Working

Not much to say. I feel like Aaron and I are still trying to get into our new schedule for the semester.

It's hard being a working mom, and I'm technically only 1/2 time which equates to 20 hrs/wk. I really only HAVE to be out of the house for like 12 hrs/wk, and even that's a little flexible. But a lot of additional work happens at home (often totaling more than 20 hrs/wk), which is good, but its easy to think that you can work and watch baby at the same time -- reality often has something else to say about it. Aaron and I are juggling back and forth, and we seem to make it work. We request a few hours from each other, here or there, so that we can have some specified "work" time, knowing the other will handle all things Sam. This is working pretty well. What's often hard is knowing how to plan ahead and schedule that work time, and to make sure that you get your work done during the allotted time. So far most deadlines have been met and we're not at one another's throats, and Sam is still getting a lot of Mom & Dad time. We are very grateful to have Meg living next door -- this would be far more difficult if she weren't there to help out. Which makes me worry about the possibilities of next year if I happen to get offered the prof job, but this is a worry we've decided we shouldn't concern ourselves with unless it becomes a reality.

Other than the hectic-ness of working, I think for the most part I'm glad to be working again. I'm glad to be teaching. I love teaching my own syllabus and I'm excited about the assignments and I have a great group of students. I am only teaching one class, so that helps with enthusiasm and energy. I only have to talk straight for 3 hours instead of 6! (don't worry, this is one-on-one, not lecturing students for 3 hours!) The coordinating part of the job is going fine, but it's a little rocky because I never really know what little bumps are coming in the road. But I'm making do and the TAs (the grad students I am coordinating for) are all great so it makes my job pretty easy. It's good to be getting out of the house, it's good to be socializing with people outside of my comfort zone, it's good to be realizing that a career in academics may actually be what I want to pursue afterall, and it's good that we can pay our bills! It's also good that now when I have Sam time, I am much more appreciative of every moment I get to hang out with him. The problem is sometimes I am trying to hang out with Sam and work. I think I need to work on further classifying my time to family time and work time -- keeping it separate will probably make me more efficient and make me feel better.

Now that the interview is done, I finally will feel like I'm really just working part time and not full time, I think. And maybe I'll even get back to doing some creative work. With all the busy getting back to work and interview stuff, I haven't had a chance to pursue the astro baby clothes -- don't worry, yee who requested shirts will get some! I just haven't gotten back to that yet. Soon though, soon!! And I added my contact email at the right if you want to request one but didn't have a way to do so! (silly me)

Sam updates:

• I keep thinking we'll wake to a tooth any day or something, but nothing yet. We'll see.
• His eating is going well. His diet thus far is very limited -- basically he'll eat peas, prunes, and banana. He really can't stand sweet potato, butternut squash -- didn't even like pears. I will try some new food this week.
• He rolls over his left shoulder, back to front, all the time with ease. Won't roll any other way anymore.
  
• He can push himself up on his hands when lying on his stomach (lifting his upperbody).
• He can sit unassisted for short bits of time, and can even sometimes catch himself if he gets off balance. He can sit balanced with a toy for longer periods of time.
• When playing on his stomach, he can pull himself around in a circle. He really is getting to scoot around pretty well and I wouldn't be surprised if crawling is not far off. I haven't babyproofed anything. At all. I better get on that.
• He is officially really into toys. He likes shaking stuff, dropping stuff. He throws stuff. He grabs stuff.
• His hair is really coming in now. Still can't describe the color in specific detail. But it's a golden blonde -- can't tell if it will be more blonde or light brown when it comes in. Pretty blonde=ish though.
• His eye color remains a gray blue. More blue than anything else though I think, even though sometimes the pics look greenish.
• He has super dry skin. At the last doc appointment they gave us a prescription for it. You know those super rosy cheeks that look so great in pictures? Dry skin. This cold dry Indiana winter is just too much. I bathe him infrequently but he still gets eczema patches. Any suggestions out there??
  
• His sleep is a little rocky these days. I guess I haven't really even been worrying about it. He often even starts off in our bed. He still wakes every few hours. Some nights more, some nights less. With food/digestion changing, teething, our changing schedules -- I guess I just can't worry too much about it.
  

So we're keeping at it. I can't believe how fast he grows. I think time is a whole new thing once you have kids. I remember Aaron saying his dad said that he sort of didn't even remember life before kids -- or that having kids is when he felt like his life started. I get that now. It's just a whole new way of looking at life, that's for sure.

Well, to close I'll give you some recent eating pics and some images from having fun over at Aunt Meg's. Sam is a cutie.