Sunday, February 25, 2018

New place

Its been another couple of busy weeks here in the Martino household. Biggest news being of course that we moved last Saturday! It stresses me out to be half moved in and have boxes and chaos around me and nothing on my walls, so we worked really hard and have already gotten all of our boxes unpacked except one and have already gotten a few things up on the walls! We are so blessed to have such an amazing ward family who helped us out so much with the move! We had people watch Levi Friday morning, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon so he was out of our way pretty much the whole time! And a bunch of men from the Elder's Quorum came and helped carry things over to our new place including switching our washer and dryer from the nasty old ones that were in this place to the ones we had been using which are fine from our old place! With all of their help, we got everything moved within 2 hours!! It was awesome! And then one of our miamaids came over and helped me clean our old apartment for literally 4 hours! She's a saint. So with everyone's help, we were able to get everything moved out of our old place and our old place completely cleaned all in one day! And since then, Eric and I have just been putting our shoulder to the wheel and have gotten our new place feeling almost like home :)

Levi has been handling the move better than I was afraid he would. He's sleeping fine here and seems to love having a bit more space to play and push his shopping cart around in! He also knows which apartment is ours already and he will point to it saying "This way!" as we drive up. And I love that there is space in his room and his closet for all of his toys! The only toys we have out in our living room now is his kitchen.

I've actually been having a hard time than I expected with the move. We've just had a few issues come up already that have made our transition more... challenging. I love the vaulted ceilings and that we have more space and that it's a little more private up here on the 3rd floor since people can't just walk past our windows and that the cabinets look nicer BUT I thought it would be quieter being on the top floor here but it is definitely not! We actually get A LOT more noise here from the people below us and on both sides. Loud TVs, loud bathroom fans and showers (you can hear it all over our house when our downstairs neighbor turns his on!), one of our neighbors plays his guitar loudly (he's pretty good, but still!) and just general noise! There's hardly a moment during the day when I can't hear something from the neighbors. Eric says I will get used to it but it's definitely disappointing. Also we have ants! At first, it was just a couple scouts but now they are popping up and swarming in our kitchen and also weirdly in Levi's room on the electrical cables. I called management but they can't send a pest control person out till Monday. Also, our dryer doesn't work well here. I'm not sure if the maintenance guy hooked it up poorly or if the ducts haven't been cleaned recently but its the same dryer as we had in our last place and now it's taking three times longer to dry each load! This is a huge problem for a busy mom with lots of laundry to do! I called maintenance and he came and cleaned the ducts somewhat but we are still having issues. And finally, and this is the biggest issue, on Tuesday morning, our downstairs neighbor decided to smoke some pot in his bathroom which made my bathroom and our master bedroom smell like marijuana all day!! It was sooo bad! Not only do I hate the smell of marijuana but it makes me more nauseous. And of course, that was the day I had to do my glucose tolerance test and drink that nasty stuff so that was also making me feel awful. Two strikes against me. Needless to say, I was super ticked and immediately called Eric and he called management to complain. They agreed to put a warning sign on the neighbor's door about how smoking is not allowed in the apartments and is a breach of contract but the guy gets three strikes before they can fine him or do an eviction notice or anything! Ugh! I was not thinking the most rationally that day and wanted to go downstairs and yell at him myself but thankfully I restrained myself. But yeah, Tuesday was just not a good day in general. First there was the smoking thing, then the glucose test- which was almost a disaster because the lab almost refused to test my blood because I didn't drink the glucose solution while I was there (my midwife just gave it to me and I drank it on my own, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that and no one had told me!), then it was snowing so Levi and I were stuck inside all day, and then Levi downright refused to take an afternoon nap! We tried for like an hour but he just kept jumping up and down in his crib and yelling and crying. I went in there at least four times and finally just gave up! But it meant he was super grouchy and emotional the whole rest of the day because he is definitely not ready yet to cut out his afternoon nap! Oh yeah, and on top of this, we still had no internet at this point because they hadn't hooked it up yet and our apartment was still covered in half-unpacked boxes and nothing was Levi proofed yet which was basically a recipe for disaster. Let's just say by the time 5 pm rolled around, I was soo, so done. I'm ashamed to say, I was definitely not the most patient momma that day and did some yelling. Days like that remind me of my weaknesses and make me just so grateful for the Atonement and that I can repent. And I am so, so grateful that Levi is so loving and forgiving. He's definitely impatient with some things, like trying to use a fork or maneuver his luggage around corners, but he is very patient with me and my faults and always is ready to hug me and love me even in my not great moments. It's no wonder that Christ tells us to be like a little child.

In other news, we got some snow this past week! I'm really glad it came after the move and not during! There wasn't a ton but enough to stick a little bit and make Newberg have a late start one of my work days which was nice. And Levi thought the snow was pretty cool and had fun making tiny snowballs with me.

