Final stretch... in 2015

We’re now entering the last half of summer, and also, we’re just about to enter the last trimester of this pregnancy. Everything is going by so quickly! I would be remiss if I didn’t try to capture some of it before it becomes a distant memory.

Work has been really, really good this year. Read: super busy. Which is probably why I can’t seem to find any chunks of time to write. Oh, and there’s this amazingly high energy toddler in my life. Plus a husband and lots of friends. All of our time seems to be assigned to events and things and stuff and while it’s great, it doesn’t allow for much introspection.

First, work. We’ve currently booked almost the same amount of revenue as of July 2015 that we booked for the entire year in 2014, which is great. We have a total of four employees in addition to Liana and myself, and everyone is on payroll INCLUDING ME which is amazing on so many levels. Liana and I pay everyone else first, and then pay ourselves, and we were just able to give ourselves nice raises and are on track to make our “goal” salaries which will be really nice considering I won’t be working October- December this year (but getting full maternity pay! yay for owning your own business).

I had a major breakthrough this year on a HUGE project for a very respected entertainment / streaming company. I kicked the project’s ass and they want to talk about another large project starting at the end of July. I am beyond excited. For the next three weeks, it looks like we will be on the road for two separate projects for another huge company – right now my itinerary looks like this (and I’ve hired Aaron for this project, so we will both be traveling):

July 13th-16th: Boston
July 19th: Minneapolis
July 20th-21st: Chicago
July 22nd-26th: Minneapolis
July 27th – ?? SF and Seattle OR Boston

It’s so complicated!!!

We are flying my mom out to LA from Minneapolis to watch Joaquin while we are in Boston. Then, Aaron’s good buddies are flying in between our trips to Boston and Minneapolis for a 40th birthday weekend extravaganza. Then, we are bringing JRB to Minneapolis Sunday night to stay with my mom while I go to Chicago for a few days. Then I return to Mpls to hang out, while Aaron continues on to Denver for a few days. Then we are both in Minneapolis for the weekend of the 24th to attend a party and see friends before heading back to LA. We haven’t booked the next week of travel, but we will most likely be flying to SF and either Boston OR Seattle to do a separate project. THEN! I think I will be DONE traveling until my sweet little bebe arrives.

I’m so exhausted just LOOKING at our itinerary, I can’t imagine actually executing it.

Anyway, we weren’t planning on doing a trip back to MN, but after our anatomy ultrasound and subsequent doctor visit, we got cleared to travel past 26 weeks (which is this week, btw) as the pregnancy is going well and the baby is looking good. For some preggos, it isn’t recommended to travel after 26 weeks, but lucky me, we are able to. And, as exhausting as I think it’s going to be, this work project should be fun and going back to MN for free is basically awesome.

So that’s all happening.

In other news, our kid is having quite a summer. He’s more than mid-way through a 10-day swimming intensive and is becoming an ACTUAL SWIMMER. It’s so exciting and awesome to see him grow and gain confidence so quickly. The program was recommended to us by a few friends that were amazed with the results, so we bit the bullet and paid the big fat fee. We are so glad we did – it’s truly great. Today is day 7 and he’s done on Friday. And he’s currently swimming under water to grab toys off the bottom of the pool and he can jump in and swim to someone who is waiting for him. He’s also learning how to jump in and swim to the wall all by himself. It’s awesome.

He’s also been going to open gym at “My Gym” which is part of his package for a class we signed him up for. He doesn’t officially start his scheduled class until this Saturday, and he will go every Saturday at noon for the rest of the summer, but he also gets to go to open gym Mon & Tues night for 40 minutes each night - which is an awesome way to get a high-energy toddler tired. The best.

He starts a new, full-day preschool on August 3rd, which is VERY exciting but also kind of nerve-wracking. Currently he goes to preschool from 12:30p-5:30p everyday, and it’s a pretty ‘traditional’ learning style - and pretty focused on academics. We love it, but it’s also pretty expensive. His new ‘school’ is ‘inspired’ by the RIE and Reggio Emilia philosophies / methods, which seems super awesome, but we shall see how Joaquin adapts. Also, he will be going from 9a-5p (or so) so the days will be much longer, which will be very new for him. I’m expecting that he will have some growing pains while he adjusts to the new school, teachers and kids. But he’s pretty quick to adapt in most situations, thankfully, so hopefully it won’t be too hard for him (or us!)

Big changes for our little guy! And if timing works out, he will be in the new school for two full months before the new bebe arrives, which is great. Maybe longer if she decides to hang out until her due date, unlike Joaquin :).

In general, life is moving fast and keeping us on our toes. I’m getting really excited to meet our little girl, and I’m glad I kind of know what to expect in the early days (read: NO SLEEP). I’m trying to get as much relaxing in as I can, although it’s kind of impossible. We have been maintaining bi-monthly massages (which are desperately needed) and I got a pedicure on Sunday that was amazing. But not a lot of down time otherwise ,which I’m hoping to shift a bit starting in August.

Stay tuned for an oh-so-thrilling weekly baby bump update ;)

Last updated July 07, 2015