Salmon Family

So, you've learned about me, who is this family I speak of?

My husband - 6 years my senior, blue eyes, works in tech, makes me laugh, we met at a pool party 10 years ago!  

My children -
Bubba - He's 5 and just started kindergarten at our local public school.  He has brown hair, brown eyes and is so sweet and helpful.  He's affectionate (gets that from Daddy more than me!), and thoughtful.
Blondie - He's 3 and in his first year at our local city-run preschool nearby.  He's our blondie and everybody says he looks like a little surfer guy.  But with the big brown eyes.  I think he's turning into our little introvert, which I love and he's cuddly and so darn cute and funny!  He loves puzzles.
Supergirl - Our beautiful girl who is just over 1.  She's walking, she loves being outside, she can now say cheese and has six teeth.  The apple of our eye and definitely going to be keeping up with her brothers.  She's busy!
Babygirl - Our surprise baby due in January.  We know she's a girl and cannot wait to meet our beautiful baby.

Our dog - What can I say.  He's 7 years old, he's black and tan and thinks he's a cat.  No really, he will curl up right in your lap even though he weighs almost 25 lbs.  He looks like a small Doberman or a large Miniature Pinscher, but we don't know what he is officially.  Besides a loud barker when somebody rings the doorbell.

I love my family.  They are the best part of my life, by far.  I cannot believe I have 3 kids (soon to be 4!), a dog, a house, and a husband.  Life is surreal.

I haven't yet decided if I want to share photos of them.  Face recognition software is getting pretty crazy these days.  Not to be paranoid.  So in the meantime, we will go without family photos.

That's us.  I hope you stick around to hear more about our salmon life.

Salmon in the Suburbs? Yup

It's 2:24 in the morning.  An excellent time to start a blog right?  Right.  I've kicked this idea around for awhile.  The truth is I don't need another commitment.  Not another reminder or something else to put on the to-do list.  I'm pregnant with baby 4 and up to my eyeballs right now with our other babies, 5, 3, and 1.  But as insomnia came for a visit tonight, I started thinking about this idea again.  And decided I'm just going to share notes.  This is going to be somewhat haphazard.  This blog will be a place for me to share links, type out ideas, ask questions, and generally think, out loud.  To the known universe.  Without much rhyme or reason or schedule.  I apologize in advance!

Who am I?  I'm a thinker, an analyzer.  I'm also a wife, mother, daughter, friend, former coworker, and the list goes on.  I'm a vacation planner, party thrower, appointment maker, house keeper, chauffeur, your usual stay at home mom jack of all trades.  I'm 36.  We live in a nice suburban area in California.  I've lived in some part of California my whole life.  As I'm now settled into domesticity and raising a family, I have lots of views that I really didn't have before.  Lots of questions.  Some ideas.  Turns out I'm somewhat of a skeptic.  Of things like our government, politicians, our schools, ... the usual suspects.  I'm a libertarian leaning conservative.  Probably more libertarian than traditional conservative at this point.  My politics color my view a lot.  We don't currently attend church but have discussed the desire.  Now to act on it... at some point.

I've also learned I have high standards for certain things.  My quality of life.  Friends.  The environment in which my children are raised.  Their education.  These things matter to me.  When I'm not being overly analytical and serious, I really enjoy lighter things like planning parties for my babies, decorating the house, reading, my perpetual attempt at regular running (I keep getting pregnant, dang it), cooking... ?, teaching the kids new stuff, sometimes sewing, and apparently writing!

Where does this all lead?  I feel like a salmon.  I feel like I do not fit into the usual flow in my environment (most people heading downstream, I'm going up).  On the one hand I'm a pretty typical suburban mom, minivan and all.  On the other, I don't take things at face value.  I question the merit and quality of our schools.  I believe in Free Range Kids and parenting in this style.  I don't mind if my kids get messy, dirty or even mildly hurt when playing.  I cannot stand princess stuff for girls.  I am seriously considering homeschooling down the road.  I am an unusual mix of traditional and ... granola?  (I'm not even sure what to call that side of myself.)  I attempt to look nice and maintain my appearance, but then a lot of times you'll find me without makeup, in yoga pants (so cliche!) and I cannot seem to make myself attend a gym to save my life.  I'm sure there are plenty of moms out there like me, but I do not know many.  If there are other salmon lurking in my stream, I don't see them too often.

So, as I figure out what the heck I'm doing, what I think, and what we will be doing, I hope you'll join me on the journey upstream.  I'll be sharing random notes, comments, thoughts, links, and really any old thing that I feel like sharing about this life.  Talk to you soon!

-Lisa