So it has been forever and I couldn't decide if I wanted to blog again, or just stick with FB or journal in an actual paper journal or what. To say it has been a whirlwind the last 10 months is an understatement. We went from moving to NC because my husband was being transferred to him being laid off and the transfer being on hold. Then he got a new job offer the same week the old department tried to bring him back, to NC, but they couldn't yet because he needed to have been gone for 6 months due to severance. See...crazy.
This of course impacted the move, and we are still in the same too small house and trying to figure out if we should put on an addition and do a huge remodel since we love our school and neighbors, or if we should sell and buy, or if we should look at building again. Whatever we decide, we need to come up with something soon since it is making me crazy being crammed in here.
Kids are good, just a work in progress as they should be. Marriage is a work in progress too, all the stress of the layoff, MIL drama, kid stuff, work stuff...it takes its toll. We keep trucking, checking in, working on things, fighting to keep going. Marriage is hard, and takes work but we do it and want to be one that makes it for the long haul, so we keep trying every day.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Holding my breath
Most parents can relate to those days where, like a miracle, it is all going right. That is today. The older kids all got off to school with no arguing, no issues, just smiles as they left. The littles were good all morning and let me get things done like work and laundry. I have dinner cooking away, the BEST spiced chicken that my family loves, slow cooks all day long and is healthy to boot and I made a heap of kale chips that I really enjoy snacking on and keep me on track. It can easily end at any moment, and that is why I am holding my breath. I still have post nap babies to contend with, and crabby just home from school kids. A work call at 3:30. homework, dinner and bedtime. It could end at any moment I know, but for the moment I am holding my breath and enjoying.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
It has been awhile since I posted and this has not been due to lack of time, especially since I just took nearly a month off work, but more a lack of what I want to say. So much is going on in our lives, the blessing and curse of a large family with two busy adult careers.
As we enter into 2013, we are looking toward a year full of big changes. I am finally done with school and wear my "Dr." with great pride, although the only place it really matters is at work :) The kids are all growing up and some days I wish I could speed phases up, and others I want to freeze time. Finn celebrated his second birthday in December and I am now the proud mother to a 12 year old, 10 year old, 8 year old, 3 year old and 2 year old and it can be just as crazy as those numbers infer.
Work for me is great, I am incredibly busy as my FT job and my PT job has me hopping as well with the online course development. The school I teach PT for is a big name U here in Virginia, and they are going to let me continue to work with them when we move, which is a huge gift and means so much to me. I have learned so much over the last seven years working there, and they have provided me so many opportunities, I am glad that I will continue my role with them. I have been thinking more and more about my FT job. It is completely online, and with small children at home that is a great advantage, however it has limited growth potential and I think once Finn heads to school in a few years, I may be looking to do some consulting and possibly look for campus employment in NC.
This brings me to the move. We are still waiting on the "officials" from Ryan's company, but all signs point to Ryan getting the promotion and transfer to the Raleigh area. I am both excited and sad about the move as we have great friends here, the kids have amazing schools and we have built a strong foundation here the last nine years, but sadly we will have to venture into the unknown. I am excited to be moving back to the Carolinas and to be closer to my parents. I love the area, and feel we will get much more out of the "city" there than we do here since I am not a fan of DC at all. I am really happy to be moving to a bigger home as we simply don't fit in our house here, and there are so many new opportunities awaiting us. If all goes well, the big move will take place some time in June or early July allowing the kids to finish out the school year here with no problems.
Welcome 2013, we are excited to see what is in store :)
As we enter into 2013, we are looking toward a year full of big changes. I am finally done with school and wear my "Dr." with great pride, although the only place it really matters is at work :) The kids are all growing up and some days I wish I could speed phases up, and others I want to freeze time. Finn celebrated his second birthday in December and I am now the proud mother to a 12 year old, 10 year old, 8 year old, 3 year old and 2 year old and it can be just as crazy as those numbers infer.
Work for me is great, I am incredibly busy as my FT job and my PT job has me hopping as well with the online course development. The school I teach PT for is a big name U here in Virginia, and they are going to let me continue to work with them when we move, which is a huge gift and means so much to me. I have learned so much over the last seven years working there, and they have provided me so many opportunities, I am glad that I will continue my role with them. I have been thinking more and more about my FT job. It is completely online, and with small children at home that is a great advantage, however it has limited growth potential and I think once Finn heads to school in a few years, I may be looking to do some consulting and possibly look for campus employment in NC.
