This was written up awhile back but never posted. I think I am ready to get caught up on our happenings.
The last few weeks have been full, but not at the same time. Here's our family update...
-David- He has been loving his new job. He often comes home (even on the long 12 hour days) and is so thrilled that he has the job he does and that he no longer works at the last job. The work he is doing is fun for him, the people he works with are much better and much more of a variety, he is getting paid more, he gets to bring his family on work trips, and his future career (in this company or not) is so much more what he has been wanting and hoping for and looks much more promising. It is still work and he would rather be home and get to do whatever he liked everyday, but since he needs to work, he likes what he has. He has some days that are long hours and 90% of the weeknights have been in company paid hotels (which is a good and bad thing...good because we aren't paying for the hotels, and bad because it is nice to be home as a family) We have seriously considered moving the majority of our stuff into a storage unit and JUST living out of hotels. Parts of this idea is nice (not paying rent and utilities) and just paying for two or three nights a week if we don't have free nights saved up (David gets free nights for every so many nights he stays in hotels). It would be interesting, but I am not entirely opposed to it. Anyways...David loves his job and is working hard to do well. He hasn't had time for table tennis (calling ping pong is not official enough for him) because he wants to spend as much time as he can with his cute girls. He is getting worked up with Katelyn's new talking skills and loves it. He is getting very excited for her learning and education and I have had to slow him down and stop him from spending every penny he makes on preschool materials and learning stuff. I am thinking we need to have more kids soon, so Katelyn doesn't get overwhelmed too soon and then MAYBE David will spread out his focus and excitement on the other kids. He is not worried that she is behind, but is more excited for her to be the best. He is very eager and I appreciate it, but I am trying to get him to focus on things that a 2 year old should be learning rather than a 4 year old.
A little story...David was gone at work and I had a sore muscle in my back that was bothering me as I did regular things. I attempted to show Katelyn how to massage my back with no success. I told David about it and the first thing he thought and said was, "At least you tried to teach her a marketable skill!" He gets excited when Katelyn is learning things that can make money someday...just the entrepreneur in him. He still isn't sure whether he would rather have Katelyn excel in academics, sports, a business, or something else. I keep telling him there is plenty of time for all of that stuff down the road, but he doesn't want to waste this time now and doesn't want to miss the opportunity. Silly dad. He knows it is all a little silly, but part of him is completely serious too :) I am glad he is passionate about Katelyn being successful someday.
-Katelyn- She is really figuring out this talking thing. It is so fun and sometimes frustrating. I love that she is picking up on things and that she is so willing to try to say new words, but sometimes I think we confuse her or she forgets stuff. Lately, she says no for everything even when sometimes she means yes. I can almost always tell the difference and know when she means no, but she physically knows how to say yes but still always says no. Did I confuse you? Some things I know she knows what they are and I know she can say them, but doesn't. Or she will say she wants something specific like a cracker, and then when I get that for her she doesn't want it. She is figuring out this whole talking with her voice thing and we are hoping we aren't confusing her, but it is fun to see her pick up on this whole process. We are all figuring this baby talking thing out and enjoying most of it along the way.
Katelyn turned 18 months and it was her turn to head into nursery at church. I had gone with her for a couple weeks before hoping that it would ease the transition, but I think it might have made it worse. Either that or she has hit a peak with separation anxiety right now. She gets so sad and starts sobbing once she realizes I have left the room. She loves it when I am there and I have been staying in there with her hoping that eventually she will be okay when I leave. I was excited that maybe I would be able to listen to a Sunday School lesson AND a Relief Society lesson all in one week. But not so fast. David isn't a fan of nursery mostly because he is having his own separation issues :) He loves spending time with Katelyn and wants to hang out with her the whole time. I am the mean one and I make him go to class and I go to Katelyn's nursery class with her. I can't leave her in there when she cries so hard, but maybe she cries because she knows that I will come back...maybe? I have no idea, but I know she is a smart girl, so maybe she is fooling us all. She has a hard time with people leaving, especially Mom and Dad, but it is kind of funny that she has a hard time and gets upset and sometimes cries when friends leave our house or when Dad leaves for work, or when she is being baby-sat and one of the adults leaves to take out the garbage. I am guessing that since she is always with me every day she is just used to having me around, but her attachment to everyone else, I don't know. I have heard that the next kids won't be as attached because they don't get that one-on-one attention all day, every day. I am hoping this is just a phase and that she can learn to adjust when people come and go. We'll see.
-And me- I have been following David to his audits and keeping busy. Katelyn and I go out and find stuff to do during the day and since we have been close to DC, we have seen I think all of the kid friendly things they have there. We were also able to be in DC for the beautiful cherry blossoms. The weather has been amazing and so we have taken our time as we walk in and out and around the fun DC monuments and museums and the zoo too.
