VIP - Very Important Post!

* Before you think that I am so brilliant, I want to admit that I stole that blog title from someone else

What could be so very important, you ask? Employment! That's right.We will soon be joining the ranks of the averagely employed American (not underemployed, not unemployed). We are ecstatic, joyful, grateful, excited, nervous, and still a little in disbelief. Here's how it all went down.

First of all, when we moved to Las Vegas, Ryan was busier networking than he had ever been in Texas. For some reason (Heavenly Father's plan?), everything he tried in Houston kind of fell flat. In Vegas, he was mostly quite busy with phone conversations, lunches, and meetings of various sorts with lots of attorneys. Often these attorneys gave him additional names of people he could contact and things just started growing. He was quite busy up until the end of the year. In January things slowed as far as networking, but he was having a job interview or two almost every week. It was way, way more success than we had ever had in Texas. Still, we were often worried that nothing would come and that the longer he went without a job, the longer it would be until we sank into the depths of long-term unemployment. It was so frustrating and ridiculous that this was our position since Ryan is so capable and hard-working, but there we were - victims of the Recession :).

Ryan went in for an interview on a Tuesday with Firm #1. It went well, nothing out of the ordinary and we expected to get another rejection just because that is what always happens. Actually, Ryan always expects that he will get offered the job because the interviews usually go quite well, and that just makes the disappointment so much more bitter.

On Thursday, Firm #1 called and offered him the job. Ryan came downstairs and told me and I think the two of us were just shocked with disbelief. We hugged, I cried a little, and then he had to run out to a meeting so we didn't have much time to talk. It was shocking that this ordeal could actually be over. When we talked later, after looking over the firm's offer, it was a little more sobering. They were offering the salary that Ryan had requested, but the billable hour was much higher than he had anticipated. They wanted 2040 hours a year, around 170 a month. Now, if we're lucky, Ryan would be about 80% efficient with the billing and work, so that worked out to about 60 hours of work a week. Then, no holidays or anything were fitted into the hours, so if he wanted to take holidays or vacation time, he would have to fit those billable hours in somewhere. I know that lots of attorneys do this, and some might scoff that we were a little disheartened by it all. Ryan really wants to have a life to live and to be with us as a family, though, and I'm grateful for that. If they were offering a much higher salary, it would have been much more palatable, but for the offered salary it was sobering.

Now, we were nowhere near going to turn this offer down. No way. After three years, we were accepting it and I was excited for the long-term when he would have experience under his belt and could negotiate a better position at that firm or at another one. Still, we were a little depressed, which felt really horrible and ungrateful.

Meanwhile, when he had gone to interview at Firm #1, we had heard from Brandon that another firm might be contacting him. Brandon's friend knew this firm and that they might be looking for someone in the future. Well, we never heard (not surprising to us) and we got the job offer from #1 on Thursday. After the job offer, Brandon texted his friend and said that Ryan had an offer so if this other friend was interested, they needed to act fast. She got Ryan's resume again (after losing a hard copy) and contacted Firm #2.

On Friday, Ryan got a call from #2 asking him to come interview. They knew that he had an offer waiting and asked if he could come immediately into their office. So, away he went - not even dressed up and was gone for quite a while. When he got back, he said that he had really liked the firm. It wasn't in their best interests to hire someone right away, though, so he didn't expect to get the job. They told him they would let him know for sure by Monday (the deadline to accept the other job).

It was a bit of a stressful weekend for Ryan. On the one hand, he wanted to hold out and wait for firm #2. On the other hand, he didn't want to seem ungrateful to #1 and he also just wanted to have things settled. Monday came and we hadn't heard anything. Ryan and Brandon went out in the afternoon and when I sat down at the computer there was an email from #2. Apparently, they had emailed an offer into him on Friday, but for some reason it went to his Spam folder and he never got it. So, they emailed again on Monday (President's Day) asking for his phone number. I sent it, then called Ryan to let him know what was happening. Then, I waited impatiently and made cookies, and couldn't believe that we were actually getting another offer.

