Where does time go?

I feel so old saying this but... what do you mean it's already August??? Time has flown lately. We moved 2 months ago and I feel like I haven't had time to breathe. We were 2 weeks at Joe's parents, then a month in our new place, then 10 days traveling (good trip! I had uninterrupted sleep and read 4 books... heaven!), and now I've been back for a week and I feel like I have been running this whole time -and not running physically, as my weight shows!

I just need a minute... to set up a daily routine for us (I thrive on routine), to figure out whether we need to buy a car or not (I can walk to everything but I feel constrained to that 1 mile-radius around my apartment. 1st world problem, I know), to gather all the documents we need to apply for a loan in case we buy a house,  to gather all the documents to finally tell my government that I've been married for 8 years and oh by the way I have a child and I want him to have French citizenship, to keep on reading, to catch up with friends, to take my mom's phone calls, to set up appointments for a dentist and optometrist for Leo, to see whether he can take swimming lessons anywhere, to...
Pfiew..... I have a lot to do and I feel I have no time to do any of it. Leo goes to bed by 830-9 and we usually watch TV shows at night and then our crazy days start all over again (interrupted by nights that are still crazy. Yikes).

All that rambling to say... I am incredibly grateful for the life we have, for being so close to family (we've seen them every weekend and I love it!), for working from home, for my friends, near and far, for a God who loves me and showers me with blessings. But it all goes so fast! I might need to take a morning off and write everything down. Hmmm, maybe I'll do that!

How has your life been lately?

Books I have read, in case you're interested: Damned Nations, The Light Between Oceans, The Fault in Our Stars, The Lost Wife, The Language of Flowers, and I have begun Bring Up the Bodies and Running the Rift (and I have some books waiting in my Kindle queue: The Bungalow and the Cleaner of Chartres). Gah I love reading!! Recommendations in the comments are appreciated :)

Change is coming!

It's 5:40am. I have been up since 2. I have a Skype meeting at 6, so I'm not going back to bed. Needless to say, I'm exhausted.

It's not a secret: Léo has never been a good sleeper. Take that back. He was a great sleeper until he turned 5 months old and learnt to roll over. After that he became a crappy sleeper and I became quite the enabler. I was never consistent when I did sleep training and now he's 2 and has never slept through the night for more than 3 weeks at a time.

It's been worse lately. He has climbed out of his crib -and now gets out of bed- to come into our bed every night for 2 months. Our trip to Europe, then our move here haven't helped much. He's usually good with changes but I think the last few months have been hard on him -going to daycare has meant daily tears and even though he's still in a good mood all the time I know he's been struggling with all the changes. That has meant that he's been up again for hours on end during the night. Tonight -this morning- he was so exhausted he started crying and screaming uncontrollably. He asks to be rocked, he asks for apple juice, he asks to be in his bed, then in ours... It's frustrating to say the least.

Things will change when I come back from my upcoming trip (queue in mommy guilt). I'll give it a week and then I'll make major changes that will hopefully right the bad habits I've let slide, from his eating to his drinking to his sleeping habits (drinking habits as in too much apple juice!). It'll be hard. I don't know how to say no and how to set boundaries -obviously. But we all need this to happen. We all need to be healthier and we all need to sleep better.

I hope he'll do well with Joe and his family next week. We will both be out of town for 3 nights during that time so he'll have sleep overs at his grandma's and maybe his aunt's.

In the meantime... Coffee, anyone?

Home Office

This is what my setting looks like.

The only thing missing is a picture of my (work) sisters, taken during my last week at work. I need to print it. I'll also add pictures of my friends' children at one point.
Also I (well, Joe does) need to install a keyboard thing under the desk so that I have more room on the desk itself.

Please note that the blue cork board was regular color but I spray painted it blue. Call me Martha!

I like working from here. It's a bit too dark for my taste -I have a lamp on all day- but it's cozy.

