A New Job

Most of you now know that I have a new job but I guess I should make it official by putting it in "the blog."

It has been almost a month now since my last day at JJCo. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I was given there. I have been in public accounting about 7 years and one of the biggest things I have learned is that I NEED to be learning constantly. I also NEED to be surrounded by people that help me accomplish this. I found this 10 fold at JJCo and was honestly really really nervous to leave. It was an extremely tough decision but the time it took me to commute was just cutting too much into the time with my men.

One of the great things about public accounting is the experience you get in a relatively short amount of time. I have been able to "dabble" and work with financial groups in many different companies, organizations and governments. I tend to get really close to my clients and have kept in touch with them through the years. This is actually how I found out about a job opening up here in the Everett area. For about 2.5 years of my career at my previous firm, Moss Adams, I had the opportunity to work on the Snohomish PUD audit. I stayed in contact with the folks there and when a new position was created for the Risk Management department they forwarded it to me and asked me to apply - a great honor!

I talked with Nick, who as you can imagine was on board, so I went ahead and made the decision to apply. A month or so later I got an interview and then the offer. It was a bit of a whorl wind but I am so happy with our decision. I say "our" decision because Nick and I really made this one together. We weighed the pros and cons and ultimately me working up in Everett meant Deven had an hour less of School a day, I would get to spend an additional 2 to 3 hours with them both.

This first month has been amazing. I have a 15 to 20 minute commute and I am working with very smart people that help me continue my career and life goals.

For this first year at the PUD I will be setting up a process and ensuring the District is in compliance with its Bond Issues. In this last month I have learned an entirely new financial vocabulary and I have been digging through bond documents and related IRS code - I am in heaven. I know it is sick but its true!!

Nick and I both agree the added time I can devote to the family has increased our quality of life significantly. So while I was really nervous to leave a great job with great people I am grateful to say, so far so good! ; )

Hair cut

We celebrated the start of the holiday season and Deven's 17 month marker by going to get Deven's hair trimmed up for the first time. As you can see he was a bit nervous or curious - its difficult to discern. I was a little hesitant but he started pulling at the hair over his ears so Nick and I thought it was time. The stylist said that he was a great little man; much better than a previous visitor! That's our little man, fooling everyone!

Entertainment

To all my stay at home momma friends, I salute you. If we could, I would but as I told Nick today, there is a reason why we need to PAY for child care...it is tough. It has been over a year since I went back to work and I miss hanging out with Deven every day all day. That being said, keeping this busy guy entertained all day is insanely difficult. Here are some fun pics from our adventures so far this week...please note that I chose not to document hair pulling (Sam's and mine), tantrums (devens and mine), throwing food and reading the same book over and over and over again! In between all this there were tons of kisses, new words, new signs, extremely successful lunches at new restaurants and walks with Sammy in the snow (no stroller)!!

SNOW!!

We ditched plans for our first bus trip into Seattle and decided to play in the snow instead. The snow suit was supposed to be a Christmas present but I figured the snow and ice were a sign and I let him open it early. It was a challenge keeping Deven entertained inside all day but getting to play with him in the snow for the first time really helped balance the day! It's 15 degrees in LS right now. Though its about a month before the winter solstice I think we can say it has officially arrived non-the-less.

Hanging down town

Last Sunday we attempted to see the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. Along the way we had fun but with the time change proved to much for all of us. We did get a small peek though. We (Nick and I) will need to go back before its gone! Here are some pics before the family melt down!

Guy's Day Out

While momma was away today there was swim class where Deven was reaching and pulling like an Olympian, there was foot ball watching (note beer and sippy cup), a three hour nap (why doesn't this happen when I'm around?) and finally a trip to the museum. A fun day with dadda for sure!!

November! ?!

How is it November already? How is Deven 16months old already? Do I really need to start thinking about Christmas already?

These are the questions going through my mind this 4th day of November as I sip my short soy no water chai tea latte in its red holiday cup - which incidentally answers my last question above.

Working backwards - Deven is now 16 months old. Nick and I are amazed how the time flies. We have no official stats as his next doctor visit isn't for a couple of months. On a side note, we are also amazed that we haven't had to take him to the doctor in between our visits. That isn't to say there hasn't been all sorts of nastiness floating around in the Johnston house...if Deven doesn't get a bout of wheezing or febrile seizures everything else seems doable! ; ) So back to the 16 month Check in. He likes to weigh himself like a big boy on my digital scale, so with his cloths on he is over 26 lbs. Not sure if that is big or not but when he wants to be carried all evening after school it feels pretty big to us! Height wise, not too sure on this either but his head almost reaches our cutting board and he can definitely get into the bathroom top drawer. The past two weeks Deven has had a streak of no biting. It was great, but on 11/2 the streak was over. I am convinced that it was because he got bit the day before and now he is just getting the little fella back ten fold! So really this is just about Deven defending himself, right? Fortunately Deven has been learning some signs to help him communicate, which is why I think he hasn't needed to bite as much to get what he needs. He knows: more, please, food/eat, water, up and hot. This last one is definitely his version of the sign but it works none-the-less. So. in general, things have been a little less challenging around the house. We are working on teaching Deven to brush his teeth but last night I had to take matters (devens mouth) in to my own hands and what did I see in there but a ginormous molar. Tylenol and a numbing agent are the best. Hmmm anything else you all would be interested in (I'm assuming I've kept your attention thus far)???

I guess that leaves me with my first question - November? This can only be answered by relating the events that led up to this late date. Most notable, was Halloween weekend. We started on Saturday with the husky v. Stanford tailgate. It was sort of miserable weather but Deven and I decided to make do and went next door to do a little shopping, please note his little frogger boots in the pics above. The next day was Halloween and we decided to go to the Everett museum for their story time and disappearing ghost poop. We never did see the said poop but perhaps that was because it had disappeared before we got there? The story time, however, was a huge success. For all that have spent even a few minutes with Deven you know that him sitting still for the 10 minutes it took to read the story was a down right miracle. After nap time and a visit to the jungle gym mecca at the local elementary school we hit the Lake Stevens town center for a mini trick-or-treat session. The two biggest hits were the fire truck and a blue lolly pop. When Deven saw that truck he must have said every babble word he knew. Pointing and running back and forth, he just couldn't get over it. The fireman noticed Deven's "interest" and offered to open up the cab to show him. I lifted him up and he was speechless - in total awe. The city opened all the business so the kids could trick-or-treat safely; we went to the bank. They had lolly pops there, he couldn't say trick-or-treat but he signed please and the candy was his! I still wasn't sure I was going to let him eat it but he seemed to know just what it was for and stuck it in his mouth. I took the wrapper off for him and it was love at first taste. Needless to say Nick and I had to wrench it from his hands a while later when blue goo had made it down his whole front and we were afraid he was going to choke when if it came off the stick. By then it was getting dark and little man was getting pretty tired. The next day we woke up and poof...it was November.