegetarian was easy, and our family has been eating quite healthy since. Even better than before, and I thought we were all farely healthy before. But it’s been better recently. I’m working on the vegan portion as dairy is imbeded in just about everything, and the kids have some staple stuff that they just really love. I want this to feel like something they have gained and not something that has been taken away. Likewise, I don’t anticpate them being “hard core” about it either. If we are out at Subway and they want a turkey sandwich… so be it. This is not a personal, moral decision they can make just yet in their lives, but my hope is that I’m laying a strong foundation of really healthy eating choices in their lives. When I prepare at their food at home it is mostly vegan and at the very least vegetarian, and that makes me feel really good.

Anyway, what I have noticed is subtle changes. It’s still really early and this feels new to me in the way of meal preparation, but everyone has been really happy an satisfied with meals that have come to the table. That’s thrilling. But some of the very subtle changes that seem to be surfacing are the kids cravings and K’s allergies. He does not seem to be as affected lately, and them trees are still bloomin’ so I know we are not out of the woods yet. But he seems to be feeling and appearing less affected. Not totally better, but less affected. D’s habit of asking for chocolate 10 times a day has subsided as well. In fact, today, I noticed that she had not asked but once. We were in the grocery check-out and she did ask (as it was in front of her face), but when I suggested fruity Mentos instead she was totally ok with that. That would not have necessarily happened before, and I had always in the back of my mind, questioned whether she was getting the protein that she really needed for her high-energy body. I had done some reading that the craving of chocolate or sweets could potentially be linked to the lack of protein in a diet. And because she is so high-energy, I wondered if that could possibly be a playing factor. Now… eating so many more veggies in the day, on top of all of the tofu and beans that they have been very willing to try (and even enjoy eating!!) , she is getting so much more for herself and is maybe, finally heading to a more balanced self!?

Oh, time will tell on these premature discoveries. What I do realize is that everyone in general is feeling pretty great. And I am so thrilled they are onboard with “my” agenda. It’s an exciting adventure and I look forward to the point down the road where I can say we are completely vegan and thoroughly happy with the change.

Hmmm… so I feel I’ve gotten myself up-to-date, but also really need to committ to making entries more often. Shorter more frequent updates seems better to me than these long overdue ones (of which tend to be water-downed versions of things going on). I have found that Facebook is far too much of an diversion from my blog and that’s not necessarily a good thing. I don’t know that I can step away from Scrabble, but I am going to attempt to spend more time here than there!

So yes, after my last post, I figure ‘why not? I’m on a roll!’

This is a 9 min clip of the 30 min show running for the whole month of September! Yea!

It’s been far too long since I’ve update our doin’s…. It’s been a really really nice summer so far. We’ve only had one pretty intense week of heat and otherwise the weather’s been completely amazing!