The August Slow Down

The only excuse I have for not posting as much lately is that we are in August. It's hot and muggy and everything slows down. At work, we're in our slowest month of the year and at home we have just quieted down and been enjoying each other. Not too much is happening, but here's a run down of the past few weeks.

Doesn't she look so big?

The biggest news, of course, is the Verizon strike. Josh has been out of work for 2 weeks and 2 days. He spent the first week at the picket line, accruing some decent hours so he could get his paycheck from the union. We talked to Audrey's daycare at the end of that week and explained our situation, and they were very understanding and allowed us to withdrawal Audrey for an undetermined amount of time until Josh returns to work. So last week Josh got to play the role of Stay-at-home-Dad and he loved it. He and Audrey took naps together, cleaned, played, read books, took long walks, and cooked dinner every night (dang, I've got some big shoes to fill when I start staying home!). We figured the strike would last three weeks, minimum, since the issues on the table were so extensive and since Verizon was refusing to negotiate with the union. Honestly, I was scared it could go on for months. We were financially prepared for the strike, but it is still scary. Well, as nature would have it, the East Coast was hit with a series of very bad storms last week. What does that mean for us? It means that Verizon wasn't prepared for all of the outages and down systems that were caused by the weather, and they suddenly are very willing to negotiate the terms of the contract. :) We got the call Saturday afternoon that the strike is over (for now), and that all union employees are returning to work this week. The old contract has been extended for thirty days while the union and Verizon officials negotiate the terms of the next contract. I'm glad to that Josh is back to work, and now I'm just hoping Verizon holds true to their word and stops holding out at the negotiating table.

Swinging 

Since Audrey started really walking a few weeks back, she has really gotten confident and has taken off. We finally broke down and bought a gate. We initially didn't want one...you know, we didn't want to put up barriers to her explorations and all that. We were spending our evenings following her around on her excursions around the house, up the stairs, down the stairs, in the bathrooms, through the kitchen and into the dog food bowl. That became exhausting pretty quickly. We were unable to sit down for even a moment. Since Josh was going to be home all week last week, we went ahead and bought a gate to keep her in the living room. It was worth the $35, and we still do take tours of the house with her, but not nearly as often. Last night, we reversed things a little bit. Instead of keeping her in the living room, we picked up the pets' food bowls and closed the kitchen doors for Audrey to explore while we cooked her some yummy food for the week (Broccoli and Sausage Egg Muffins and Zucchini and Sweet Potato Frittata, if you were wondering!). I let her explore the Tupperware cabinet, which she loved. At one point, Josh tapped me on the shoulder to turn around and look at her while he went to get the camera. She had climbed in the cabinet and closed the doors. How cute!!! Then she started crying because I think she didn't realize how she got in there. Adorable. And she loved the egg muffins and frittata. Delish (and healthy) first egg experience.

Audrey turns 11 months old tomorrow. A year ago I was five weeks away and completely exhausted. I had just stopped working out at the gym because I was too tired (sadly, I've only gone to the gym ONCE since then. Wow), and I had just begun experiencing ankle-swelling when I overexerted myself. That feels like so recent, its hard to believe its been a year. I've started planning Audrey's first birthday party, and will hopefully get invitations in the mail sometime in the next week. I just need to get a good photo to use. And I need to make better use of my time, because it turns out that planning a first birthday is a big deal. It is for me, anyways. I think I'm going a little over the top for a birthday that she'll never remember, but this is kind of an "OMG we actually survived the first year" party for Josh and I, too. That alone deserves some serious partying.

Audrey is talking nonstop these days. She isn't saying any real words, but she repeatedly says, "ah-DAH!" to everything. She changes the tone of her voice like she's asking a question, or making a statement, or hollering across the house, but everything is ah-DAH! Ah-dah, ah-dah, ah-dah. I'll have to get that on video.

I hope you are all enjoying the slowness that August brings!