Also, it was Eric and my anniversary this past week! 5 years! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by but I know it's only a drop in the bucket compared with eternity. I certainly got lucky when it comes to Eric. He is my perfect other half. Our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other so well. And I feel like my pregnancies bring out the best in him. He takes such good care of me and of Levi and never complains about his increased workload or having to get up early with Levi every day. He always stays positive even when I'm pulling out my hair in frustration and can't see a good solution to a problem. He always trusts that it will work out. I couldn't do this life of ours without him. So to celebrate our anniversary, he arranged a babysitter and took me out to this really nice restaurant up in Portland. It was on the 30th floor of one of the banking buildings and the food was amazing! I'm so grateful that I am well medicated now and can enjoy food again!

So yeah, that's what our last few weeks have been like. Things have started getting busy with work as lots of IEP meetings are coming due which means a lot of testing and annual reviews for me to write. I'm glad we got moved before all that started.

I've also been doing a lot of Early Intervention evaluations this month. Two weeks ago I did one for a little guy who was born unexpectedly at home at just 26 weeks! His mom was by herself, didn't recognize that she was in labor, went to the bathroom and had the baby! I can't even imagine that!! And I happened to be 26 weeks pregnant with baby girl at the time I did this eval and I just couldn't stop thinking, this would be like if I had the baby today! Yikes!! This is a picture of the size diaper he wore when he was new. So, so tiny. Such a little fighter, it's a miracle he survived after being born so early not even in the hospital! And in Newberg! That must have been a long ambulance ride all the way up to Portland to the children's hospital! But little guy is so cute now and already has a lot of personality! He's had 8 surgeries since birth, including multiple brain surgeries and he just keeps on kicking. And he has started smiling and its just the cutest thing. Modern medicine is amazing. 

So it turns out that the only other picture I took over the last two weeks is this one from the dreadful Tuesday. Like I said, Levi skipped his afternoon nap but then finally around 5pm, we finally had internet, I put on Elmo and he immediately conked out. Poor little guy. He's so sweet when he's sleeping and it makes me forget everything he does that drives me crazy. 




Tuesday, February 13, 2018

"Tasha & Ic" Forever

It's been a busy last couple of weeks here in the Martino household and things aren't slowing down anytime soon! A 3 bedroom apartment opened up in our complex so we are moving this Saturday (the 17th)! We currently have a big pile of half-packed boxes in our living room and a bunch more in our storage space. Thankfully our ward is amazing and we had two different families who volunteered to watch Levi Saturday before last so Eric and I had pretty much the whole day to go through things and get a lot of the packing of all of our non-essentials done. But, we still have a LOT to do the next few days as far as packing up the things we actually use regularly, including Levi's toys. Not sure yet how he will respond to that! But I am super excited that to think by this time next week we will be in a three bedroom apartment with more space to play, vaulted ceilings and a fresh, bare nursery for me to start prepping for baby girl!

In the middle of all of this packing and moving prep, this past weekend we got to go to California for Eric and Natachia's wedding! We have all been looking forward to it for a while, including Levi who for the past several weeks has been saying, "Ic! Tasha! Temple!" when asked what he dreamed about the night before.  I worked a half day on Thursday and then came home and packed up our things. Eric came home around 2:45 pm and helped me then around 3:15 I went and picked up Levi from daycare (and met who his new teachers will be once he moves up to the 2 year olds class!) and by 4pm we were out the door and headed up to Katie's house. Traffic was way better than we expected so we got up there way earlier than planned which meant we had time to hang out at Katie's place and distract her- um help her- haha pack too. Then Katie's roommate Morgan drove us all to the MAX station and we took our first train ride as a family to the airport! Levi was a little nervous on the train but also super fascinated by everything, which was great because it meant that he went almost the whole 1 hour train ride without trying to get out of his stroller! The MAX took us straight to the airport and then we were on our way to CA. Thankfully on the plane ride there, the plane was only half full so Levi got to have a seat to himself (which he sat in for approximately 10 minutes the whole hour and a half flight). He was more interested in climbing all over all of us, looking out the window and gasping, playing with Auntie Katie and basically just loving life. By the time we got to CA around 10 pm he was exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately during our car ride to the AirBnb.

Friday was a very busy day spent almost entirely prepping the church for Eric and Natachia's reception. Our family and Natachia's immediate family were pretty much the only ones there and together we took an empty gym and transformed it into an awesome reception area with a dropped ceiling and curtains cutting off the sides to hide the basketball hoops. I can't describe it well, but it looked AMAZING by the time everything was done. Katie and I steamed about a billion tablecloths and alternated chasing after Levi, entertaining him and keeping him out from underfoot of all of us working.

