Catching up

It is common out here when you see a local friend to have them say "Hey! Where have you been? Why haven't you been coming over or calling me? What's going on?" It typically loads heaps of guilt on us westerners though they really just do it out of routine and to show that you've been missed.

I feel the same about the blog here...and certain parts of my life. Where HAVE I been? What HAVE I been doing?!? I really don't know.

I can't believe it is February 1st!! Wow. That was a fast January. The last 10 days or so I've had 2 sick kids so that explains that. No more needs to be said. We also had a couple of days given over to assembling and painting the bunk bed and helping Ryan learn how to sleep in the bed. As much as he enjoyed being in the bed he couldn't make himself STAY there. Spending 45 in the room with him three times a day (including bedtime there) gave me a new appreciation for him as a good sleeper. I've been popping him in bed for 2 naps a day for so long and it is effortless. He has no trouble going down and enjoys hanging out and talking to himself.

Truthfully, it was Tom who really trained him.....as it was Tom who really potty trained Layla. I did a 10-day intensive with Layla and then 6 months later Tom did the really hard work of taking her faithfully and sitting and waiting waiting waiting. You know how that is if you've potty trained a little one. He has a special mixture of determination and patience that I just don't have (=

Thankfully Ryan is mostly set for sleeping in bed now. If he gets up a couple of times I just plop him in the pack and play that is kept in the mejulis and he screams for a few minutes and then I pick him up and ask if he can stay in his bed now. He solemnly nods his little head with tears on his face and goes right to bed. Neither kids likes to sleep alone (=

Layla is now on school break for two weeks. I need to get my ducks in a row with what to fill the time with if I don't want to be overwhelmed with requests for DVDs and cooking all the time (= THANKFULLY the weather is warming up so we can play and eat outside again. It was pretty darn cold for the whole month of January it seems like. Ick. It makes you glad for the suitcase of warm clothes you keep in spite of the fact that the other 11 months of the year you feel foolish for keeping a whole suitcase of such warm clothes!!

The other big happening in our lives is the arrival of our full-time house helper! It has been a much-delayed process but we are soooo grateful for being able to find someone so perfect. She was a connection through people we met in Germany this summer. I'll write more about her later, but suffice to say, I am MUCH less stressed than I've been in ages despite the two sick kids, lack of sleep at night and Tom travelling for three days (= Layla has been on 2 meds and Ryan is on 6 and cleaning the syringes alone is a huge help. Never mind that I haven't washed a dish since she arrived and that that consumed a HUGE amount of time of each day before she arrived! Anyway. We are so grateful...and the crazy thing is that even with the legally mandated salary, we are paying about the same for her each month as we did our hourly house helper! The hourly house helpers charge a "lot more" because they are paying their own rent, food, clothing etc. Anyway. More on that later.

I do have some photos and video to upload. Must get to that....