happy new year!

Hi everyone!

Today Dave started his SECOND semester of law school! I can't believe how quickly the holiday break went by. I'm surprised on one hand, and not surprised on the other. It seemed like so much time, but we were both so tired, we rested a lot. And there is nothing better under the sun than relaxing at home with your favorite person in the world. Especially now that we have a huge sectional sofa! And, now that we have Isaac, we each have TWO favorite people in the world.

Speaking of Isaac, he is magnificent and wonderful...still. He is becoming very very active. He can stand and walk when you hold his hands. He is almost able to put his pacifier back in his mouth if he looses it. He likes to jump and play in his exer-saucer. He is not a little tiny baby anymore. He is more like a little boy than a baby. He still really does not like to sleep though!

He had such a nice time at Christmas. We had two celebrations, one here at home and then a second one at Dave's parents house. I'm not sure Isaac understood anything about Christmas or gift-exchanging, or trees or cookies, but he sure did enjoy meeting his cousin Evan. Evan and Isaac are 8 months apart in age. A big difference now, but not so much in a couple of years. They're super cute and they enjoyed playing with toys together.

We continue to watch Cesar Milan religiously. I learn so much from him about managing energy. Creating calm and reassurance is the job of the leader of the pack. It is a constant reminder to me to be very present and available with the dogs. I am sporadic at this point with walks, but we make up for that with lots of playtime and excrutiatingly long hand-feeding sessions to teach the dogs discipline and engage their minds. With Daisy--she's soooo energetic, her task is to sit quietly and let me put small bits of food near her nose and wait for me to let her eat it. It takes forever when she eats 2 cups of food. And with Merlin, he is very engaged by a game called 'Find it!' I put small amounts of food in little bowls and hide them throughout the house. Then I say "Find it!" and he runs round and round the house until he finds everything. It's fun.

At this point, it feels like BACK TO THE GRIND. But then I remember how everything about this is temporary. And then, I can enjoy it. Our life was really rich and happy before, and after this, Dave will feel more fulfilled in his work and we can maybe step back from the intensity for a while. Perhaps that is a fantasy--we are planning on having Isaac's little brother or sister as soon as possible. So--whatever. I guess, that's life!

Love you, miss you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.

christmas 2008

My goodness it’s been a busy year!
We…

Started a blog: http://schleiferkin.blogspot.com/
Went to a family reunion
Bought a house and sold a house
Threw all our stuff away and bought it all over again
Traded one career for a family
Enrolled in school to trade another
Drove across the Northern United States
Went to Wall Drugs and The Corn Palace
Moved 3000 miles away from our favorite coast
Visited with a million friends and relatives
Bought a doggie treadmill and taught the doggies to use it
Hosted 3 sets of houseguests
Entertained lots in our new home
Gained 40 pounds, HAD A BABY, lost 20 pounds
Went from being DINKS to having the bank account SINK

And argued only once* (…about continuing to drive to find a buffet restaurant…Dave was hungry and wanted Arby’s… I started to cry)

*unless you count the 3 (?) times that I had crying fits due to the pregnancy that seemed bizarre and out of context and were mostly due to the fact that I couldn’t do many of the activities of daily living (ADLs) that I am accustomed to doing normally because of my tree trunk ankles and all the hormones raging through my body and the massive amounts of blood loss. I take no responsibility for these events, they were more like emotional outbursts than actual arguments because there was no subject matter and I was the only one ‘emoting.’ Dave was rather bewildered more than anything. We seem to have made it out of the woods and everything is OK now. Except that I still can’t fit into any of my clothes from before Isaac and I refuse to buy new ‘fat’ clothes, so I always look appropriate for shopping at Wal-Mart now, which is good because I do that a lot in this phase of my life, so, I still do WANT to cry about that. But I don’t. TMI. OK, I’ll stop now. Sadly, the garage is still a mess.

snuffles's first meal and mommy musings

So--yeah, last Friday, Isaac started eating rice cereal. EVERYONE and THEIR MOTHER, and their mother's mother, TOLD US THAT GIVING ISAAC rice cereal would help him sleep. WRONG-O!

WRONG-O!!!!

Oh, how I wish it were true. Yeah. It's not. (Incidentally, Isaac loves to eat and he also loved his new cereal. It's already time to add another kind of grain to his repetoire.)

I shouldn't be surprised. Dave doesn't really sleep more than 6 hours in a night. In our case, Snuffles sleeps for MAYBE 4 hours at a time.

Again, I go back to the days before I had a baby. I was like "what's the BIG WHOOP?...babies sleep so much, I'm sure I'll be fine. Why does everyone talk about sleep deprivation? Must be human nature to have to complain about something." Oh, how naieve I was.

