super amazing

Even though I've been away from my blog these past months, I think about writing it ALL THE TIME! Seems like at that exact moment the urge strikes, I'm somewhere doing something that I have to do and I CAN'T! Like driving in the car and then when I do have the opportunity I am too exhausted.

One of the major topics I always want to write about is FAMILY. How fortunate I feel to have the warm, fun, close relationships I have now and how GRATEFUL I feel for these connections. You've read it here before.

Because the flipside is that this wasn't always the case! For reasons too numerous to count and circumstances being what they were, I didn't have the kinds of relationships I would have wanted to have with the people who were closest to me earlier in my life. Ones that felt close, supportive, safe, fun and lighthearted.

Happily, I can say that I DO NOW! I didn't think it was possible. And I had given up on it being possible. I'd say it started around the time I met Dave (SMILE).

Dave continues to be awesome! So much fun. I'm so proud of him right now because he's following his lifelong dream and reinventing himself. He's doing great in school and his new career will be starting any minute now. He's totally self-made and a dedicated family man. I learn a lot from him.

And, you've heard me go ON & ON about how much I love his family and how much I value my relationships with them. Especially his mom. They are so thoughtful and loving and fun.

Miraculously, I'm strengthening my relationships with the McCarthy side of my family. My Aunt Mary is a superstar! She visits when she's in town on Catholic business and she helps me so much. She has inspired me to get my rear into gear with a whole new level of organization at my house.

And I've really enjoyed getting to know my Uncle Bob. Apparently we read all the same books. I so appreciate the way I can talk to him and feeling like he really understands me.

This past summer, I got invited to a sweet event up near where I was born in the Finger Lakes region of New York. So many people where there who knew me when I was teeny tiny. It was completely amazing to meet them again this many years later. All I could think is about what might have been. These would have been the people I grew up with, with whom I might have shared important events. It was very emotional to be there. Isaac was a peach and I was confused about what happened to the Tasmanian Devil baby he is at home.

One person who completely surprised me was my Uncle John. Walking into his photography studio I was floored. Majestic beauty in every direction the eye could see. He is a travel photographer and most of his landscapes are in the Finger Lakes region. He's photographed several coffee-table style books. I was completely and thoroughly impressed.

His wife has the same name as my mom: Linda McCarthy. She is an art teacher. Again, meeting her made me very wistful for what might have been. I majored in art and have done many artistic things--how much we have in common.

So--it's been a super amazing summer. One full of possibilities and happiness for the future.

Living back on the East Coast has been great for visiting FAMILY :)

summer beach trips

This summer we got to take a couple of trips to the Virginia and North Carolina Beaches. The first one was last May when Grama & Grampa (or Gamma as Isaac says when he sees their pictures) when we went to Sandbridge beach in Virginia. So pretty! Just North of the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. Also known as the Outer Banks of Virginia.





As usual, I am in picture JAM! I took more pictures than this, and they got messed up!??!! (Sunscreen over the lens?) My in-laws took way more pictures--and as I assemble them, I'll post more!

Isaac celebrated his 2nd birthday with his cousins in the Outer Banks while we visited for a whole week there. More pictures to come!

We went with Dave's parents & sister & her family, and we also got to visit with my family from Pittsburgh who just happened to be down there! 'Aunt Deb' and 'Uncle Doug' who are actually my second cousins, also had a house that week and Isaac spent a blissful afternoon getting over his fear of water.

the fly

OH MY GOD!!! and expletives like DUDE! begin to express some of the incredulousness!

Monday night while I was walking the dog, as I do every night, a FLY flew into my ear!!! YUK! Super yuk! And it *like* burrowed so far in that it wasn’t visible to the naked eye and even the ER staff couldn’t remove it. When it first happened, Dave didn’t believe me! He thought I was joking around.

If only I could’ve video taped it. I’m sure I looked like a maniac to the casual observer. I was frantically hitting myself on the head and jumping up and down trying to shake it out of my ear. And then when it would flap it’s wings trying to get out I just ran around screaming like I was on fire.

It was more uncomfortable and more painful & scary than labor! How something so small could sound SOOOOOO loud and create that much havoc is beyond me! Kooky!

Dave wanted to remove it himself when it first happened. Seems reasonable? Yes? He wanted Q-Tips and tweezers and he wanted to pour water into my ear. That might have worked but I was so whipped up into a frantic frenzy I couldn’t think straight.

I did have the presence of mind to call Dave’s mom, who used to be a nurse. I figured she would know if we could take care of it ourselves or if we needed to go to the ER. Except the day before Dave disconnected our land-line, so I used the Google/Gmail phone, which sounds like it’s run through an auto-tune and has a really weird phone number (unrecognizable!).

