baby – megan&andrew http://blog.solanis.net Wed, 30 May 2018 07:21:41 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.14 Sushi, DIY, Carl, and Baby Jack http://blog.solanis.net/2018/01/sushi-diy-carl-and-baby-jack/ Mon, 22 Jan 2018 08:40:28 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/?p=5657 Read More]]> I flew to Sacramento for the weekend to visit Casey (and Nelson). I flew alone which meant watching my own movies/tv and knitting the whole flight. Then I stepped off the plane into sunny 70 degree weather in January.

Casey picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to lunch where we toasted the start of our weekend together and gorged ourselves on sushi.

 

I got to meet Carl and his baby, Jack. Both of whom I was very nervous to meet because what if they didn’t like me instantly and I was only there for a short time. Would Carl bark at me all weekend, and Jack cry every time I looked at him? Turns out, I didn’t even have to use the dog treats I brought on either of them. They were both immediately my BFFs. Carl did destroy the toy I brought him within 24 hours but I’ll take that as a compliment. Jack only got clothes but he still let me hang out with him.

I think maybe I’d been at the house about 2 hours and after getting the tour we decidedly we could definitely, absolutely paint their guest bath vanity before I left on Sunday. We also replaced the faucet and re-grouted the tile countertop. We did all this while Nelson golfed, we had a Saturday ladies’ night out, and we fit in a little shopping (beside our many Home Depot trips). It was a great little mini getaway weekend!

Hopefully Nelson didn’t mind the madness I may have instigated at their house 😛

]]> Thanksgiving 2018 http://blog.solanis.net/2017/11/thanksgiving-2018/ Wed, 29 Nov 2017 06:40:10 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/?p=5320 Read More]]> Aiden and I began Thanksgiving prep a few days before hand. Andrew and Oliver just kept themselves out of the kitchen. We made pierogis and froze them so they’d be ready to fry Thanksgiving morning.  Then he helped me batter pork chops while I fried them. They got baked the day of. Our usual turkey chefs were traveling England and Iceland, so we made due with some non-traditional Karas traditions.

Kelly and Matt arrived early and we started the day off with the parade, mimosas, and playing with friends.

The newest little framily member came and got lots of snuggles.

Sarah, Tobin, and Jadaka road-tripped up from Portland and camped in their RV for the night in our driveway. Brody also got lots of snuggles.

Aunt Sarah gave Aiden a little aerial balancing lesson.

Dad, Andrew, and I had some beverages at a few breweries. I snuck off for macarons at Lady Yum when we made a brewery stop in Kirkland.

Aiden got into the Thanksgiving spirit making scarecrows at school.

Thanks to my parents, I completed this shoe bench for our entry way.

]]> Karas Christmas 2016 http://blog.solanis.net/2017/01/karas-christmas-2016/ Tue, 03 Jan 2017 09:40:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2017/01/karas-christmas-2016/ The Santas are strategizing.
Then it’s present time!
 
 
 Oliver made car sounds all over his mat which none of knew he knew how to do.
 
 Devouring his Olaf gummies.
  There was lots of playing, and I still don’t think we’ve played with all of MeMe’s toys.
Lauren and AJ came over to play.
]]> Oliver Turns 1! http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/oliver-turns-1/ Wed, 28 Dec 2016 18:40:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/oliver-turns-1/ We got to have a family celebration for Oliver’s birthday. He was timid about the cake at first but Aiden had no problem showing him what to do.
Everyone else loved their cake, but I think Graham might have lost his.
Presents and playing with all the kids… my heart is full watching the room full of family.

]]> Hampton Christmas 2016 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/hampton-christmas-2016/ Mon, 26 Dec 2016 18:08:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/hampton-christmas-2016/ Santa and his elves! 
 
 
 I like the progression of these 2 pictures…
Four littles opening presents.
 