This brings me to the move. We are still waiting on the "officials" from Ryan's company, but all signs point to Ryan getting the promotion and transfer to the Raleigh area. I am both excited and sad about the move as we have great friends here, the kids have amazing schools and we have built a strong foundation here the last nine years, but sadly we will have to venture into the unknown. I am excited to be moving back to the Carolinas and to be closer to my parents. I love the area, and feel we will get much more out of the "city" there than we do here since I am not a fan of DC at all. I am really happy to be moving to a bigger home as we simply don't fit in our house here, and there are so many new opportunities awaiting us. If all goes well, the big move will take place some time in June or early July allowing the kids to finish out the school year here with no problems.
Welcome 2013, we are excited to see what is in store :)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thanksgiving Plague
Well I planned, and cleaned, and cooked and prepped and finally Wednesday came, the day before Thanksgiving and I just finished it all and we were waiting for my parents to arrive in about 2 hours. The house was ready, the cooking was all ready and I had it done so that all I had to do Thursday was wake up, put the turkey in the oven and warm the sides. I had achieved it, the perfect Thanksgiving for a mom, one where I would actually get to sit down, watch the parade, and enjoy the day.
Then it happened. Haven threw up. I kind of stood there in shock, but she assured me she wasn't sick, she just had some reflux because she put way way way too much cinnamon on her oatmeal. I didn't really believe her, but she looked OK and said she felt better and so I settled back and chatted with the husband about having to just bake the pumpkin pies and make the brine for the turkey. My parents walked in the house two hours later, and as they crossed the threshold.....she threw up again. This time we knew....she was sick. Crap!!!
Haven was sick most of the night, and I got a double blessing of a fever due to a sinus infection I have been ignoring. Thursday morning came and Haven looked pretty good and no one else had gone down. I felt behind the game all day and I was stressing about who would get sick next, because lets face it, no way only one of the five would get sick. Finn got sick that day, not vomiting but really unpleasant diapers, lots of them, and they were the down to the socks type awful (all parents can relate to this). We made it through the day, everyone went to bed and the hubby and I tried to relax, but we still knew we were not out of the woods.
Friday came and we got moving. We all looked pretty good, everyone seemed OK, it was looking up! We all went out for pizza, then to the park and then my parents took the tree older kids to the movies. We brought the babies home, Finn gifted us with some more horrible diaper incidents, but we were starting to breath easier. Big kids came home and Brittan walked in the door, into the living room, said her stomach hurt, walked into the bathroom and threw up. My wise parents then turned and left, they never even got their coats off. Four hours later, while still juggling a sick Britt, down went Gray. At that moment, we all turned to look at Teagan, since at this point she was the only one who had not gotten sick yet and we just stared. Poor Gray was sick all night, and yesterday Haven, the babies and I kind of huddled downstairs while the other two healed upstairs. I disinfected the entire house last night and went to bed....waiting...waiting....waiting.
Morning came and everyone looked fine. Everyone was eating and happy and so far today everything has gone well. I will still be waiting, until Tuesday, and if by then Teagan is still not sick I will say this virus has gone...but until then, I am still waiting on the Thanksgiving Plague to take my youngest girl down.
Then it happened. Haven threw up. I kind of stood there in shock, but she assured me she wasn't sick, she just had some reflux because she put way way way too much cinnamon on her oatmeal. I didn't really believe her, but she looked OK and said she felt better and so I settled back and chatted with the husband about having to just bake the pumpkin pies and make the brine for the turkey. My parents walked in the house two hours later, and as they crossed the threshold.....she threw up again. This time we knew....she was sick. Crap!!!
Haven was sick most of the night, and I got a double blessing of a fever due to a sinus infection I have been ignoring. Thursday morning came and Haven looked pretty good and no one else had gone down. I felt behind the game all day and I was stressing about who would get sick next, because lets face it, no way only one of the five would get sick. Finn got sick that day, not vomiting but really unpleasant diapers, lots of them, and they were the down to the socks type awful (all parents can relate to this). We made it through the day, everyone went to bed and the hubby and I tried to relax, but we still knew we were not out of the woods.
Friday came and we got moving. We all looked pretty good, everyone seemed OK, it was looking up! We all went out for pizza, then to the park and then my parents took the tree older kids to the movies. We brought the babies home, Finn gifted us with some more horrible diaper incidents, but we were starting to breath easier. Big kids came home and Brittan walked in the door, into the living room, said her stomach hurt, walked into the bathroom and threw up. My wise parents then turned and left, they never even got their coats off. Four hours later, while still juggling a sick Britt, down went Gray. At that moment, we all turned to look at Teagan, since at this point she was the only one who had not gotten sick yet and we just stared. Poor Gray was sick all night, and yesterday Haven, the babies and I kind of huddled downstairs while the other two healed upstairs. I disinfected the entire house last night and went to bed....waiting...waiting....waiting.
