Happy New Year!

Hi friends!
DISCLAIMER: I started this post back in January, so forgive any dated information.

It's been a while, but here's a quick summation of the last year for the HElliott clan as we break into 2014.

New Starts
I started exactly a year ago as a part-time Museum Specialist after about 8 weeks maternity leave. My job requirements changed so that I could do more of the museum work that I enjoyed. It's been awesome and I love the people I get to work with.

Scott started a new job last May which has made HElliott life in 2013 interesting.  He has been working nights, so our schedule has changed drastically and our social life during the week has taken a slight toll.  However, he took the job with the understanding that this shift was not permanent, and so we look forward to later this spring as a time to transition back into a normal family schedule where we can all have dinner together on weeknights with a well-rested Scott.

These last couple of months I've been working full-time temporarily, which has burned up our patience twice as fast. Without our mornings together, Scott and I haven't been able to see each other awake at all during the week, unless he comes and takes me out for lunch. It also means that he has to wake up with the baby regardless of the godforsaken time he went to bed. For someone only getting an average of 4-5 hours of sleep, he's been very perky. If everything goes to plan, this should end after this week when I go back to part-time.

And speaking of insanity, we bought our first house! It was a foreclosure and we won the bid before Thanksgiving, but figuring out the contract was a whole different story. Actually this entire house ordeal deserves its own blog post, because moving in was the best part. Stay tuned.

So we love the house. We've been in it since the end of January (the VERY end), and we're still unpacking boxes, but for two people unpacking on their own while supervising a toddler, I think we're doing pretty good.

Full-On Toddler
The changes Charlotte has gone through since she started pulling up in August, walking in November, and now have been crazy. (Look at the date of my last post. See the correlation?) I used to think life would be so much easier once she could just tell me what she wants. Unfortunately, that happens at the same developmental stage where you can't keep giving her what she wants just to pacify her like you could with an infant.

I'm not saying we don't feed her when she's hungry, I'm just saying we won't feed her sugary treats whenever she wants them - or blueberries at dinner (bedtime tummy-aches are the WORST.) But of course, she doesn't understand that. And what better way to tell an adult you mean business than stomp your feet and wail? I mean seriously, the child stomps her feet. Where in the world did she learn that?? My guess: that special trait is probably floating on the X chromosome I donated. Along with sheer determination. You think you're distracting her from something, but really she's just going along with you until you're done and she can go back to doing what she had planned to all along. It's a sad feeling to feel like your toddler played you. It's also exhausting keeping up the ruse until it's time to eat or go to bed so that she never gets the chance to play with that death-trap she's been thinking about all day. But, and I can't emphasize this enough, it's fun as hell. She'll chase you, or run away from you, play peekaboo with you, headbutt you, dive into a friggin' ball pit, and then always come right back to you to hug you and make sure you're watching. Best. Feeling. Ever.

I absolutely take this stuff for granted a lot of times, until I get the hug. It focuses me. Think about it. You could be running around doing your usual routine at work or running errands on top of a long day, and if someone just walks up to you and hugs you (a friend or a relative, not a stranger - yikes), what else can you think about but "Oh yeah. Someone loves me. You know what, I love you, too! And hanging out with you is way more fun and meaningful than anything else I'm doing right now. Let's play!" Love it.

Fitness
Right now, I've got nothing in this department. Especially with the crazy full-time schedule, there's no time. I did get a cheap jogging stroller, though, and I'm SO excited to get to take little buddy for rides on some morning jogs through the neighborhood when I go back to part-time.

The ladies of the family did get together for the annual Disney Princess Half-Marathon. I believe that deserves a blog post of its own as well. It included much hilarity including biological warfare done by my mother of all people. Trust me, you won't want to miss this one. Spoiler alert - none of us ran the half-marathon.

That's mostly what's been happening with the HElliotts these last few months/half-year. I'm looking forward to sharing more details with you all soon...and you should look forward to reading them.