Not on vacation anymore

Neither Joe nor I took time off after we moved to California but it still felt like we were on vacation. Sunshine, family, Léo around all the time... One month of what seemed like relaxing time and bonding with family. And now that Léo is at his new daycare (since yesterday) it feels like real life again. The heaviness of leaving him crying behind and the feeling of working without a pause -well, one that doesn't mean a hug from my little guy- really made me land back on planet earth.
But the sunshine is still here (mostly), we live about an hour from our family and friends, and Léo is ready to shower us with hugs and cuddles as soon as we pick him up from daycare.

Life is good. It's not a vacation, but it's good!

Dreading Daycare

I am working all day long. I have never worked that hard actually! No opportunity to take a coffee break or lunch with girlfriends or to chat for 30 minutes (or more!) about life and kids and trips. I'm just working. And days are long already. And they're pretty much the same: moi, my computer, my somewhat dark apartment (I need to buy lamps!). Oy.

But Leo is home with his grandma (she's really really awesome as a mom, mother-in-law, and now grandma. I wish she could move in with us and care for Leo all the time!). And his being home means that I see and hear him and get to kiss and hug him whenever I want. He seems to love it as well.

And as I'm signing one more check for his new school (why are schools so %$^# expensive in this country?), I find myself dreading July 1st, when he'll go back to school. Fortunately he'll only be in school for 4 days a week during the summer and spend Mondays with his grandma. And his first week will only be M-W as I have July4-5 off. Still, it'll be heartbreaking to let him go. After our 2 weeks in France he cried every morning when we brought him to daycare and he told us daily he didn't want to go. I hope he likes his new school. I hope they hug him and shower him with attention and love. We were spoiled in Seattle with a ratio teachers to students of 1:3 or less (I'm serious). Now it's 1:6. *sigh*

I know he'll be fine. I know he'll make new friends. I'm still dreading it and think about July 1st all. the. time.

I slapped his hand

One day last week Leo was running everywhere, not listening, and whining 80% (at Target he threw a tantrum because he wanted a toy, then he ran everywhere in the outdoor mall we were at, etc). So in the evening on the way to the park, when he ran from me on the sidewalk after I told him to stop, I just ran to him, grabbed him, slapped his hand, and said a firm and loud "DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM ME WHEN I TELL YOU TO STOP!" He started crying of course and he said "Mama ow Leo." Ah great... I do not believe hitting for any reason is a good way to raise a child -or discipline them. I don't think a slap on the hand is hitting per se but I felt pretty crappy after that anyway.

Oy. I love him to bits. I could kiss his cute face all day. But when he doesn't listen... and he doesn't listen a lot these days, I just don't know what to do and I lose patience.

I am definitely working on being more patient. Work in progress.

Part of the last day in Seattle - in pictures

 Léo supervised the packing. 

 Then in the morning of the move (last Friday) he went to his friend Dez's and stayed there until 4. Dez's dad was a rock star that day and entertained Léo, fed him, played with him, put him down for a nap. Thank you Estevenins. We miss you. 

Joe was at work so I had free hands to finish packing, cleaning, etc. 

 Packing done!

 Meanwhile, Dez and Léo were still having a perfectly awesome time.

 The movers were to come at 9 but they came at 1030 and instead of being 3 they were only 2. It took them 4 hours to load everything into the 2 pods. That means that Joe and I only had about 2 hours to throw away most of the furniture that didn't fit into the pods or that we didn't want and clean the apartment... It didn't happen. The apartment managers are probably pissed at us right now and will charge us a lot for cleaning and everything. Uh.

 Oh we got to vacuum the apartment. So there's that.

 Then we had to pack the dogs in their crates, 6 bags, and the child -in his car seat- in a cab. That was epic. We arrived in OC at about 1015P and off we went to Joe's parents with our load.

But it was all worth it!

 Because this little guy is happy!

 He's enjoying the sunshine. 

 And he loves being with family.

 Yesterday his grandma and he had frozen yogurt. 

Now that's the life!