Yes, the baby does sleep alot, in small increments--between 20 minutes and 4 hours at a time. Grown ups need CONSOLIDATED sleep--and me in particular--needs like 8 hours of CONSOLIDATED, uninterrupted sleep. Good luck with that.

And, yes, baby eats a lot. So between feedings (20 - 45 minutes) every 4 hours, his intermittent sleeping and everything else that has to happen around here--the result is NO SLEEP FOR MOMMY.

And--now--I'm experiencing soft muscle tissue generalized pain that comes along with not sleeping. Quasi-fibromyalgia like symptoms. Yes. It's no fun! It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that I have actual responsibilities.

It feels like climbing Mt. Everest. Lots of gravity. Not much oxygen--and no energy!

TOOO bad too--because our life is really wonderful. And the irony is I'm soooo happy. I just wish I felt up to the task---reliably.

OK--enough, already.

Love you. Miss you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.

vaccines and shots...oh my!

Snuffles had his 4 month appointment this morning (Happy Birthday Baby!) He weighed 16 pounds and 15 ounces, putting him again in the 90th percentile. That means, of 100 babies his age, Isaac is heavier than 90 of them. Same with his height. That's up from the 75th percentile when he was 2 months old. His head circumference was in the 65th percentile.

Before you go thinking he must be a PIN HEAD, remember, babies naturally have large heads proportionately compared to adults. So--Isaac actually looks like a tiny grown-up person. OK?!!

He was such a trooper, he hardly cried at all during his shots.

We got sleep tips from Dr. Michele who said Isaac is capable of sleeping he just doesn't know how to soothe himself yet, because the moment he makes the tiniest noise, I'm right there with a pacifier or bottle. So--this holiday break, when Dave is off from school and work, we will have the torchurous 4 night stint of letting Isaac cry it out while standing along side his crib reassuring him--so he can learn to self-soothe. Wish us luck!

And we got the go-ahead for solid foods because of his size and vigorously healthy eating habits. (he takes after mommy in this regard--and mommy {along with her pregnancy-induced pannus [PiP]} is becoming a "big, beautiful, woman" if you know what I mean).

Seriously, she is still 30 POUNDS heavier than before she got pregnant, and NONE of her clothes (or shoes) fit, and she's still wearing MATERNITY clothes. Things seem to have redistributed themselves in a BAD WAY. 9 months on, 9 months off--whatever! This is not fun. And--it delays child #2!

Miss you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.

t-minus 3 days and counting

Snuffles getting ready for an early ride to the train station after staying up ALL NIGHT with mommy.

I MISS DAVE!!! He is either working, sleeping, or studying. Even when he is here, he's not really here. Note to self...now I know I can manage the household singlehandedly...with no sleep...even holiday dinners for EIGHT...but still. It's so not as much fun WITHOUT DAVE :(!!!

So--this Thursday, when Dave gets done with his first semester, we will be celebrating for a month of no school! :)

In other news, Dave said this morning that he's ready to have child number 2! Happy.

Talk to you soon. Miss you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.

holiday milk

Did you know SuperTarget doesn't sell Eggnog? They only sell holiday milk. I'm not sure what holiday milk is, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out. Dave is upset because I keep calling his Eggnog holiday milk.

We put up our Christmas decorations today. In addition to everyone here having a FAKE TREE, I realized the custom is to have a tree in every window (!!!) or to put a wreath on every window outside of your house. Kooky considering how windy it is here all the time. Gusty, gusty--and dry and sunny. It never rains. Whatever!

Dave only has ONE MORE FINAL for this semester--and then HE'S DONE!!! Last week's final went 'pretty good' (which actually means it was 'super easy'--Dave is a master of understatment). Unfortunately, we don't find out his real scores until the end of the month.

Snuffles is wearing clothes sized for a 9-month old. Here are some fun pictures of the him:

memories

of sleep, mostly. That's all I can think about and compute lately.

We resolved our emergency plumbing situation. One of the pipes under a faucet had a crack in it and so, water leaked all over our living room. But, in customary M/I Homes style--they are already fixing it! It is phenomenal. They are wonderful home builders.

So--in other news--Dave's first really really big law school exam is TOMORROW! He says he is ready. Go Dave!

And--in yet other news, Isaac received one of many bedtime baths again last night, and he seems to scream a little less each time. See:










Cookie Monster is Isaac's friend.

Today after our 3 mile doggie walk, we are making delicious Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo sauce and fresh homemade salsa and guacamole. Oh--and delicious MARGARITAS! We wish you were here.

Miss you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.