Nerdy Couple

We had plans today. Church in the morning, swimming at the youth center and then a quick stop at Whole Foods to grab a few fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. What did we end up doing? Nada. It was a ugly, cold, rainy day in New York City. We did not have the motivation to leave our warm, cozy apartment. I spent last night cleaning after the boys went to sleep and I patted myself on the back and went to sleep. Dexter woke up twice and there went my night sleep. I was tired waking up – zombie-like tired as we ate cereal in the morning. Luckily Ethan was easily distracted by Cars, his favorite cartoon, and Dex took a nice, long morning nap (most likely since he didn’t sleep the night before) So we took a nap in the living room and felt bliss and guilt at the same time. We didn’t go out. We didn’t do anything we had initially planned. So we needed a plan B after the nap. What did we do? Ethan’s favorite – finger painting! This time around we made it educational. Here is the result after a messing start on our kitchen table.

We mixed primary colors to make new ones. Red, blue and yellow… Ethan had a blast and he didn’t get too messy – he wore his IKEA paint cover, which I recommend buying since it is so cheap and easy to clean. Thankfully finger paint is also easy to clean from surfaces, hands, faces, etc and Ethan did a great job at helping me. Dexter got to watch so hopefully he got some education stimulus too. SO did I wish we could do more every day? Yup, but I think we did okay today because both boys were in bed at 830pm – bathed and happily dreaming of tomorrow’s adventures. Happy boys – check, clean home – ummmmmmm half check…

2015 came so quickly and now I have two beautiful boys. There are few things that I must try to do better this year. 

First, BLOGGING. I definitely dropped the ball last year with my blogging and always think I should have documented this vital part of my life. I do have to thank the crew at 40 weeks though since we did more video blogging than ever so I got to capture memories this way. Still writing is so intimate and you can share so much. My goal is to blog and capture all those life events and my feelings as much as possible. 

Second, organic/natural/free products. We have been doing well with this last year but need more of a boost in 2015. We have started using Seventh Generation products in most of all avenues of our lives. Seventh Generation diapers, bath soap, laundry detergents, cleaning products and even dabble into SG wipes. We also have like Honesty products from Jessica Alba especially her bath soap for babies. The scent is amazing. My boys both have sensitive skin so I have always tried to research different products and stayed natural and free for their beautiful skin and hair. Now I just need to make sure our food and diet can reflect that too. Of note, here are my favorite products:
1. Seventh Generation and Honest Co. diapers – smooth and natural on a babies bottom
2. Huggies Natural wipes – bigger and stronger than other brands 
3. Seventh Generation cleaning products – Safe for babies and really cleans
4. Honest Co. bath soap – mild and fragrant without drying babies’ sensitive skin 

Third, saving money. This is the resolution I need the most help with. Graduating from my Ob/Gyn residency is great but then I went on maternity leave which meant no more income (though residency income is laughable). The problem is the loan money is now due. On top of that, babies are expensive. Ethan, my 3rd year old, has school fees, extracurricular activities, new clothes (he is growing like a weed) and babysitting and more… Dexter, my lil baby of 4 months, DIAPERS, DIAPERS, WIPES, DIAPERS, and more diapers… In between all that Min and I have not had a date night since Dex has been born and really barely any since Ethan was born. I need more money saving solutions. I have started working but then it seems all my money disappears as soon as I get my paycheck. Help please? 

I will return to this post at the end of the year and hopefully will check each thing off. Happy New Year! 

P.S. Here is a photo of the boys

To sum up about two years, Diana has delivered us a new addition to our family. I’ve been doing the same o’le at work and we have various nights were sleep was interrupted from time to time.

We also moved twice, yup that’s right twice. As we discovered we were with child we moved to the financial district to start nesting for our little boy. After a year, we found various options which included more room for more optimal dollar per square feet values. In this cost effective move, we actually lucked out tremedously

Literally the day before Hurricane Sandy struck the north eastern coast, we moved from one building that was about 5-6 feet lower in elevation than the building that we live in now. Our old apartment had major issues from flooding and is not expected to be habitable for even a few months in the future.

Our new apartment is still not completely restored, but was at least habitable after 3 weeks. Eletricity is pumping from a diesel generator outside and I hear that the maintenance crews have to pump water up the towers 20 minutes at a time, every hour on the hour. Still the team that works at this building is incredibly courteous and I’m very grateful that we made it through.

With that the final update is that we’re still setting up the new apartment. It’s about 85% setup, I would say. The last few things are assembling some last pieces of furniture, installing some shelves and putting up some pictures. I look forward to this holiday season and wish everyone else some joy this season!