Morning came and everyone looked fine. Everyone was eating and happy and so far today everything has gone well. I will still be waiting, until Tuesday, and if by then Teagan is still not sick I will say this virus has gone...but until then, I am still waiting on the Thanksgiving Plague to take my youngest girl down.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Mental prep
So with the upcoming move, we are busy preparing. Right now we are preparing this house to be sold by finishing some tasks, cleaning, organizing, purging and packing what is not needed. We are also busy preparing for the holidays, so sometimes it seems counterintuitive!
We are also preparing mentally. Some kids are not thrilled about the move, so we talk a lot about all the positive things, what we can look forward to and how we can still keep in touch with our friends here.
For me the stress and worry is different. I worry about keeping this house in order to sell it, and buying a house that fits everyone's needs. I worry about schools, and kid's friends, and finding a place we all fit. I worry about what we will need to give up, and I worry about needing to find a new place to get milk, eggs, meat, produce, etc since that is a big part of our lifestyle.
So many things to think about, excitement and reluctance all rolled into one. This will be an interesting year!
We are also preparing mentally. Some kids are not thrilled about the move, so we talk a lot about all the positive things, what we can look forward to and how we can still keep in touch with our friends here.
For me the stress and worry is different. I worry about keeping this house in order to sell it, and buying a house that fits everyone's needs. I worry about schools, and kid's friends, and finding a place we all fit. I worry about what we will need to give up, and I worry about needing to find a new place to get milk, eggs, meat, produce, etc since that is a big part of our lifestyle.
So many things to think about, excitement and reluctance all rolled into one. This will be an interesting year!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Metamorphosis
Well I have not blogged in nearly 2 months because I just could not wrap my head around everything that has been going on.
First off, the kids are great. Teagan is in preschool and loving it, the three big kids are all doing well in school and I am enjoying the moments of having my sweet Finn all to myself.
Finn is doing well. He is still not talking much and will stay in speech for a long while I presume. He saw cardio and got good news, saw genetics and they were pleased with his progress, saw gastro and they put him on a daily regime to minimize issues with the diastasis recti and he saw the ENT who feels his tonsils and adenoids need to be removed, so we are working on getting that scheduled with Children's since it will be inpatient. He is also becoming very "2" which means he is into everything and pushing boundaries and all the other things he should be doing :)
Ryan was offered a new position a few weeks ago, a promotion he deserves and wants, but it will require us to move to North Carolina. He of course said he wanted the job, and we are waiting to see when it will all come to pass since the new manager needs to negotiate with his current manager to steal him. We are all trying to come to terms with the move, parts are really exciting, but others are really hard. I am trying to look at it as a new adventure and the kids are getting a little excited, well some of the kids.
We have all been sick the last few weeks, just a wicked cold or virus that is lingering. It wouldn't have been a big issue, but we had to prep for the hurricane that thankfully did not cause any damage here but devastated so many of our friends homes and lives back in NY/NJ. Then the following week Ryan was sick, the babies were sick, Brittan was sick and I finally got the bug and lost my voice. Normally I would have just rested and tried to get better, but I was three days away from my final defense!
Somehow while sick and not sleeping I got all the edits done on my dissertation and prepared for my defense, and last Wednesday I defended and passed. It is official, I am Dr. Kelley.
So that is where we have been. Now I am trying to shake off the rest of this illness and do all the neglected chores that I have pushed to the side the last few weeks while focusing on the dissertation. The best part is, in about 3 1/2 weeks I will be off from both schools for almost a full month. A full month of being with the family, celebrating the holidays and just taking a much needed break.
First off, the kids are great. Teagan is in preschool and loving it, the three big kids are all doing well in school and I am enjoying the moments of having my sweet Finn all to myself.
Finn is doing well. He is still not talking much and will stay in speech for a long while I presume. He saw cardio and got good news, saw genetics and they were pleased with his progress, saw gastro and they put him on a daily regime to minimize issues with the diastasis recti and he saw the ENT who feels his tonsils and adenoids need to be removed, so we are working on getting that scheduled with Children's since it will be inpatient. He is also becoming very "2" which means he is into everything and pushing boundaries and all the other things he should be doing :)
Ryan was offered a new position a few weeks ago, a promotion he deserves and wants, but it will require us to move to North Carolina. He of course said he wanted the job, and we are waiting to see when it will all come to pass since the new manager needs to negotiate with his current manager to steal him. We are all trying to come to terms with the move, parts are really exciting, but others are really hard. I am trying to look at it as a new adventure and the kids are getting a little excited, well some of the kids.