I have also brought along some crafty things and have been enjoying making things for our family...some things to decorate our apartment, some fun homemade toys for Katelyn, some gifts, and fun little things to keep Katelyn busy so we don't get assigned preschool homework from David ;)
I have been struggling to find a balance between our "vacations" with hotel living and then adjusting back home on the weekends and then to pack up again for another week in the hotel. I feel like it is hard to keep routines and have consistency. I have been trying to get and stay in the habit of taking care of myself by reading scriptures, exercising, making sure I eat three meals a day (I am still surprised how many meals pass by and I don't even realize it..lunch sneaks by so often or ends up being peanut butter M&M's), taking my prenatal vitamins (I have learned that you are supposed to be taking these if you are planning on getting pregnant soon, if you are pregnant, or if you are nursing! I will be taking prenatal vitamins for forever!) cleaning and tidying up the house (or hotel) each day, and catering to my family's needs, but haven't figured it all out yet.
The idea of having more kids seemed like no big deal. When I had Katelyn, my perspective on having more kids changed. I still want more, but popping a baby out isn't all that easy on the body, and then I will have to take care of it in addition to Katelyn. I want to keep a little bit of my sanity as my family grows up and as I parent them, I am hoping that I can do so with love and not go crazy. So the thought of more kids has been daunting to say the least and I don't think I will ever be ready, but I want to be ready. Unless I never know that I am pregnant (how in the world do people not know?!) but lately I have been having twitching muscles not anywhere near my belly (like my legs, eyes, shoulders) that come close to the feeling of the first baby kicks making me think "could I really?", but then I have to remind myself that babies don't grow in my legs and eyes and shoulders :) So for all of you who are wondering when the next baby Rudd will be on its way, when the time comes, you will know. We know we are a ticking time bomb for the "every two years apart" kids, but no announcement today. Which means it will be more than two years apart and we are completely fine with that. We are wrapping our heads around the idea of having more kids, but this no big deal thing really is a big deal! And that isn't even considering the fact that we could have twins one day...yikes! (my mom is a twin and rumor has it that it skips generations or something like that...I can't imagine keeping my sanity with twins)
I have a talk to give this Sunday and I was overwhelmed by it. I am speaking on Easter and I feel like more people come for Easter Sunday and bring friends and family for the occasion so I feel like this talk better have something good to it to make it worth everyone's time. I hope I don't disappoint, but having read a bunch of talks on Christ's Resurrection (my topic) I don't know how this talk couldn't have the Spirit. As long as I don't cry the whole way through because I come from a family of cry babies (I mean spiritual people, right Dad?), I think it will be fine :) That is what I am telling myself anyways.
The last few weeks have been full, but not at the same time. Here's our family update...
-David- He has been loving his new job. He often comes home (even on the long 12 hour days) and is so thrilled that he has the job he does and that he no longer works at the last job. The work he is doing is fun for him, the people he works with are much better and much more of a variety, he is getting paid more, he gets to bring his family on work trips, and his future career (in this company or not) is so much more what he has been wanting and hoping for and looks much more promising. It is still work and he would rather be home and get to do whatever he liked everyday, but since he needs to work, he likes what he has. He has some days that are long hours and 90% of the weeknights have been in company paid hotels (which is a good and bad thing...good because we aren't paying for the hotels, and bad because it is nice to be home as a family) We have seriously considered moving the majority of our stuff into a storage unit and JUST living out of hotels. Parts of this idea is nice (not paying rent and utilities) and just paying for two or three nights a week if we don't have free nights saved up (David gets free nights for every so many nights he stays in hotels). It would be interesting, but I am not entirely opposed to it. Anyways...David loves his job and is working hard to do well. He hasn't had time for table tennis (calling ping pong is not official enough for him) because he wants to spend as much time as he can with his cute girls. He is getting worked up with Katelyn's new talking skills and loves it. He is getting very excited for her learning and education and I have had to slow him down and stop him from spending every penny he makes on preschool materials and learning stuff. I am thinking we need to have more kids soon, so Katelyn doesn't get overwhelmed too soon and then MAYBE David will spread out his focus and excitement on the other kids. He is not worried that she is behind, but is more excited for her to be the best. He is very eager and I appreciate it, but I am trying to get him to focus on things that a 2 year old should be learning rather than a 4 year old.
A little story...David was gone at work and I had a sore muscle in my back that was bothering me as I did regular things. I attempted to show Katelyn how to massage my back with no success. I told David about it and the first thing he thought and said was, "At least you tried to teach her a marketable skill!" He gets excited when Katelyn is learning things that can make money someday...just the entrepreneur in him. He still isn't sure whether he would rather have Katelyn excel in academics, sports, a business, or something else. I keep telling him there is plenty of time for all of that stuff down the road, but he doesn't want to waste this time now and doesn't want to miss the opportunity. Silly dad. He knows it is all a little silly, but part of him is completely serious too :) I am glad he is passionate about Katelyn being successful someday.
