TJ And Nichole

Christmas evening at my sister’s house last night. Mia loves her some M.I.A.

It may be after Christmas as I write this, but I’m still feeling the Christmas spirit. Or perhaps just the spirits. Regardless, here is a video of our Christmas this year with the Oldani’s/Lohmann’s. Now I must rest for New Years. And to all a good night.

Mia has learned a new trick. She has become much more vocal over the last week. The random blip and bleep has turned in to, what sound like, full on conversations with her toys. Below are a few clips from her first performance last night.

These are the pictures of my (Nichole) Dad’s accident after he rolled his truck 4 times.  He hit some black ice December 6th, 2009 and rolled across all lanes of traffic.  We are all so thankful that he not only survived, but that his injuries were few.  The most important thing to take away from this is to always wear your seatbelt.  My dad didn’t always do that, but this day he did.  The emergency personnel all assured him that he would not have survived this accident without it.  Needless to say, my dad now knows that seatbelts save lives.  One saved his.  I hope that you and yours are never faced with an accident like this, but if they are, I hope a seatbelt saves them too.

So my first week as a Domestic Engineer 1 (Stay at Home Mom, Homemaker, Housewife, etc.) has gone pretty well.  As I told my father, I will be promoting myself a level each year.  By time I return to the paid workforce, I should be a Domestic Engineer 5.

I am still adjusting to home life.  I think things will be a lot easier once the holidays are over.  Right now any schedule I attempt is immediately sabotaged by Christmas shopping, out of town visitors, Christmas Cards, and so on.  Mia and I have decided to just enjoy each other’s company until it is all over and then we will settle into a true routine.

It has been a relief to have the dishwasher unloaded BEFORE I start dinner, and to have laundry done before we need it (though just barely).  I am sure there will be plenty of days that get away from me but I know it will still be worth it in the long run.  The decision we have made for our daughter and our marriage feels right and warms my heart.

My career has only been paused and I am confident I will still have a future once I return to it.  Until then I have to focus on keeping my skills honed while I am home.  It is much easier to ride a bike if it hasn’t been that long since you peddled last.  That being said, I have an infatuation with data and love to slice and dice it.  What better use of my skills than to dissect Mia’s life.  Poor child doesn’t even know what she has coming!  Now don’t worry, I am not going to use this for harm or to fuel paranoia.  I just enjoy “seeing” if there are any patterns out there that might not be immediately evident.  My first attempt is her food.  I have set up a number of charts and graphs to help me track what she is eating and when.  My favorite “slice” is the percentage of ounces consumed during a particular feeding.  Who knows, maybe she eats less at 10a more times than not.  Anyways, my obsession is yours if you want it.  Just contact me and I will share my template.  I am currently doing this project in Numbers ‘09 which is a part of the iWork suite for OSX.  It will work in Excel as well.  I know it will be the first of many.

Feeding - Formula and Rice

This is a site that dabbles in doing good and fun.  It is an interesting concept:  get people to be socially responsible and active by making it fun.  I have to admit, I would participate if these types of things were in Saint Louis.