Where've you been???

Woah. I have A LOT of catching-up to do and negative time to get to it. But, I'll try my best to get everything up to speed shortly. It's been a whirlwind over here (maybe closer to a hurricane) and I feel like I've been treading water in the deep end for weeks now. 

It's okay. We'll get through. It's hard. It's stressful. It feels impossible but every day is a new day and we just keep chipping away. 

Quick update for those that may not know. August has been life changing:

August 7 - Mandy and I turn 34

August 10 - Kip turns 3

August 12 - We close on our first ever house

August 15 - We move out of our apartment in Brooklyn and into our new home in South Amboy, New Jersey

 

August 17 - Ivy turns 3 months old and I return to work from maternity leave (still remote but I'm expected to be "on" 9 am - 6 pm Monday - Friday) 

Maybe you're thinking...wait what? You moved??? To a house??? To another state??? And you never mentioned any of that here?

Yeah. We did that. I didn't mention our planning because it wasn't truly planned. And I didn't mention the process because it was all so tentative, we didn't know if it would happen until we signed the papers and then three days later we moved. Crazy. But don't worry, I'll fill you in with a nice house post coming soon.

In the meantime, right now we're just trying to unpack everything and get to a place of being semi-settled. We're figuring out how to parent on multi-levels and childproof three times the space we were used to. I'm trying to figure out how to get back into the groove of working at home. Kip is trying to adjust as well and we've seen a huge uptick in tantrums and clingy behavior. Trying to extend as much grace as I can muster while keeping my own patience. 

Then there is Ivy. Getting her adjusted as well, trying to get a nap schedule figured out, and what about the bottles? I'm back at work at home but I will have to go into the city soon. We need her taking bottles regularly and it's bit more difficult than it was with Kip (he took a bottle from day one and liked it cold, never minded fresh vs. frozen). Ivy is picky. She likes it warm and, so far, detests my frozen milk which accumulated to over 500 ounces during my leave period. We are trying different strategies and all of us (Dan, Mandy, and I) are still getting used to caring for two kids. Talk about a circus.

Change has always been difficult for me. Not being in complete control is my constant battle. Hormones still adjusting after having a baby...oh and add in that pandemic thing we're still living with. How many more stressful things can we add to the plate? We made the right choice with this move. I KNOW THAT. But it will take some time before we see the persistent benefits of it. Right now, we're just treading. 

This past weekend, we returned to Brooklyn to finish clearing the apartment. Yesterday, Dan returned the keys. Truly the end of an era.