I wasn't sure what we were going to do - if it would be a hard decision, or if the second offer would be amazingly better. I thought we'd have to talk a lot about it, etc. etc. Well, I suddenly get a text message from Ryan saying he accepted #2's offer without even talking to me about it! The pay was better, the hours were less (1900 - almost a month less of work!), the health plan and 401k were both better. Plus, he really liked the vibe from #2 and the type of work they did. On paper it was definitely a better offer, but really he just felt in his gut that he would rather be there.

It's a small firm, only about five associates, but it's been around a while and they have a good reputation in town. They mainly do commercial litigation, which is what Ryan is interested in. He has also been drawn to this type of smaller, close-knit type of group. Plus, the commute is about fifteen minutes away! It was amazing when he made that decision. We were both so excited and happy; much better than the anxiety and dread we were feeling from the Firm #1 offer.

It is just such a strange story about how it all played out (at least for me, you readers might be bored to tears). After three years in Texas and nothing, we received two offers in four and a half months in Las Vegas. I also think that it's interesting that #2 would actually call Ryan in and offer him the job so quickly. It seems like if most other firms were tentatively thinking of hiring, but had heard than a potential applicant got another job, that  they would probably just brush it off and not call him in for an interview, much less offer a position. It just seems like everything is finally working out. Maybe we needed to get an offer from #1 to make #2 pick up its feet and get down to business.

Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. I don't know why everything had to happen the way it did - especially the three years in Texas - but, now we are living in a place that we love, near to family, and there is a good job. There are still going to be some rough months ahead as we jump into the workforce, for sure. I'm not ready to say that I learned so much from Texas, or that it was worth it. I'm still bothered by the years of work (and money and savings) that we missed out on. But, things are looking up for the old Daniels' family.

 Don't expect too much change in any of our habits, though. We're going to hit that student debt and we're going to hit it hard. And then we're going to build up our savings and retirement because, let's face it, we're not getting younger. Then, we'll probably have to work on college accounts for the kids. After that, probably braces for them. Then, dentures for us.

Finally, the last laugh goes to Brandon and Rebecca. They wanted us in Vegas sooo badly and they made it all possible. They annoyed us for years telling us how Brandon would be able to help Ryan get a job here. After all of Ryan's networking that had nothing to do with Brandon, he ends up landing a job that is directly tied back to him. We are so grateful and we love the both of them so much. We spent a very jovial Monday afternoon with them hiking and then eating pizza back at the house. It was a very good day.

June is 11 Months

My, oh my! Where has the time gone? I feel like I was JUST pregnant. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I'm still sore from being pregnant with June. In fact, I've still got the belly pouch to prove it :). I can't believe that she's almost a year. I feel like she's way too young, much younger than Willa was at eleven months. Then again, sometimes she surprises me with what she can do and then I think she's a baby genius instead of just developmentally on target :).

Here she is, fitting quite nicely in 12-18 month clothes (with a piece of hair coming right down her forehead). She's still got gray/blue eyes. They are such an interesting color. How do eye genes work, anyway? Is it like mixing paint? Not complaining, but it is so strange!

 June loves snuggles and soft things. She loves Willa and being in on all the action. If I'm playing with her in her room and we can hear Ryan or Willa somewhere else in the house, she will go explore to find them in the bathroom or in Willa's room. She comes crawling into wherever they are and is so happy to be right in the middle of things. When I disrupt her attempts to join the party, she is very vocal and very angry. She is such a happy and outgoing baby girl and is doing a little better with daddy now that she is more mobile.

June has amazing finger dexterity. Her pincer grasp was very good from early on. She loves to smack my hand away when I'm trying to give her a food or drink that she doesn't want. She'll take a drink, then smack my hand out of the way to indicate that she wants more food. As I'm feeding her, she'll smack my hand away to show that she wants a drink. She knows that the stacking rings actually stack and she attempts and usually succeeds in stacking one or two of them. The same goes for the stacking cups. She gets very frustrated and starts crying if she isn't able to get one of them to stack up.

She's a big creature of habit and has a good memory. In the evening, after she is bathed and dressed, when I pick her up and start walking to the "nursing" chair, she immediately drops her pacifier out of her mouth. When we're in the kitchen and I open the pantry door she also immediately drops the pacifier in anticipation of a snack. She's likes to open and close her hands, clap, and wave her arms in anticipation or to say that she REALLY wants something that one of us has. She's still not the greatest sleeper. Sometimes she makes it to 5:30 am, sometimes I feed her earlier than that. Hopefully it will come soon, but at least she is sleeping most the night and falling right back to sleep after nursing.

