Paul's Perfect Life

All week Paul has been very noncommittal about how he feels toward his new job. 

"Meh, it's going okay," he says each night with little enthusiasm.  Secretly this made me sad because I have been hoping that practicing BigLaw would delight Paul in a way that is only rivaled by the delight of the kids with the golden tickets in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. 

Today though, my hopes came true, only not in the way I had imagined, when Paul called me over lunch. 

"There is a Panda Express just one block from my office!" he exalted. 

Before I had a chance to respond, he continued excitedly, "AND a Jack-in-the-Box next door!  I can follow up my orange chicken with a milkshake!" 

Contentedly, he gushed "I have the perfect job." 

Pablo my love, what would I do without you?

Thanks Catholic Church

...for this amazing video.  I posted this on our adoption blog too but wasn't sure how many people actually look at both blogs on a regular basis and wanted everyone to see this, so I figured I would double post it here. 

Commute, Neurotic Tendencies, and a Dolly

Paul started his new job today. We drove to work separately because we weren't sure whether he would be done at 4 and I would be staying at the office until 8 or whether it would be the other way around. That is just the way work has been lately as I have been wrapping up my cases to go on maternity leave. Since we left the house at the same time, we had sort of a non-race into the office because one of us would get in the fast lane of traffic and pass the other only to be slowed down where two freeways merged and the other driver sped by. We waved, grinned, and made faces at each other every time we leap-frogged like this and it made me feel silly but it was a weird kind of fun.

In other news, I have been fighting the urge to create a "To-Do" list for my maternity leave. The idea of 6 months off work is too tantalizing to resist and it starts all the neurotic juices flowing for list-making I guess. I know that in all reality, there should only be two items on the list and it should look something like this:

1. Take care of a newborn
2. Try not to have any sleep-deprived episodes of craziness

So why is it that I have a list (only in my head, I haven't committed this to paper and stuck it on the fridge yet and blogging about it only gets me halfway there) that consists of the following:

1. Train for a half marathon or at least a 10-k
2. Finish writing the book I started in law school
3. Make Halloween costumes for Clara, me and Paul (it's my favorite holiday and I am a slow sewer, okay?)
4. Remodel our kitchen/living room
5. Do all the Christmas shopping (since I am going back to work just after Thanksgiving, I figure I might as well plan ahead.)
6. Get Clara sleeping through the night
7. Make dinner 5 nights a week
8. Learn how to use Photoshop (because Paul probably won't have time to develop all the photos I plan on taking of the babe.)
9. Go to the beach, the lake, the mountains, the desert, at least two national parks and somewhere tropical (can we say aloha?)
10. Read a book a week
11. Make the bed every day

Hmmm, I know I've always been something of an over-achiever, but even I am questioning my judgment about the wisdom of such a list with a newborn.

Finally, Paul's cousin's wife, who is insanely talented and has three scrumptious kiddos that I adore, made the sweetest dolly for Clara, pictured below next to Clara's green corduroy owl. I would be remiss if this never made it to the blog.

Thanks Maren - Clara is going to love her.

Clara's Nursery

Things are really coming together with the room Paul and I have referred to as "the baby's room" since we moved into this house.  My mom bought Clara's crib (thanks Mom!) and Paul and I picked out the adorable bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.  I love the little green owl that helps break up the pink. 

We are still working on the best way to display her name above the crib.  We aren't sure whether to frame the letters, paint them, or do some other fabulous thing, so they "pop" on the wall.  I am obsessed with these blocks.

The box of baby wipes is not staying in the corner, that is just where I have shoved it for now so it was out of the middle of the room.

Artwork to add some color to the room and a little girlie flair.

I've started packing Clara's bag already.  I'm worried about forgetting something essential.  Paul did all the work building the closet, installing doors, texturing walls, and doing the woodwork around the windows. 

Rivals

Was it Abraham Lincoln who said "A House [of Nash] divided cannot stand"?

Back when Paul and I were studying for the LSAT's (law school entrance exams), Paul would half-jokingly announce to me before each practice test "I don't care what my score is so long as it is higher than yours." This made me laugh villainously and I always tried to set the benchmark as high as I could. After all, I don't really see anything wrong with a little healthy competition.

When it came time to decide which law school to go to, we did the unthinkable and I stayed at BYU while Paul jumped ship for the U of U. Whenever we tell people that we attended rival schools at the same time while married, we always get a reaction and a hearty "and you're still together?!" exclamation of mock shock. Turns out though, the different schools were perfect for us because it meant we didn't have to go head-to-head with each other in any of our classes for the top grade. A little healthy competition is good, but three years worth of it in every class might have been detrimental to our mental health.

We sort of freaked each other out when we took the bar exam because after each day of the 3-day exam we would compare answers and always felt like we had come up with totally different results. By the time scores we released 4 months later, I was sure that I had failed and Paul had passed. Fortunately, in that situation it didn't matter who did better (and in fact, California doesn't even release results on scores other than a "you passed" message) and we both were admitted to the Bar.

This past week, Paul got offered a job at one of the most prestigious Bay Area law firms, which just so happens to be the biggest competitor of the law firm that I work for. That detail won't/shouldn't actually affect either of us or our practices since I am a litigator and Paul does real estate law, but I still think it is hilarious that once again we find ourselves at rival institutions. I felt the first effect of this yesterday when Paul gloated to me that his new firm offers iPhones, which is admittedly sexier than my firm's functional but passé blackberry. I fired back that if Paul gets an iPhone through his firm, then I am upgrading my personal phone as well (which I have been trying to convince him about for a while now). And so it begins. :)

Paul is very sad to be leaving the lawyer he has been working with at a small real estate law firm for the past year, but we are both excited about the opportunities this new job will open up to him. We've even talked about commuting together every now and then since our firms are pretty much across the street from each other.

