Life with Lotus Maria and Lucian Stone

You asked so I'm telling you... in a sentence it's been a whirlwind Spring. I mean how on earth did it get to June and the middle of it at that. I know I have only updated our blog with the occasional photos over the last few months. It seems like facebook has taken precedence over the Stanton-Pearl family bog, which is just a shame, but I could only commit coming up with miniscule sentences that make up a facebook status. And let's be honest nine times out of town I was just reporting Lotusisms, so I can’t even claim original content. But now I have a spare moment and it's time for a proper up date.

First of all you must not really be my friend or be related to me if you didn't hear that I graduated from my MBA program. And it was quite the emotional roller coaster. My last semester I decided to go back to school full time after a year and half of being a part time student and full time mama. Nate and I decided it would be a bit like ripping off a band-aid. It would smart, but at least it would be over with. We didn't realize how painful that band-aid would be. It was a tough semester, that included some good old fashioned school drama with one class having an incompetent teaching team and a new administration coming in (the two weren’t entirely related). Which was trying both mentally and scholastically as the deadlines and deliverables kept shifting under my feet. But I knew going into this that the school I choose was going to be risky since it was a new school with an innovative academic mission. But seriously I had no idea that added up to so much upheaval. In the end it all worked out and I am still so happy that I choose to go there and with the exception of this one class I loved my three year experience.

But it was exhausting!
Because as you may remember I have two kids! One that I was brilliant enough to have mid-semester a year ago. So while I was plugging away at the little ole' MBA they needed things like; love, attention, food, water. Darn them! And besides just the basics we had quite a bit going on beyond my academic pursuits. Nate is working like crazy on a little film called Cars 2, but as far as I can tell loving the challenge.

And then there were a few other events as well...

On May 1st the two most important men in my life had a birthday. Lucian turned one and Nate turned 40. Now from here on out they get one joint birthday party, but that was just not going to do this year, they were celebrating two momentous ages and with all that my family put up with they both deserved a little attention! But of course even that I couldn't make easy on myself. Nate’s cake had to come from one bakery and Lucian's cupcakes from another. I was cursing my poor planning and the need to add more to my plate in an effort to over come guilt through desserts as I was driving all over the place, but in the end we had two great events.

The next weekend was the Toy Story 3 wrap party and my cousin Monica generously flew up from Orange County to watch the kids so we could go out that night. We didn't make it to the last Pixar wrap party because I was about to give birth and was terrified of both being at a formal Pixar party, being the size of house and unable to drink. Furthermore it would have been a real bummer to go into labor as well. Though Katherine Sarafian went and sang with the Pixar singers and her son was born the day after Lucian, but anybody knows Katherine knows she's is way tougher than me.
Nate and I had a blast at this years event and the movie is pretty great, not that anyone expects less from Pixar. Go see it on Thursday when it opens to the masses.

Lotus continues to amaze us with her wit and spunk. She heads off to kindergarten in the fall and she is ready to go. I am awed by her fearlessness and then my heart swells the few times she gets scared and still needs to run to mommy or daddy. One of the greatest gifts we have had is through Lucian we really got a sense of what Lotus went through when we adopted her. Often people tell us how lucky it is that she came home at six months. Well-meaningly they say she doesn’t remember life before us and naively I think we believed it, but at six months Lucian knew who we were and his face would light up when Nate, Lotus (especially Lotus) or I walked into his view. It made me realize how at six and a half months everything in Lotus’s world was turned upside down.

This year we celebrated Lolo day, as we always do. April 2^nd is the happiest anniversary I have, the day we all landed in SF and started our journey as a family together. But this year it was hard. Lotus was acting up and being a real pill. I was disappointed that instead of creating a happy memory we barely made it one hour with out a breakdown. As I collapsed on the couch and Nate put her to bed I reflected that this may be my favorite anniversary, but for Lotus it may not be. And who knows if she was just having a bad day or emotionally she wasn’t up for celebrating not only the day we became a family, but also the day she no longer recognized any of the faces, sounds, language and smells around her. The day she was asked to be braver than any baby should ever have to be. I know I will always have a Lolo day to celebrate and honor her homecoming, but maybe I’ll approach Lolo day a little differently next year.

My dad, Rach and her girls came to town for my graduation which was so wonderful. It was pure girly chaos in our house for several days, but somehow Nate survived and I’m sure it helped Lucian develop his feminine side. And then the same day they left Ron and Gloria arrived for cousin Ben’s high school graduation. They generously stayed with the kids for two nights so Nate and I could go away for a few days. Leeann came in for the final 24 hours to relieve them and we were so grateful for a few days away.

Finally Lucian took his first steps on Sunday, July 13^th which was quite exciting. I am about to go away for 10 days to Turkey and I know when I return he’ll be running around the house. I can only wish Nate and the nanny good luck with that.