So—between the weird acoustics and me FLIPPING out, I’m sure my mother-in-law was very confused about what was happening. I called her by her first name because I wasn’t thinking straight and was so panicky.

Dave called her back on a normal phone and she did recommend we go to the ER. So, Dave was still thinking this was a gigantic waste of time and money because he was exhausted from his already 14 hour day and he needed to eat dinner, study and go to bed. GUESS NOT! Because we were going to the ER.

I was riding white-knuckled, grasping desperately on the car, bent over, hunching over trying to stop the pain. By this time, I think Dave realized it was a serious situation.

When we got there, the receptionist said ‘have a seat and we’ll be with you in a few minutes.’ I lost it and starting crying and rocking like a crazy person in full-blown neurosis. Dave was parking the car and bringing Isaac along.

When the receptionist realized my distress, she got a nurse and they got me a room. I’m sure it was only 2 minutes or so, but it seemed like an eternity. And every time the darn thing fluttered it’s wings it was the most excruciating pain and I would start screaming and curling my toes. (NOTE: I didn’t scream at all when I gave birth to Isaac and normally I don’t even need pain meds or aspirin or anything. So—then Dave knew—THIS WAS MAJOR!)

The first thing the doctor and nurses wanted to do was use Lidocaine to numb my ear and hopefully quell the bug. Guess what? Flys don’t respond to drugs apparently because this thing was still buzzing and fluttering. SOOOOOOOOOOO LOUD. So painful. More screaming.

Then, they wanted to flush it out using high pressured water. The whole time I’m thinking, my poor eardrum! If it hasn’t been destroyed by the fly eating it and laying scary eggs, surely the water pressure will break it and then I’ll have a dead bug parts and a pierced eardrum circulating in my brain.

And I’m still shrieking and grabbing so hard onto the guerney. Laughing about how flies (moths?) don’t respond to Lidocaine. Finally the fluttering and buzzing was subsiding with the water they were squirting in. The nurses were reassuring me that an army of flies were not going to be festering in my brain and I wasn’t going to get evil fly disease from fly bites.

Poor Isaac was very upset. I don’t think he’s ever seen mommy lose it completely. We probably should’ve kept him away, but I think Dave wanted to be there with me and we didn’t have a babysitter because it was the middle of the night—short notice!

Then the fly (moth?) got his second wind and decided to really GO FOR IT with the fluttering & buzzing. OH MY GOD. Excruciating. White-knuckle clinging. Screams. Twitching.

Then finally with more squirts of water, finally the fly (moth?) died. YUCKO!!! Disgusting. They were able to remove the ‘thorax.’ Gross. Bug parts inside me. They said I’d have to see a Ear Nose and Throat Specialist to be able to fully remove the rest. He would have a microscope and specialized tools.

I was so exhausted when we got home I just fell to sleep instantly and forgot about the dead bug parts in my head. YUCK!

The next day, I went to a specialist who was able to remove it. Thank GOD. When I checked in, they asked for the reason for my visit. They had check boxes for stuff like headaches, teeth grinding, sinus infections and the like. I didn’t see a box for DEAD BUG PARTS IN HEAD so I made my own and checked it.

The doctor said this is apparently very common. Apparently bugs can’t walk backwards or fly backwards and they get stuck. Anyway. All bad and all gone. Still hurts like a BEEP!

Apparently, if it happens to you or someone you love, you need to pour room temperature water in your ear to kill the insect. Then, it may rinse out when you pour the water out of your ear. If not, go to an ENT doctor ASAP. The ER folks don’t have the specialized tools.

Though, if it’s a vegetable or food item, go directly to the ENT or ER because water will cause the item to swell, making it harder to remove.

Soooooooooooooooooo disgusting. Beyond words!

Isaac turns two!

His official party was August 10th, a month or so ago now! Sheesh! He celebrated with lots of friends from his playgroup and we had a Thomas the Train party at the pool!



Isaac turned two and became a Tasmanian Devil who's obsessed with Thomas the Train and all things train related. I think it's because Daddy rides the Metro and VRE and often we pick him up from the station. So one of the first things Isaac started to understand was CHOO CHOO.

Grama gave Isaac a book with pictures of all things large and mechanical--airplanes, buses, construction equipment, boats and you should hear the love in Isaac's voice when we get to the Choo Choo page.

The Pediatrician says Isaac is very very healthy, hitting all the milestones and growing well. Yay! More to be able to climb the countertops with. Those knives are not just going to move themselves! Whoever said this age was easier than the earlier stages was lying. We've redoubled our childproofing to include chains on the exterior doors, refrigerator & oven locks and mommy's vigilant supervision. Wow. The terrible twos!

