Procrastinating

Well, we're back from our trip to CA and it's go time.

We're moving July 20, so by my calculations we have 23 days to get the house packed up, utilities canceled, mail forwarded, new utilities set up in KS, goodbyes said... 

Yes, this blog post is mostly a way to avoid all that needs to be done.

Although I haven't been completely lazy...

Not bad right?

Why do we have so much stuff?!

I haven't even started on the girls' rooms.

Not to mention the kitchen

and our closets

and the outside shed...

Getting overwhelmed again.

I'm going to focus on the positive and be grateful that I no longer have to deal with this:

The areas marked by yellow arrows took me 2 hours to weed. We're talking maybe 4 square feet.

Oh and it's on a 45 degree angle.

Every time I look out my kitchen window, the weeds look at me with their thorny stems and dare me to quit what I'm doing, leave the two kids who are incessantly demanding my attention, and show them who's boss.

And every time I sigh, turn back to getting grapes, or making pancakes, or getting milk, and vow to tackle that hill once the kids are in bed.

Needless to say, one of the things we were looking for in our new house was a low maintenance yard.

Which reminds me. We've accepted an offer on our house and have had our offer accepted on a house in Kansas. Things are moving forward. We're up to our ears in paperwork, but it should all be solidified in a few weeks and then I'll post pictures.

Ok, I should go and pack.

Or keep sitting on the couch and watch Dual Survival...

Grandpapa

How fitting that on the day we got to visit Grandpa Pappas, who has a pool, it was warm and beautiful!

Maia and Aleks took advantage of the pool. The water must have been at least 80 degrees.

Look! Maia went underwater! 

And yes, that is the cutest bathing suit you've ever seen.

Ruby, of course, was her usual gorgeous self just sitting around.

Grandpapa (this is what Maia started calling him) enticed Maia out of the pool by telling her about the toys that are in his "cave."

The attic proved to be a little too scary for our 2 year old. Grandpapa promised her that they'd try again next year.

 Our Ruby Ann is named after Gordon's bride of 60 years.

Naming our daughter after her is a small expression of the love we have for my late grandmother and the special bond she and my grandfather share.

Ruby: Great-grandchild #11 

Maia: Great-grandchild #10

I should mention one other highlight of the visit. Grandpapa had a popsicles! Believe it or not, I think this was the first time that Maia has had one.

She. loved. it.

She kept asking for another "possum."

Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Kyhn

 On Monday we got to visit my grandparents at their apartment in Oakland.

It was such a treat to see them and so special to watch Maia and Ruby interact with their great-grandparents.

Maia loved looking at great-grandma's pop up books, bells, and kaleidoscopes. 

She also managed to eat all of great-grandma's blueberries, grapes, and strawberries.

Some of my earliest memories of grandma and grandpa's house involve eating pancakes made from scratch. Maia has inherited the Kyhn love affair with pancakes.

How fitting then that she got great-grandpa to read Pancakes with her.

Ruby explored the room by rolling from one end to the other. I think she's going to figure out every other way to get around and avoid crawling altogether.

Grandma was showing me a shirt that was embroidered for her and Maia just had to try it on. Maia thought it was a princess dress!

It's visits like this that make it so hard to be far away, but I treasure every minute we get to spend together.

We love you grandma and grandpa.

Maia Climbing

This was taken about 3 weeks ago.

I was holding Ruby in one arm and my phone in the other.

Please don't report me to child services.

Father's Day

It's Father's Day.

I totally missed the boat on planning anything special.

However, this is no indication at all of the respect and admiration I have for Aleks as a father.

He is endlessly patient,

spontaneously funny,

consistent in his love and discipline,

self-sacrificing,

and full of adventure.

My girls have no idea how lucky they are to have the daddy they do.

I love you honey. 

Thank you for being a strong father figure to our girls and giving them an example of what unconditional love is like.

(And thank you too for getting up in the middle of the night to help when our girls were itty bitty.)

 (OK, let's be honest, Ruby's still not sleeping through the night, so not just when they were itty bitty, but now too.)

California Sun

We made it to CA in one piece (just barely) and spent this morning enjoying the warm bay area sun.

Maia loves to climb. After I showed her how to go up the wall, she did it on her own every time after that!

This girly-girly loves her some motorcycle.

(She kept calling it a tractor. Was she born in Pullman or what?)

Ruby also enjoyed soaking up some vitamin-D.

Catching Up

There has been so much going on!

This will be a bit of a scattered mess, so hang in there with me.

Maia and Ruby are playing together a lot more these days.

Well, Maia plays with Ruby and Ruby tolerates it.

Ruby is 9 months old today!

She is such a sweet little baby. Ruby loves to make us laugh by making faces or reaching for Maia's hair. Anytime Ruby toots or sneezes, she looks up at us and laughs as if it's the funniest thing she's ever done. She's babbling a lot more and likes to clap her hands.

We haven't been getting a lot of sleep these days for 3 main reasons.

1. Ruby is about to cut 4 teeth

2. Ruby is on the verge of crawling

3. Maia is learning to use the potty

And it's #3 that we're losing the most sleep over.

I don't care what anyone says, diapers are the best! They are easy, contain messes, and are very portable.

Potty training is hard.

And I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.

This haunts me in my dreams.

Maia is doing really well. I'm so very proud of her. It seems she has a love/hate relationship with using the potty. She really wants to keep her panties/pull-ups dry. However, I think she wants to keep the potty dry too. We've been going at it for about 2 weeks now and looking back, I can say that we've made progress. It's exhausting. I'm exhausted. I think that I should get a treat every time Maia uses the potty.

I should clarify, I keep saying "I." Aleks has been an active participant as well when he's been home. Aleks has bravely taken on the challenge of finding us a home in Wichita. The first time he went, we found a house we loved in our price range. It was perfect. Except for the school district. We were prepared to make an offer, but after a lot of thought and discussion, Aleks and I decided that it would be best to try and find a house in a better school district. Mostly because the salary of a professor doesn't make private school an option and I have no desire to homeschool. So, he had to leave for Wichita again. Thankfully Aleks found another home that we love in a great school district. We're currently in the process of making an offer and we'll let you all know what happens!

Anyway, I no longer remember what my life was like before the endless hours spent sitting on the floor of the bathroom, encouraging Maia to relax, and sit on the potty for just a little bit longer.

Also, our house is on the market. I'm hoping no one comes with a black light and sees all the dried pee drops that I'm sure are scattered throughout our house.

Too graphic? I'm sorry.

Did I mention that I'm exhausted?

Ruby's taking it all in stride. And I hope she's taking notes too. I don't know if I can do this again. Maybe I'll have Maia potty train Ruby...

A few other things. I'm making a quilt. Here's just a glimpse of what it looks like. Aunt Gretchen, are you proud?

Aleks planned the sweetest day for me yesterday. He scheduled in a nap for me, sent to me have drinks with my girlfriends, and then made me a delicious dinner. With candles and music and wine. It was really nice to reconnect after a crazy two weeks. We should all be so lucky to have a partner in life like Aleks.