Private Nook

There’s been a lot going on this year- travel (professional and for fun), launching a biz and pod, recouping from pandemic times, making new friends, visiting old friends…. it’s hard to keep it all straight… at least the kids are still smiling!

it’s been a minute since I stopped by for an update- 2021 felt like a long year… job is great, pandemic still sucks, kids are amazing, house needs work forever and always, firewood gathering never ends… but we persist.

Sloane turned 5 and I made the most overkill birthday cake ever. It was a blast. Homemade fondant is actually tolerable.

Hagan turned 9 and is the sweetest person that is endlessly curious and cuddly.

SX is the stay at home parent- which has really allowed us to all stay safe and grow a really strong family dynamic.

Lots to say… I will have to come back tho since firewood is calling…. It’s icy over here

After a long winter there are signs of hope- starting another garden, a new job, everyone is vaccinated, tiny social visits are all little things that feel like steps forward. With my side-hobby and tiny team, we are getting published, our grant is under submission, and we are looking for other grant/funding opportunities. The kids are so close and playing outside more and more everyday as the weather improves. Sloane is really finding her imagination-land and Hagan never skips a beat to participate. Hagan is so excited for Summer vacation and is sad that it is still months away. Sloane is getting excited to start school and turn 5… it all just happens so fast. From snowmen, house updates, craft projects, sushi-cake birthday parties, slackfline, school pictures- these two are obviously growing at at an astonishing rate.

It’s been a quiet year settling into this new life of isolation. We manage to stay silly. Hagan started out the school year hating it and now loves his Zoom days- although most days he gets to be on campus for a half day. Sloane is loving her school workbooks but her school was cancelled. She says she doesn’t want to go but she loves playing school so much… I think she’s going to really love it. This quarantine has been great for these two- they are so close. Thank goodness. I struggle with the isolation mostly with the lack of structure- every day seems to melt into the next. I also feel my social skills waning. I will be getting my second vaccine dose this week and look forward to the rest of my tiny quarantine bubble to get it too so we can experience a bit of normalcy together.

I spent a lot of the year waking early to tackle a side project that I’ve been nurturing for some time. It looks to be a success. I built a tiny team across the US consisting of two talented people that have been incredible. We have written a paper based on my concepts, a patent and a grant with additional academics. It looks like the paper will be published within the next couple of months. I don’t know that it would’ve been so easily accepted without the backdrop of a pandemic so perhaps it is a strange fortunate event.

SX has been struggling as a stay at home Dad- he has found a groove to be sure but I also think he wants more in the future and the struggle is trying to figure out what that might be. I do believe time is the answer to allthethings…. but patience has always been hard for me.

My job has been a whole body challenge since the fieldwork, which is the bulk of the work is basically cancelled. All of my clients are the top infectious disease physicians – and they are a bit busy right now. So, the team has had to get creative and I feel like last Fall we were starting to really make some gains but then the second peak found us flailing again this Winter- I am grateful to be part of this work and have learned so much. That said, the challenge continues.

it took me a whole year to update the web server… and so, I haven’t posted until now. It seems ridiculous retrospectively but here we are. Parenting is no joke. I’m overwhelmed by working full time, managing two lives while the treehouser travels about. It’s been an incredibly hard year for me personally. I’m experiencing growing pains and loads of grief. And here I stand. The kiddos are a joy…albeit sometimes an additive stressor. But still, they contribute in a positive way to my life..in a way I could have never predicted. and thank goodness. Sloane is pure joy while Hagan will be my challenge- he is simultaneously a mama’s boy and one who defies allthethings. he is and will continue to be a complete joy and full body challenge throughout the ages. I can only hope they will continue to be my close family and friend beyond the Mom-paradigm. When I can relax into the position, they are a complete delight. Such beauties, 

Spring is definitely in the air with balmy breezes and loads of rain. Gratefully the cool days have a bit of weight to them making them not so shivery. We are in full throatle bathroom remodel upstairs and have a new renter (in our previous guest bedroom) as of June! Future guests beware! We have plenty of space but do give us a wide heads up to ready for you!!! Meanwhile, treehouser is finally back at work again. And like every summer, looks to be busy well into the fall. I’m gonna have to figure out this cutting grass thing with two kiddos…trickier than you’d think.

The babes are both thriving at school making huge strides. Our wee family is quite content and cuddly. We are all thrilled for our new guest, Emily whom I’ve been working with since day one at Colgate. She is a welcome addition. The plan is for her to stay through December…but after that, all is unknown! Mystery abounds.