Not to be left out, Willa asked me to take her picture with the owl, too. She's such a sweetheart and she really is having a tough time being a big sister sometimes. She'll come and play in the same room where I am with June, but June keeps trying to "get" her and obviously wants to play with whatever Willa is playing with. So, Willa will leave a toy for June and go onto something else, but that just causes her pesky sister to follow her. Life is hard. Willa is starting to understand the concept of family. She talks about our happy family and that she's a big sister. She told me that her daddy's name was Ryan and that he was her big brother, ha ha. I love how her little mind works! He's a boy, so he must be the big brother. She has also informed us on numerous occasions that daddy's favorite color is blue.

I so brave...

With the help of a lot of Miralax, I'm happy to report that Willa has started pooping regularly (as in almost every day) for the first time in her entire life. Happily, she has also started doing this on the potty. We caved and decided to reward her with an ice cream cone every time she pooped on the pot. At first she would talk about that reward without ever earning it. Once she actually earned it, she seems to have wised up. In fact, at lunchtime today she saw Ryan eating a treat. She asked for an ice cream cone and I replied that she had to poop on the potty. She suddenly said, "I have to poop!" then she ran into the bathroom and did her deed. Pooping on command is almost impossible, so it makes me wonder how much and how often she has been holding it in for the past three years of her life.

A few days ago, I was nursing June and Willa ran into the bathroom. I could hear her through the door saying, "I so brave" and "Huh?!" When nursing was over, I went over to inspect and she had done it all on her own! It was quite the event and I just had to laugh as I heard her coaching herself through it. Often when she's constipated and having a hard time pooping, I hold her hand while she cries and pushes it out and I tell her that she is really brave so I guess it must have sunk in!

I should also add that Willa has refused lately to eat vegetables. She will eat salad and raw carrots, but that is it. She won't eat them cooked with butter and bacon. She won't eat them raw with ranch dip. She won't eat them to get dessert. She won't eat them when nothing else is offered at mealtime. If we get her to try one bite she starts gagging on it and spits it out. So, she doesn't get dessert and she doesn't get seconds on her other favorite foods. I offer a lot of carrots during the day and she eats lots of fruit, and she drinks her smoothie in the morning that has spinach, but that is basically it. I've tried telling her that the vegetables will make her poop hurt less, and she replies by telling me that, "Remember, yesterday when I eat one pea?" I'm trying to back off right now before it becomes a huge battle and just offer her the other good stuff while maybe trying some recipes to sneak some green things into baked goods or soups. Hopefully this phase will pass soon!

June has made great crawling strides and is into everyone's business these days. Willa has taken a real interest in this fabulous dollhouse I found at a garage sale and saved to give her for Christmas. It's such an exciting dollhouse that June can't resist it either. You can imagine the kind of battles that are going on right now. Willa wants me to come play with her; however, June is not allowed into her room, but I can't go in without June... Lots of shouting and tantrums. Ryan has been really great to go in and play one-on-one with Willa when I've got June attached to me. I'm trying to do better to play with her while June is napping. And now, I will admit my shameful secret. Sometimes I dream about how easy it would be to have just one pleasant baby again. Think of all the naptime! Think of all the reading and relaxation I would get while baby just crawled around and explored by herself. Sometimes two isn't too hard, but I'll admit it's been a tough transition for me. At least they take their afternoon nap at the same time these days. Oh, that pleasant 90 minutes!

Two Ponytails!

June's hair is getting longer and longer. It makes her look so much older than she actually is. My mom saw her on Skype and suggested it was time for pigtails.

Such a cutie! She didn't much like me doing her hair (and in reality, I didn't really wet it down or part it well, I was just experimenting). Her hair stayed in really well, even after a nap! It seems like we could have been doing this hairstyle for a while now. Not too shabby - two pigtails at ten months.

I also wanted to show a picture of a new favorite activity. I mentioned before that she loves loveys and soft things. If we set a folded up blanket on the floor, she'll crawl on top, lay her cheek on it, and pat her little hand. It is extremely adorable.