Good thing we have Sprout on-Demand and we can watch Thomas 24/7.

2010

Finally! I'm actually mailing my 'Happy New Year' notes & cards this week! A preview...
...................................................................

Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!

2009 was quite the whirlwind! Everyone forewarned us that both parenting and law school are very difficult & energy intensive ventures. None-the-less, we proceeded, perhaps naively, thinking, “How bad can it be?”

All I have to say now is…

“OH. This is what they were talking about.”

And, everyone also said, becoming a parent is the best thing they’d ever done and the most rewarding and worthwhile. That is also proving to be true. Isaac is obviously our pride and joy and he is such a happy & contented baby. We are very fortunate!

So—that said—you’ll find us to be even crazier, as we’re hoping to have news very soon about a baby brother or sister for Isaac! We’ll keep you posted on that front.

Other than that, our life now is pretty chock full of lots of ordinary, mundane, but wonderful family moments.

Have a great year! Love, Dave, Tara & Isaac

...................................................................

And, yes, I AM FREAKING OUT--Dave's school effectively goes through mid-summer this semester. He's taking summer school. So I've booked us a weekend here mid-way through to save my sanity. For some reason, both Dave and I are having a really, really hard time getting back on the saddle for this semester's ride. Must...slog...through...two and a half more years.

Must be we know now what we're really in for and what it's really like!! Isaac reaching the terrible twos is also factoring in for sure!

More soon as I emotionally come to terms with this whole thing and can snap out of it -- I may even resort to better living through chemistry...with Dr.'s blessing of course! :)

bah humbug

I wanted you all to know, I AM mailing holiday cards this year---NEW YEAR'S holiday cards!! They're all ready to go, and you should be recieving yours very soon!!

I am in my usual spacy, daydreamy place--and I'm doing all the holiday things, just with what feels like 25% of my pre-baby energy level!!

We hosted a fun party early this month, for the families in Isaac's playgroup. It was controlled chaos--and it went way past the time we said it was over, so I think everyone had fun. Miraculously, there were no accidents--not even a spill! It was great because it was like instant Christmas the first week of December!

I thought I'd be so on top of the game this year--I started my planning in October! (But, alas--my cards are late anyway!!) In my Richard Linkletter-esque, SLACKER-esque movie plot of a life, I seem to just do what's right in front of me!

Isaac said his first sentence yesterday! It was very cute. He said, "Bye, bye Daddy!" when we dropped Dave off at the Metro station. He is beginning to have the terrible twos--getting frustrated if I have to take away a dangerous toy, or remove him from something that could hurt him. He can walk up and down the stairs--holding onto the rail (with mommy close by to prevent tumbles). And he's starting to mimic songs and sounds...Dave even thinks he has good pitch!

Dave finished this semester last week. He is like 50 years younger and 70 pounds lighter, just enjoying this 2 weeks of freedom. When school is in session, our house is a bit like a somber library when daddy is home. He's either sleeping or studying. I feel sooo bad that his load is so heavy. And he reminds me always, that he wanted to do this! And, all those he-man tasks go undone around the house--because there is NO Honey-Do list!! No chores at all for him! So--this two weeks is like "WOO HOO!!" We may even go to the movies when we're visiting family next week. What a concept!

My friend Brittany and I began painting in our house (don't ask why it was so important to begin in December!) The colors were exactly as I pictured in my mind's eye, but, of course, I want to tweak them and re-do everything we did. Yah. Fun.

Isaac and I got to see the sweetest production of the Nutcracker. The Southwestern Virginia Ballet company performed in Roanoke this month, along with participants from 19 different elementary schools in the area. My niece, Elise Candelario was a performer, and she was featured on the local news channel TWICE! Elise did beautifully, and the whole show was wonderful--the sets, the costumes, the performers. Everyone was outstanding. I was thoroughly impressed!

It's been a very special (and very rough!) holiday season this year...the first when my mom and uncle are looking on from above. :( It's a very weird feeling.

Miss you all! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com. And, look for our annual HOLIDAY letter, coming soon!

xoox

allie bleeping carroll

Our photographer Allie did such a wonderful job on our photos! We're deliriously happy with them and it was such a fun day. She made it so easy!!

Take a look at the pictures on her gallery website:
www.alliecarrollphotography.com

- Scroll just a bit and you will see our name "The Schleifer Family"
- Click there and you will be prompted for a password
- The password is TaraandIssac12
(Please note that the password is case sensitive
so be sure to cap the "T" in Tara and the "I" in Issac)

So much fun! We hope to have annual sessions with Allie because she's so darn talented!!!

:)