More from Music Class
Like I thought last week, Izzy’s getting braver at music class. This week she was able to play the drums and was the second kid to voluntarily get up and “sing” in front of the entire class. This week’s instrument was the keyboard, and again, she was the second kid to volunteer to play it.
Here are some videos. The “singing” one makes me laugh because she’s not actually singing. I think she’s at a lost for words…
Evolution of an Office Space
We moved Kinoli’s offices from our house to an actual office space in an office building on Friday. Luke mentioned that he thought it would be interesting to take a journey back through all our previous office spaces. It’s been quite the evolution from 5 years ago when we started Kinoli.
2005:
(no picture available)
We started Kinoli in Florida a couple months before we got married. The office space we had was literally 30 sq. ft. in a corner of Luke’s apartment. Just enough space for a little computer desk, a small bookshelf and a whiteboard.
2006:
We bought our first house within our first year of marriage and set aside one spare room as our office. We literally worked side by side in this room for almost 2 years. This room had just enough space for our desks and we stashed a bookshelf in the closet.
2008:
We moved to Colorado and let most of our clients go to focus on our own websites. We rented a house for nine months and set up our office in the loft. We hired our first employee and at times had four people working out of the loft. (Excuse the mess in the picture, it was the best picture I could fine.)
2009:
Our house was finally built and we temporarily used the front living room as an office. That was tough because the space was completely open to the rest of the house and Izzy was constantly in the office. Five people worked out of this office and my office space moved into a nook into the kitchen.
A few months later, we divided our three car garage and sectioned off the back portion as a home office with a side access door and a door to the house. This space was 225 sq. ft. and had up to seven people working out of this space at one time. It was literally a sweat shop with all the computers going plus the body heat.
2010:
Once we maxed out our home office it was time to look for a real office space. Here it is! We were able to purchase an new unfinished space and plan the layout and decor of it. It’s approximately 1,400 sq. ft., a HUGE improvement from our home office and probably the same size as our first home in Florida. Currently there are seven people working from this office, with another employee joining us in May. My office space is still in the kitchen since I’m primarily home with Izzy but there is a desk for me at the office when I feel the need to go work in an office.
When we planned out the desk arrangement we figured that we could fit a max of 16 people into this office space. That hopefully gives us plenty of time to grow without needing more space.
Belly Week 34ish
My countdown widget on my computer is telling me there are 43 more days left until my due date. It’s sad that I actually need a countdown widget to keep up with this pregnancy, but on the other had great because I feel like this pregnancy has gone by in a flash!
So far all my midwife visits have been short and uneventful. Baby #2’s measurements are matching her due date and she may actually be a little heavier than Izzy when she’s born, which is unusual for a baby born at high altitude versus a baby born at sea level. Usually babies born at high altitude are lighter than a baby born at sea level.
I’ve had many jabs from elbows, knees and feet. Some of the jabs are rather painful and deserve a little poke back. I’ve felt little tickles from tiny fingers and toes. Hiccups happen often for the wee one.
I’m definitely feeling more movement from baby #2, maybe because I haven’t gained as much weight this pregnancy so there’s less “padding” around my belly? I’m hoping that she’ll be a little calmer than Izzy is right now when she arrives though. Izzy’s hard enough to keep up with, I don’t know what I would do if I had two high energy kids.
Sorry no belly picture. Just not up for getting in front of a camera.
Music Class
I enrolled Izzy in a music class for the next two months. I would love for her to develop a love of music at an early age and hopefully that will turn into her wanting to take piano lessons or learning some other instrument.
Last week we tried out the class and Izzy sat in my lap for most of the class just observing and not really participating. All the other kids went up to the mic at the front of the class and sang songs, played rhythms on a drum, they played on the drumsets and played with the trombone that the teacher brought out.
This week when we pulled up to the building Izzy instantly knew where we were and said “music?” So we went inside and this time she went up to the mic all by herself and tried to sing a song, she wanted to take a turn on the drumset but the line was too long, we danced around with the other kids to the songs and she even tried out the violin today! I think she’ll get braver and braver every week and participate even more as the class goes on.
At the end of class she received a violin stamp on her arm so I explained to her that Uncle Nate plays the violin. The rest of the day she would point to the stamp on her arm and say “Nate? Violin? Play?” I think my mom and dad still have Nate’s tiny violin stashed away somewhere if Izzy were to develop the interest in that instrument.
Sesame Street Live!
This morning we took Izzy to see Sesame Street Live since her favorite tv character is Elmo and she has an Elmo doll which she now takes to “school” with her and he helps her get through her day. We told her that we were going to visit Elmo and Big Bird, so she was patiently waiting for the curtains to open.
Big Bird was the first character on stage. Izzy was excited to see him and pointed to him saying “Big Bird!” Then the rest of the characters of the show were introduced and the second Elmo hit the stage all the kids went crazy. Izzy freaked out as well and screamed “MELMO!!!!!” almost jumping out of her seat.
Then she wanted to go join them on stage and tried to convince us to walk with her up to the stage. We had to explain that we just had to wave at Elmo and Big Bird and say hello.
The show was great for Izzy and she was glued to what was happening on stage. When the show was over we waved bu-bye to Big Bird and Elmo and while we were walking out of the event center Izzy continued to say “Bu-bye Melmo, bu-bye Big Bird”.
Office Progress
Our office space is in it’s final week of construction. Move in date is tentatively scheduled for next Friday. Hopefully construction will keep on schedule so that we can move on that day! Here are some pictures of what it’s looking like.
Chores
I don’t think it’s too early to assign Izzy some chores. She actually thinks chores are fun to do! We’ll see how long she thinks these things are fun. Right now her chores include putting her pillows back on her bed in the morning and after naptime and helping daddy put away clean dishes from the dishwasher.
Here’s a video of her putting away the dishes. Yes, she actually knows where all the dishes go and she gives Luke all the dishes that go on the shelves she can’t reach. No dishes have been broken by Izzy yet…amazingly enough!
Happy Easter!
Today we went to church to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Of course Izzy had to have a special Easter outfit, so I made her a skirt and a little flower pin for her sweater. She looked adorable and for my first try at making clothes, I think the skirt turned out really well!
After church we met up with Uncle Nate and had a yummy lunch at a local Brazilian BBQ joint. This evening we headed over to a friends house where Izzy participated in an Easter egg hunt and another yummy meal. We are now stuffed from all the food today and I’m sure Izzy will sleep well tonight!