She really is a stinker when she crawls and loves to get to the trash cans, toilet brush, stairs, and to switch off the main power chord to the computer. Still, life is a little easier because she's not so unhappy when I put her down because now there are endless amusements. In a few minutes, I pulled her out thrice from crawling and getting stuck under her exersaucer.

Sissie Scoots-a-Lot

I don't feel like I have too many things to write about these days, just the ho-hum of our everyday. June has decided to bypass crawling in favor a scooting method. She learned how to push herself back up to sitting right as she was learning to crawl, so I think this deterred her from crawling because she would just get her pesky foot/leg in the way and it would put her back in sitting position. So now she uses that foot to push off and does a three-legged crawl. She's not super fast, but is a lot more mobile than I'm used to. I set her down next to me in the kitchen yesterday as I made dinner. A few minutes later I went to find her and she'd crossed out of the kitchen, through the living room, up the two little stairs to the foyer, and was heading into the bathroom! She's going to keep me on my toes.

Her diaper and clothing changes have become even more impossible to execute, if that's even possible. She'll also start shrieking like she's hurt herself, but I realized that she's just angry that she's not being allowed to flip over and start moving to reach her prize. Things are getting dicier with Willa as June makes a move for beloved (and unloved) toys. Willa's biggest argument against June grabbing something is, "That's NOT a toy!!" Which is funny because it usually is a toy that June is grabbing.

Willa has started saying, "Oh my, that is TERRIBLE." I have no idea where she picked it up but she's now used it several times and it cracks me up. We have daily fights about getting dressed in the morning and doing her hair. Both of us are pretty determined about it! I just appreciate having a child look presentable for the day; she appreciates the softness of jammies and not having her hair squirted with water. She also refuses to wear jeans or anything stiff that's not a soft knit fabric. Unfortunately, these also happen to be the cutest clothes that she owns, so often, even though she gets dressed it's not a huge improvement :). She also broke her glasses for the second time in the four months that we've had them. I was pretty angry, but thankfully we have a back-up pair. The store where we bought them (the good one that doesn't accept insurance) actually has a lifetime warranty on all glasses. So, when she breaks them, we just put them in a box and mail them back. The store mails us a new pair in about a week. It seemed expensive when we first bought the glasses, but going on our third pair... I think it was the right choice.

I've started training for the Red Rock Half Marathon in March. It was Ryan's idea (he was training too, but a sprained ankle has possibly taken him out of contention). I'm in such bad shape, the first long run was only six miles. I usually do only 2-3 miles every morning, but not longer. I was so tired after just six that my abs were even sore. It's embarrassing and I'm torn between wishing Ryan had never mentioned this race and happy that I'm getting a little out of my comfort zone. I'm up to ten miles now and still come back pretty sore. Sometimes I have to do my long running at night after the girls are in bed, which is the last thing I feel like doing by then. With Ryan out of commission, I've been going about 5 am. June has decided she'd rather not sleep through the night, so I'll feed her about 4:45 and then get ready and go.

Last night, she woke up at 3:45, so I put in my earplugs and thought she would go back to sleep, but an hour later she was still going at it, so I fed her and then went running. I so wish she was a better sleeper, but at the same time nursing a clean, soft baby in the middle of the night with their pudgy little hands is about the sweetest thing in the world. The main reason I try to have her cry it out is because I think she actually naps better when she's used to putting herself back to sleep during the night. Her naps are longer and she wakes up happier. Over the Christmas break she was like clockwork sleeping 12 + hrs each night and taking two long naps. I thought we'd conquered the sleeping beast, but apparently not. Aye, yei yei.

What are you reading?

I'm always on the lookout for fun books to read to Willa. I don't do a lot of research and most of the time we accidentally stumble upon a gem, and then I go for a few months checking out every library book that the same author has written. Occasionally, someone will give us a book. And then I'll go to the library and check out every other book the author has written. Once I got a book at the Goodwill that we have loved, so now we go to the library and check out every book that that author has written. Catch the library theme?

