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.

Conversations

Aleks is out of town this weekend and so I've been with the girls. Alone. Having lots of 2 year old driven conversation. Here are some of the gems from this weekend.

In the car backing out of our driveway.
Maia: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: Driving.
Now out of the driveway and turning out of our cul-de-sac.
Maia: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: Driving.
Now heading down the hill, driving past the park.
Maia: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: Driving.
Turning at the stop light at the end of the hill.
Maia: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: Maia, all done asking that question. Let's have some quiet time.
10 seconds later.
Maia: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: (silence)


We went to the park yesterday during the farmer's market and it was super busy. I was standing off to the side holding Ruby and keeping an eye on Maia. I saw Maia head towards the ladder, which she has never climbed by herself. She started climbing and by the time I got to her, she was at the top not sure how to get down.
Me: Maia, I don't think you should climb the ladder unless I'm here to help.
Maia: No mommy, I'm just holding on!


We went to different park that afternoon and had to leave because it started to rain. Maia was telling me about it today in the car.
Maia: Mommy I was crying yesterday at the park with the train.
Me: Why were you crying Maia?
Maia: Well, I was so sad.

Listening to jazz in the car.

Maia: Mommy, that's a trumpet!

Me: Actually Maia, that's a saxophone.

Maia: No mommy, a trumpet!
Me.: No, a saxophone.
Maia: No, a trumpet!
Silence, then I realize I can't bear to have her thinking that a saxophone is a trumpet.
Me: Maia, that's a saxophone.
Maia: No mommy, that's a trumpet!
I let it go.


I'm having a friend over tonight and wanted to make margaritas. However I needed to get tequila which meant taking both girls into the store and  crossing my fingers that, in this small town, no one I knew would be there. (Unfortunately, everything was closed today because of Memorial Day.)
In the car-
Maia: We're not going to the grocery store, we're going to the liquor store!

A taste of the goodbyes to come

Tonight I was reminded of the bitter part of my bittersweet feelings about moving.

Keri, Andy, and Alden have been dear friends of ours since we've been in Pullman these last 3 years.

(Old picture from Dec. 2009)

They are all going to Thailand for 4 months on Monday because Keri was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship! (We're so excited for her. And her tenure binder!)

This means that I had to say goodbye tonight.

It's funny how having kids can really connect you to a place.

Being pregnant at the same time as a friend has the same effect. I don't know if we would have been as close to Keri and Andy if we hadn't had our kids around the same time, but I'm sure glad we did.

It was so great to have a friend like Keri with whom I could be a first-time mom. The summer after Maia and Alden were born will always be filled with golden memories of sitting together, nursing our babies, and talking about sleep, poop, spit up, or other baby related topics.

Among other things, Andy can always be counted on for his dry sense of humor and delicious meals. He passed on an amazing bagel recipe, which is the only way to get a decent bagel in the Palouse.

We are going to miss their friendship so very much.

But Aleks and I aren't the only ones who will be leaving dear friends behind.

Maia loves her Alden.

Especially in the last couple of months, Maia and Alden have really been playing together. Several times we've caught them hugging in Maia's room.

(Now that I think about it, maybe it's the perfect time for us to be leaving...)

Saying goodbye tonight really caught me off-guard. I'm no stranger to moving and all that it involves. However, this place and the people here seem to have gotten under my skin a bit more than usual.

Maybe that's why lately all I've wanted to do is lay on the couch and eat cookies.

But, I try to remind myself that it doesn't have to be goodbye forever. Life is funny and who knows when we'll be together again.

Until then, safe travels to our dear friends as they head to Thailand! We'll be thinking of you.