Mr. Lincoln, you are absolutely one of my heroes, but I think Paul and I have this under control.

A Heart As Big As Texas

Paul and I had the most amazing time in Texas this weekend with Kayli and her family.  At the risk of embarassing Kayli, Paul and I just have to say that she is absolutely wonderful and we love her so much.  She is fun and gracious and strong and beautiful and someone you just can't help loving.  Since Paul and I didn't fly in to Dallas until midnight on Friday, Kayli suggested that we have a late breakfast at Mimi's Cafe on Saturday.  We got to the restaurant just a little bit early and watched for her to come through the door.  Paul proudly announced that he saw her first through the window. 

It was like...a reunion of sorts, even though it was a first meeting, technically speaking.  But we have already communicated so much and feel so close that it wasn't awkward a bit.  And the funny thing is that I don't think any of us were ever even nervous about it being awkward because our friendship had already been built through epic emails and phone calls.  

We got to spend our weekend talking and laughing with Kayli - we all laughed a lot in fact, it was so much fun - meeting her caseworker and talking about the adoption plan and the logistics for the baby's birth (we have a name - Clara Jane - and I want to do a separate post about the story behind her name soon), and spending time with Kayli's family.  We played games, went to church, ate meals, celebrated Kayli's birthday, and we were even invited to participate in family scripture study and prayer with Kayli's family.  It felt like home and we couldn't have been happier.  

I got to feel the baby kick a number of times even though Kayli explained that now that the baby is getting a little more squished she doesn't move around quite as much.  And on Sunday, during Sunday School, the baby got the hiccups and Kayli had me put my hand on her belly to feel the rhythmic little jolts of the Clara's hiccups and we stifled giggles at how funny and amazing it is.

Oh, and did I mention that Kayli's family has a little farm?  Maybe it's not a farm, but they have goats and chickens, and one of the goats had just given birth to two kid goats just a couple days before we got there.  The baby goats were SO cute with their soft fur and their wobbly legs.  I, of course, just had to hold the animals, even the chickens.  Initially I thought I wanted to try milking one of the goats, but I lost my nerve when it came down to it and said "no thank you."  Maybe next time.  I learned that chicken eggs aren't just white or brown - they can also be green or blue or pink.  I touched freshly laid eggs while they were still warm in the henhouse.  Kayli's brothers and sisters told us about how sometimes hawks try to get the chickens.  We fed scraps of food to the goats.  Kayli's mom made delicious strawberry ice cream (my favorite although I'm pretty sure she didn't know that) from goat's milk.  It was awesome.

Me and Kayli with a chicken.  I really don't like how I look in this photo but Kayli is so cute that I decided to post it anyway.  :)

Kayli's brother and sister showing me the baby chicks.

Holding the baby goats.

I love this photo so much.

At one point in our meeting with Kayli's caseworker, Kayli's mom described Kayli as having "a heart as big as Texas."  It was very apparent to us that everyone loves Kayli and it is easy to understand why.  We love her too.

We can hardly believe that she is due in just about a month and we can't wait to go back!

Conference Weekend

It seems like it has been a while since we've had a good download of photos on this blog.  This weekend my mom, sister, and niece have been visiting us.  It has been SO much fun.  My niece Emma is 16 months old and HILARIOUS.  She has orange hair and a HUGE personality to go with it.  Her best trick is when she does a karate kick with her leg while shouting "hiiii-YAH!"  My heart melts every time. 

She has also learned how to "pucker up".  And she doles out kisses right and left now, which I love.  She can be very insistent about wanting kisses right on the lips too - cheeks will not always suffice.  And sometimes the kisses last 5 seconds long with a loud "mmmmmmmmm-whaaaaaaa!!!!" sound. 

Mostly we have shopped our little hearts out looking for baby things.  At this point, the crib has been ordered, I have a diaper bag that I bought off of eBay (petunia picklebottom for anyone who cares to know), a stroller and carseat, and we are stockpiling sleepers and newborn attire.  I think that the next big thing to figure out will be formula/feeding/bottle-type stuff.

And now, feast your eyes on the cutest little carrot-top you've ever seen.

Puckering up from Grandma - pretty much her favorite person in the world.

Looking so grown-up at the restaurant.  We had awesome greek food at Opa in Los Gatos.

Emma would "dance" to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Such a funny girl.

"Watching" conference.

After the Sunday afternoon session of conference we went for a walk on the trail to a little lake where there are geese.  It was such a beautiful day here.

I am doing a weird squat thing to get more level with my mom and sister who are both a head shorter than me. 

Emma realized that her grandma wasn't the one holding her and decided she didn't want to stay with her auntie.

Kisses.

That is some serious action.

Oh gosh, forgive the unnecessary number of photos of this cute little girl, but I just love her so much!

Walking on the trail.  Jennie is pregnant and finds out this next week whether she is having a boy or a girl.  She is pretty sure that it is a boy. 

The best part is that we still have one more day together!  I have to go to work (booo), but at least we will get to spend Monday evening together for Family Home Evening!  I love having my mom, sister, and niece in town!