I realized a year or two into our marriage that I LOVED the library. I've always liked the library, but I think I've figured out why it's even more enjoyable - and stress-relieving - to me now. Before we got married and had a serious budget, I liked shopping. Most people like shopping and buying new things. Once we got married, shopping just stressed me out because I knew that we couldn't/shouldn't afford to buy anything. It was just stressful to walk through the stores and feel like I wanted things but just couldn't have them.

For me, library is like shopping for free. I get a little bit of a high when I walk in there. So many possibilities. I like to walk around, take my time, peruse the shelves. I get to put things in my little bag, check them out, and walk away scot-free. It has fulfilled that "shopping as stress-relief" need that I sometimes feel. Instead of binge-shopping, I binge-checkout at the library. I highly recommend it, very good for the wallet in most cases.

Anyway, I want to remember what Willa likes reading and I also want anyone to chime in with books that I haven't mentioned. Maybe you'll put me onto something new!

Willa loves Richard Scarry. It does my heart good to read these sweet books to her. I remember reading them and searching for Goldbug when I was little. I love the formal but simple language (it's always "mother") and all the fun characters. I especially love Willa using their names and talking about Huckle Cat, Sally, and Lowly.

Lianne sent Willa an Elephant and Piggie book for Christmas. This is what prompted me to write the post. These are the cutest books and I had never heard of them! We've read it many, many times already and have already gone to the library to check out more. Unfortunately, the library was out of all the Elephant and Piggie books, but they did have a lot more by Mo Willems. Current favorite of Willa's is Knuffle Bunny.

We also love Brownie and Pearl books. They get quoted a lot around the house while we are reading them.

Finally, we went through a big 123 - Peas phase about a year ago. Since I just check it out from the library, we don't actually own it - but believe me, there were many checkouts and renewals of this one. LMNO PEAS not as loved, for some reason.

We've tried the Olivia books and they are hit and miss for Willa. I think the good books for us right now are ones that have short, declarative sentences and that deal with issues we're going through. For example, our Elephant and Piggie book is entitled, Should I Share My Ice Cream?.  Every toddler is forced to learn about sharing and every toddler loves candy and ice cream. There is a Richard Scarry book entitled Cake Soup that is also a big hit around here. Does anyone have any other recommendations? Feed my shopping at the library addiction. Help me avoid more Dora and Caillou books!

June 10 Months

June turned ten months old on Sunday. I can't believe it. She still seems like so much of a baby to me. The idea that she could theoretically be weaned in two short months is shocking. She won't be weaned because she loves to nurse, loves routine, and has very loud lungs - but she COULD be.

On Friday evening last week June finally made some scooting forward progress on her belly. Not quite crawling, but forward wiggles. She's still not there, but will probably be there soon. I thought for sure she would have crawled long ago because she is busy, busy. Obviously, not busy enough to care about getting anywhere - just busy enough to roll around and make it impossible to change her diaper, ever. Maybe she just hates being on her back?

I was thinking of the one thing that I really notice about June's personality. She loves cuddles and snuggles and soft things. If she sees a stuffed animal (preferably her Minnie Mouse) she won't reach out to grab it right away. First, she will attempt to lay her cheek down on the softness and will give a few contented sighs. If I'm wearing something soft, she likes to lay her cheek on it. If anyone else is wearing something soft, she'll lean in and lay her head on their arm or shoulder while I hold her. I sat her down next to a pile of newly folded blankets and she immediately leaned over and rested her head on them. She loves softies and snuggling, it is so sweet and often she will laugh a very sweet laugh as she snuggles up to things.

I should also mention that June's clinginess and separation anxiety reached a fevered pitch this month! I think our trip to Utah made her a little nervous. Nobody could hold her except me without eliciting intense anxiety and much crying- not Ryan, not grandmas, no one. She seems slightly better now, just slightly, but it sometimes wears me down.

Now for the pictures!

Unrelated photo of the Golden Plates cake from this year's Joseph Smith Birthday party. The party held up to all our hopes and expectations, the cake was delicious, and the memory game of church history was especially rousing - I think I may have even gotten my hand slapped when I accidentally encroached on Melinda's card duty, Whoops!

 My girl in all her glory.

 Trying to crawl, lots of rocking back and forth and a few sad face plants.