6.30.19 - Joy statuses

6.30.19 - Kid snippets: fries are fruit

Clara: What's your favorite fruit?

Me: hm pineapple

Clara: And now say "What's your favorite fruit?"

Me: What's your favorite fruit?

Clara: Fries!

Last few nights before bed Clara has started saying "Gimme a kiss" but she actually wants me to offer my cheek so she can kiss it. <3

Jane is way into the fake food right now. I give her bowls, plates, cups, and spoons and she gets a bunch of stuffed animals and gives them each place settings and bowls of random assortments of food. Then she wants Clara and me to sit with her and enjoy the picnic.

6.28.19 - Kid snippets: fake food play

Clara is playing with our extensive fake food collection. She asked me if I want some salad and I said sure. She made me a plate consisting of a slice of pizza, burger patty, and cookie. My kind of salad.

Meanwhile Jane is putting pieces of fake food in bowls in the microwave and pretending to turn it on. Then she takes the food back out and blows on it like it's hot.

And Calvin is just rolling around.

6.28.19 - My new job

This was my third week training as an evidence technician for the forensics lab that recently hired me. So far I love it.

By far the biggest downside is the commute. The lab is about 80 miles from my home. However I think I'm making the most of it by splitting up the time. First of all, I'm only driving by myself for half of the distance, because I stop in Vacaville to pick up Erin (or get picked up by Erin, as we take turns). So from Vacaville to the lab and back I have her to talk to and it makes the ride go quickly and is certainly strengthening my already good friendship with her. And since I work only Tuesday through Thursday, she still has Monday and Friday to have some peaceful time to herself and listen to her audio books etc. I can appreciate that, because I probably spend roughly half of my own lone commute time listening to the audio book Jack got me for my birthday: An Early Start for Your Child with Autism. It's nice to finally get a chance to dig into a book, frankly. I haven't really read anything in depth since having kids.

I also spend a lot of the drive time in the evening calling people to catch up. In particular I've gotten to talk to Kale at least once a week, which is nice, and I've also caught up a bit with my sister-in-law, Josh, Reece, and others.

This week I managed to shorten the commute by trying a new schedule. On the way home, when we stop in Vacaville (either for Erin to drop me off at my car or vice versa), I go to a local Starbucks and get non-lab work done for about an hour and a half. I make a little extra money and by the time I leave the traffic has died enough that the commute is more like 50 minutes instead of 90. So that helps.

So that's the commute: a mixture of visiting time with Erin, phone visiting time with other friends/family, learning time with audio books, and in between getting a bit of extra paid work done too.

Meanwhile the job itself is great. I like all my coworkers, some of them particularly so, and they seem to like me well enough too. I like learning how to help and I'm eager to get tested on different procedures so I can start doing them without anyone having to supervise me (and thus free up their time to do their own work--evidence intake and outtake can be very disruptive). I'm enjoying meeting the regular clients who pick up and drop off evidence, most of whom seem very friendly. I'm really enjoying being back around forensics and learning about different cases and starting to just barely dip my toes in and see what the lab does. And as cherry on top, yesterday I learned there are some long-term evidence-related projects no one has had time to get to that I could take over. I'm glad for that because (a) it gives me something to work on when there's no incoming or outgoing evidence, which is the slowest time of day, (b) I get a lot of satisfaction out of organizing things which is what the projects pretty much entail, and (c) it will give me a chance to show my usefulness as the new person in the lab. I was so eager to get started I almost thought about asking if I could come in today (Friday) to keep working on it, but this job doesn't include that kind of flexibility, plus I want to save the projects for my down time during my regular hours.

So yeah, really enjoying the work so far. I hope maternity leave doesn't disrupt my progress too much but even so I'm sure I can get back on the horse.

6.26.19 - Kid snippets: Lady (Calhoun)

Kid snippets: Clara is trying to holster her tiny water gun in her diaper. She says she's "Lady" which is def a Wreck It Ralph reference (Fix It Felix calls her "Lady").

6.23.19 - Kid snippets: dancing and spicy salsa

I started making crackers and cheese for Clara and she started dancing and saying "It's time to eat!!" I said "I know! Isn't food great? I love food!" Her: "ME TOO!"

Jane actually really likes the spicy salsa we have. Sort of. I give her some with her crackers and she eats it, but after every few chips she comes up to me with her tongue sticking out waiting for me to wipe her tongue off with a washcloth.

6.22.19 - Kid snippets: one-on-one time with Jane

Clara hit her head earlier but felt much better when we put a band aid on her forehead. That was a while ago. I asked her if she wanted me to take the band aid off now, and she said "Yes, it feels allll better." <3

Last night Clara fell asleep on the way home from the grocery store and stayed asleep the rest of the night, which meant I got some uninterrupted time with Jane. Using her little blanket I made a makeshift bed for her bear (Bobby) and tiny Minnie Mouse toy on the living room floor, and she was *psyched* about that. She kept proclaiming "Wake UP!" and getting them up and then immediately tucking them back in and giving them kisses.

6.15.19 - Kid Snippets: I'M DANCING

Clara: Awexa! Pway Gwowia by Auwa Bwaginan.
*Alexa actually does it.*
Clara: YEAH! I'M DANCING!!

6.7.19 - Kid Snippets: That's a good story

Me: You have to get dressed. We have to go pick up Jane.
Clara: I don't want to go pick up Jane.
Me: I don't either but we have to. I wish she could just appear here.
Clara: Oooookay. That's a good story.

Lol! I think we do a pretty good job not swearing around the kids but they are picking up other problems.

6.2.19 - Kid Snippets: Clara's talking

Jack took the girls to run errands while I was gone working. I got home before them, and when they got home Clara explained:

"I go to the supermarket today!"
Me: "Did you help Dad?"
"Yeah! I go shopping! And we got fries. And I ate it! Tummy is full!"

My heart is bursting with how much she's able to say clearly now