As for current activities, we celebrated Memorial day in the Catskills with our Treehouser friend, Christina and her friends and son (Hagan’s age!). It was quite the adventure of kids being wild in the rural country-scape while adults ate beautiful food in a beautiful place.

We are looking forward to a mid-June getaway to the Shore with the Yunkers to watch the mating ritual of the horseshoe crabs…. until then, I’ll be using my half day Fridays to…mow the lawn, perhaps?

After taking just over three months off… longest time off perhaps ever without a looming deadline of some significance, I am now back at work. The time off was initially a whirlwind but ended in some very quiet, solitary time. Treehouser has been able to stay home for the remainder of the month with the new babe. They are so close, it’s incredibly sweet. Sloane will start daycare with her brother this week…so, changes are afoot…again. Daddy will do some house fixes, go to Seattle for a minute then home again before driving off to another treehouse later this month in VA. So, solo parenting for two coming up…

Spring has been flirting with us while winter weather keeps checking back in…buds abound then snow.. we are looking forward to warmer weather and getting outside some more. We have started an initiative to make new friends and expand time with current friends… so, dinner parties, lunch outings have been on the agenda. We went to Natural history museum in The City with another family for a SUPER fun day, had dinner with a Seattle local and found a new family to play with in town. We are a buzz with the new found fun.

Hopefully, pix to come of outside fun and entertainment coming right up…

Until then….

December came in by house prepping for holidays and guests (The Yunker Grandparents and our friends dog, Rohn)… it flew by and the house guests were here for a month (the dog for only two weeks or so). It was all a bit much for me as I prepped for another baby but Christmas was really exciting for wee Hagan- I think it’s the first Christmas he really understood what was happening and he is still talking about it (even though it’s well past Valentine’s Day).

Kris and Tiffany were here all through the holiday but now that it’s the new year, they have left in different directions for greener pastures. Hagan misses them so very much. Tiffany became like a second mother or certainly a very close friend. We both miss her.

Our wee babe came into the world on January 8th, Sloane Aalahandra. Aalaha is Sami for Snow Sparrow and Alexander/Alexandra is SX family name- so, Aalahandra is a mashup of the two. She is so very different than the Hagan baby we knew so well- she is very particular, very social and wants nothing more than to stare at your face or surroundings. She is adjusting very well to night time and it seems like she’s already trying to tell us ‘hello’ and smile. She’s a little chunk of a muffin. All of her is such a departure from Hagan. Meanwhile, Hagan is LOVING the baby…and wants to snuggle and torture his little sister all damn day. It is quite a lot to handle but also very cute. I cannot wait for them to be able to play together without worrying for her life. I have been able to have this whole time off with Sloane and SX…which has allowed me a couple dates with Hagan solo… but all of that is coming to an end with SX headed off to a treehouse tomorrow. I still have some time off and will be practicing two kids solo… overall, it’s been a whirlwind of a year and I’m starting to look forward to having a normal work life again…. but will be easing into it mid-March.

enclosed are nearly 100 photos from all this time between posts:

Fall to winter is a funny time around here. It seems that the summer just fades into crunchy leaves with tepid temps and then one day out of the blue comes the freezing temps. And so it has started. And we find ourselves in winter…

The move-in was a haze of boxes, paint and lessons in cohabitation. We had the Yunker family in the RV and the Kriffany couple adjusting to Jersey. It all finally settled down and we were graced by several visitors. Treehouser visits for east coast builds, Uncle Bruce and Auntie Kathryn, Godfather Mikee and the lovely CB. We had many Philly visits, a couple trips to The City and lots of getting to know our backyard/park. I even managed to squeeze myself into Seattle for a moment….I did a whirlwind family tour and sat on the Lake Washington beach for Top Pot donuts with the old Bestie, Annie.

Meanwhile at work, I traveled to Italy for a conference and although it was brief, it was also amazing. Both the science and the localities were stimulating and wondrous. The Treehouser was very busy all summer and fall but is now home for the holiday. I put in a small gym in the basement for the winter and I’m happy to have the Treehouser home to help with the last item, THE BENCH PRESS. So exciting.

We just got our tree yesterday which Hagan is positively captivated by- he wants to watch all things christmas and sing songs and play with all the ornaments and open all the advent days of the lego-star-wars calendar (that was purchased by dad for son? or for dad? it’s truly hard to say)

The winter christmas new years project that everyone is excited over is the little girl coming perhaps around January 5th. Another Zenobia to add to the tree. And so we wait and celebrate and grow.