 I’m always amazed when we have all 4 sitting at the same time.
 Oliver was very happy being kept in this crate while we played in the barn.
 We’re not use to seeing frozen ponds. We had a couple of days when it wasn’t too cold to play outside.
Matching brothers! Aiden is totally use to this crying.
Oliver’s learning how to empty drawers and enjoy a bedtime sippy cup from his cousins.
]]> Indy Children's Museum with "Baby AJ" http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/indy-childrens-museum-with-baby-aj/ Thu, 22 Dec 2016 22:49:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/indy-childrens-museum-with-baby-aj/ We met up with Lauren, Corrinne, and AJ to play at the Children’s Museum. A strategically timed power outrage ran many people off, so we had a great day with no lines or waiting to share toys. I think Aiden went down the slide 5 times. 
]]> Family of 4 Christmas http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/family-of-4-christmas/ Sat, 17 Dec 2016 09:20:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/family-of-4-christmas/ We had a little Christmas at out house before heading to Indy for 2 weeks. Andrew used the remainder of his paternity leave during November and December, so we went home for actual Christmas this year. I think that’s a first since moving to Washington.
It was Oliver’s first Christmas. Aiden picked his own gift for Oliver, helped him open it and showed him how to use it. Aiden made sure all of Oliver’s presents were opened and inspected. 
Aiden had the present opening thing down this year, no help from us.
Reading their new books with daddy.
We also went to Redmond Town Center and rode the train and carousel.
Everyone wears a turkey hat on Christmas, right? 

We had a friend visit our yard.

]]> A Few Little Parties & Projects http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/a-few-little-parties-projects/ Tue, 13 Dec 2016 06:22:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/a-few-little-parties-projects/ We celebrated one of our birth class friend’s 4th birthday. 
And had a holiday get together with 6 little boys. 
Here are a few of the little projects I’ve worked on over the past several months (because I haven’t had any major house projects to work on).
I got this Jenny Lind high chair from my local Buy Nothing group. It was a bit beat up but ended up needing a lot less work than I expected. I cleaned it, applied 3 coats of wipe on poly, and replaced the buckles and straps. Done!
Because Oliver had a new chair I kept an eye out for something to get Aiden, and I found this chair at Goodwill for $6. It was in terrible shape. Chipping paint over old stain, a broken stretcher, and badly stapled/screwed/bolted together. I completely disassembled it (and used painters tape to number everything so I could put it back together the exact same way), lightly sanded it, and then primed and spray painted all the pieces separately before glueing it back together. Aiden picked the colors. I also applied a spray on clear coat to hopefully protect the paint job.
This small table was also a Goodwill find that would work perfectly next to our recliner. This I completely stripped to re-stain. It’s tedious and I don’t usually like doing it. Once done I realized the top was in really great shape compared to the legs, so I ended up only refinishing the top and painting the rest white. I think this ended up looking really nice in our living room against all the wood floors. 
I decided to build a new work bench. When we would go to do a project it was hard to drag everything out and put it away efficiently, plus we don’t have a lot of storage space. Locking wheels, and a workbench that functions for use and storage is what I went for.
And I painted it because why not.
]]> Everyday Life with Littles http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/everyday-life-with-littles/ Tue, 06 Dec 2016 09:53:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/12/everyday-life-with-littles/ Hugging turtles!
Aiden painting at school with his friends and Mr. Roger.
Happy boys!
Just some weekend lounging…
Just some weekend house work in the crawl space…
Life with 2 is more fun than I expected. It’s still really hard, but definitely better than what I’d stressed over and built up in my head. 
I recently quit my job at Responsys. The Oracle acquisition came with no perks, in fact, they regularly took away perks. Good employees were departing weekly, internal tools and gaining new business were impossible, and there were no signs of raises after 2 years of nothing. 
The commute, trying to manage home life and a full time job, struggling with postpartum depression, sleep deprivation… then the job and team I loved at work fell apart. It wasn’t worth it. It was time to go. And it’s made such a difference for our whole family. 
I ended up quickly finding new work, working from home, doing exactly what I was doing at Responsys (with some of the same people!). 
]]> Thanksgiving 2016 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/11/thanksgiving-2016/ Tue, 29 Nov 2016 08:22:00 +0000 http://blog.solanis.net/2016/11/thanksgiving-2016/ My parents flew in for Thanksgiving. We tried to take them to the Columbia Tower (tall black building below) but turns out they close 2 days every 5 years for maintenance and we went on one of those 2 days. Instead we took them to the Smith Tower just a few blocks away. It has an old world ambiance, they serve drinks at the top and there’s quite a bit of history to this building. Sarah, Tobin, and Brody also came up Sunday to visit.

We wore him out.
We went to Redmond Town Center, rode the carousel and saw Santa.
It didn’t go great… 
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