-Katelyn- She is really figuring out this talking thing. It is so fun and sometimes frustrating. I love that she is picking up on things and that she is so willing to try to say new words, but sometimes I think we confuse her or she forgets stuff. Lately, she says no for everything even when sometimes she means yes. I can almost always tell the difference and know when she means no, but she physically knows how to say yes but still always says no. Did I confuse you? Some things I know she knows what they are and I know she can say them, but doesn't. Or she will say she wants something specific like a cracker, and then when I get that for her she doesn't want it. She is figuring out this whole talking with her voice thing and we are hoping we aren't confusing her, but it is fun to see her pick up on this whole process. We are all figuring this baby talking thing out and enjoying most of it along the way.
Katelyn turned 18 months and it was her turn to head into nursery at church. I had gone with her for a couple weeks before hoping that it would ease the transition, but I think it might have made it worse. Either that or she has hit a peak with separation anxiety right now. She gets so sad and starts sobbing once she realizes I have left the room. She loves it when I am there and I have been staying in there with her hoping that eventually she will be okay when I leave. I was excited that maybe I would be able to listen to a Sunday School lesson AND a Relief Society lesson all in one week. But not so fast. David isn't a fan of nursery mostly because he is having his own separation issues :) He loves spending time with Katelyn and wants to hang out with her the whole time. I am the mean one and I make him go to class and I go to Katelyn's nursery class with her. I can't leave her in there when she cries so hard, but maybe she cries because she knows that I will come back...maybe? I have no idea, but I know she is a smart girl, so maybe she is fooling us all. She has a hard time with people leaving, especially Mom and Dad, but it is kind of funny that she has a hard time and gets upset and sometimes cries when friends leave our house or when Dad leaves for work, or when she is being baby-sat and one of the adults leaves to take out the garbage. I am guessing that since she is always with me every day she is just used to having me around, but her attachment to everyone else, I don't know. I have heard that the next kids won't be as attached because they don't get that one-on-one attention all day, every day. I am hoping this is just a phase and that she can learn to adjust when people come and go. We'll see.
-And me- I have been following David to his audits and keeping busy. Katelyn and I go out and find stuff to do during the day and since we have been close to DC, we have seen I think all of the kid friendly things they have there. We were also able to be in DC for the beautiful cherry blossoms. The weather has been amazing and so we have taken our time as we walk in and out and around the fun DC monuments and museums and the zoo too.
I have also brought along some crafty things and have been enjoying making things for our family...some things to decorate our apartment, some fun homemade toys for Katelyn, some gifts, and fun little things to keep Katelyn busy so we don't get assigned preschool homework from David ;)
I have been struggling to find a balance between our "vacations" with hotel living and then adjusting back home on the weekends and then to pack up again for another week in the hotel. I feel like it is hard to keep routines and have consistency. I have been trying to get and stay in the habit of taking care of myself by reading scriptures, exercising, making sure I eat three meals a day (I am still surprised how many meals pass by and I don't even realize it..lunch sneaks by so often or ends up being peanut butter M&M's), taking my prenatal vitamins (I have learned that you are supposed to be taking these if you are planning on getting pregnant soon, if you are pregnant, or if you are nursing! I will be taking prenatal vitamins for forever!) cleaning and tidying up the house (or hotel) each day, and catering to my family's needs, but haven't figured it all out yet.
The idea of having more kids seemed like no big deal. When I had Katelyn, my perspective on having more kids changed. I still want more, but popping a baby out isn't all that easy on the body, and then I will have to take care of it in addition to Katelyn. I want to keep a little bit of my sanity as my family grows up and as I parent them, I am hoping that I can do so with love and not go crazy. So the thought of more kids has been daunting to say the least and I don't think I will ever be ready, but I want to be ready. Unless I never know that I am pregnant (how in the world do people not know?!) but lately I have been having twitching muscles not anywhere near my belly (like my legs, eyes, shoulders) that come close to the feeling of the first baby kicks making me think "could I really?", but then I have to remind myself that babies don't grow in my legs and eyes and shoulders :) So for all of you who are wondering when the next baby Rudd will be on its way, when the time comes, you will know. We know we are a ticking time bomb for the "every two years apart" kids, but no announcement today. Which means it will be more than two years apart and we are completely fine with that. We are wrapping our heads around the idea of having more kids, but this no big deal thing really is a big deal! And that isn't even considering the fact that we could have twins one day...yikes! (my mom is a twin and rumor has it that it skips generations or something like that...I can't imagine keeping my sanity with twins)
I have a talk to give this Sunday and I was overwhelmed by it. I am speaking on Easter and I feel like more people come for Easter Sunday and bring friends and family for the occasion so I feel like this talk better have something good to it to make it worth everyone's time. I hope I don't disappoint, but having read a bunch of talks on Christ's Resurrection (my topic) I don't know how this talk couldn't have the Spirit. As long as I don't cry the whole way through because I come from a family of cry babies (I mean spiritual people, right Dad?), I think it will be fine :) That is what I am telling myself anyways.
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