We have all been sick the last few weeks, just a wicked cold or virus that is lingering. It wouldn't have been a big issue, but we had to prep for the hurricane that thankfully did not cause any damage here but devastated so many of our friends homes and lives back in NY/NJ. Then the following week Ryan was sick, the babies were sick, Brittan was sick and I finally got the bug and lost my voice. Normally I would have just rested and tried to get better, but I was three days away from my final defense!
Somehow while sick and not sleeping I got all the edits done on my dissertation and prepared for my defense, and last Wednesday I defended and passed. It is official, I am Dr. Kelley.
So that is where we have been. Now I am trying to shake off the rest of this illness and do all the neglected chores that I have pushed to the side the last few weeks while focusing on the dissertation. The best part is, in about 3 1/2 weeks I will be off from both schools for almost a full month. A full month of being with the family, celebrating the holidays and just taking a much needed break.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Week 2 down
So we are almost at the end of the second week of school and the kids are exhausted and all weepy and melty and crabby. We also had the first illness of the school year, since we want to be over achievers we decided that Week 2 was a great time to start missing school. Poor Britt had a high fever and sore throat and missed two days, and Gray decided to catch it as well and missed one day. Thankfully they are feeling better :)
We have been working hard to get the house ready to sell and had decided that we would try to stay here in our town, in our school district. Well...the hubs met with some new manager of the group he wants to move into who basically said they would hire him there now, but the position is in Cary, NC. The guy went so far as to put through a request to have the position "moved" here so they could hire Ryan, but the understanding is that eventually we would move to NC. We were thrown for a bit until we thought about it. I am a-ok with living further south, we would be closer to my parents, for me the area is great because of all of the universities, we would get a city without it being DC, schools looked pretty good, good medical care for Finn and well, I would get a new house which is all I really care about. My jobs go anywhere, so it is easy for me to move. Ryan has always been the one who didn't want to go further south, but he really wants this opportunity and it will make a big difference in his career, so I guess Cary is now on the radar.
Health wise, beside the little virus that ran through, kid are doing well. Finn has his cardiology checkup in two weeks and I am anxious. I am hoping for no change with the SVAS and we need to talk to them again about his heart rate. I keep flagging it on our pulse ox at nearly 160 beats per minute while he is resting, so not a true SVT, but still a pretty elevated heart rate which is not good for an already stressed heart. I am wondering is we need to do a 24 hour monitor to see what is really going on. I also have to try to get a double appointment at Children's, he needs his annual with genetics and he needs to see gastro for his diastasis recti. We also still need to see ENT for his follow up and need to get pulmonology into rotation as well. Just managing Finn's appointments and therapy is a full time job sometimes BUT he is signing a ton, trying to speak more and is super silly, fun, smart and loving. I would go to the ends of the earth for him :)
We have been working hard to get the house ready to sell and had decided that we would try to stay here in our town, in our school district. Well...the hubs met with some new manager of the group he wants to move into who basically said they would hire him there now, but the position is in Cary, NC. The guy went so far as to put through a request to have the position "moved" here so they could hire Ryan, but the understanding is that eventually we would move to NC. We were thrown for a bit until we thought about it. I am a-ok with living further south, we would be closer to my parents, for me the area is great because of all of the universities, we would get a city without it being DC, schools looked pretty good, good medical care for Finn and well, I would get a new house which is all I really care about. My jobs go anywhere, so it is easy for me to move. Ryan has always been the one who didn't want to go further south, but he really wants this opportunity and it will make a big difference in his career, so I guess Cary is now on the radar.
Health wise, beside the little virus that ran through, kid are doing well. Finn has his cardiology checkup in two weeks and I am anxious. I am hoping for no change with the SVAS and we need to talk to them again about his heart rate. I keep flagging it on our pulse ox at nearly 160 beats per minute while he is resting, so not a true SVT, but still a pretty elevated heart rate which is not good for an already stressed heart. I am wondering is we need to do a 24 hour monitor to see what is really going on. I also have to try to get a double appointment at Children's, he needs his annual with genetics and he needs to see gastro for his diastasis recti. We also still need to see ENT for his follow up and need to get pulmonology into rotation as well. Just managing Finn's appointments and therapy is a full time job sometimes BUT he is signing a ton, trying to speak more and is super silly, fun, smart and loving. I would go to the ends of the earth for him :)
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