Levi spilled water all over his shirt so he wanted to take it off. It was a super nice day outside so just ended up going shirtless most of the day on Friday! I have to say he kinda rocks the jeans with no shirt look :)

Levi and I hung out in the church courtyard for a while on Friday afternoon to stay out from underfoot of everyone working in the gym. 

Such a silly guy!

I love his deep chuckle! Also he looks so old and grown up in this picture!!

Friday night was the family dinner at this upscale wine bar in Los Altos (I think). I got to meet and chat with Natachia's cousin Jenny for a while which was really fun. Levi did a pretty good job trying quite a few of the unique offerings including Japanese sweet potato sauce, mushroom empanadas, and fancy mac n cheese. It was cool to try so many different things (my mom had just ordered a ton of different small plates for the whole group to try). But, it was a challenge to keep Levi's hands in his own food and not the seemingly never-ending array of new delicacies that kept being placed right in front of him on the table! Not exactly the most toddler-friendly meal style! Haha. But it was still fun.

Saturday was wedding day! As we were getting ready in the morning, I suddenly hear Eric (my husband) in the next room going, "No way! No way! Are you serious!?" So I rush in there to find out what's up and learn that when Eric bought his suit for the wedding, the cashier forgot to tag the security ink tag thingy off! We couldn't take it off ourselves of course, and no JcPenny's were open before the wedding so Eric had to go to the sealing wearing the suit with the security tag on! He kind of looked like he was wearing a house arrest anklet! Hahaha. He was super embarrased feeling like it looked like he was wearing a stolen suit in the temple but I thought it was so funny!

Eric and Levi pondering the ankle situation!

The sealing was beautiful. The sealer spoke for a while and I actually learned a lot from what he said! And Eric and Natachia looked so happy. Natachia kept crying and making me cry. It was soo tender. Then after the sealing was pictures and then our family went to lunch with Oma and Aunt Joann and Michelle and Jamie and their kiddos! It was super fun to see and talk with Michelle and Jamie again because it has been a long time! And I got a super cute picture of Levi with his cousins.

Levi and cousin Tyson with Grandpa



You can tell my son is sensitive to the brightness! Haha

Love that crinkled up nose smile!!



Oh my Levi. He looks quite critical of something that's going on off frame!!


I LOVE this picture of the boys! Levi is shirtless again because we had forgotten to bring a change of shirt for him and I didn't want him eating pizza in his white wedding shirt!

After lunch, Eric, Katie, Levi and I drove back to San Jose to the AirBnb where we were staying so Eric and Levi could nap/relax while Katie and I took Eric's suit pants to the nearest JcPenny to get them detagged. Haha. Unfortunately, the closest JcPenny was not very close so it took us like 45 minutes even though the process of walking in and getting them de-tagged was like 3 minutes. Ugh. But it was all good. Then Kate and I headed to the church and frantically started helping everyone else who was there finish setting up for the reception! We made centerpieces and punch and finalized table and chair set up and by the end it was beautiful and just barely in time for the reception to start!

Eric and Natachia had the most beautiful ring ceremony to start their reception! It was like a legit wedding, including the walking down the aisle, exchanging vows and everything. Natachia's friends provided BEAUTIFUL violin and cello music and Eric and Natachia just had the sweetest vows ever and made everyone cry. It was awesome. Then there was dinner and the typical reception mingling and dancing- which for me mostly involved trading off turns with Eric of chasing Levi around and trying to keep him from sticking his hands in the cake, pulling down the curtains or the lights and just generally causing mayhem. It was somewhat exhausting. I love my son and his passion and his curiosity and energy, but sometimes, he is just so, so naughty! Haha.

After the reception, my family stayed to help clean up but I took Levi right home and put him to bed and almost immediately fell asleep on the couch myself! It had been such a busy day! Thankfully, Sunday was not quite so busy, just packing everything up again and checking out of the AirBnb, then church, then airport, then home! Still it was a long travel day. Our flight got delayed an hour and was completely full so Levi had to sit on our laps the whole time. Thankfully he was super exhausted from a weekend almost entirely devoid of naps so he slept in Eric's arms almost the whole flight. But we still didn't get home till about 11:30pm and by then I was just so, so tired and so ready to be home and back where I didn't have to constantly be watching Levi and keeping him from getting into all the things!
Levi being silly Sunday morning wearing Grandpa's shoes around the house. 

Eric and Levi both passed out on Eric's bed on Sunday before church. We were all so tired by that point!

So yeah, it was a wonderful but exhausting weekend. And now, I'm trying to recharge a little and gear up for moving week! We get to start moving stuff into our new place on Thursday and have to have everything out by Saturday evening! It's going to be a little crazy but I'm just trying to not freak out and roll with it. I know in the end it will all get done. :)