Megan 的个人资料Megan's World照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
|
2007/8/30 on we go...Jay ended up getting to Vienna at 11:00 the other night, so by the time we were home at 11:40, Claire and I were exhausted. She raced home to her bed, and I just collapsed upstairs. Ay - hopefully we won't be pulling that stunt again any time soon! Chrissie, thanks for the info about Commuter Connections - I'll make sure to tell Jay about it.
Yesterday was uneventful. We did all of our laundry on Monday at Pat's, so unpacking was no big deal. Kate seems glad to be home with all of her toys and the cats. Her sleep was a little screwed up yesterday, but not so bad as to really cause problems for her to go to bed at night. I don't know what the issue was; she slept perfectly in New York (she's still sleeping through the night without waking!), so maybe it was the odd sleep in the car on the way home that messed her up. She went to bed a little before 7 without any problems and woke up at 6:05 this morning. A tad earlier than mommy would have liked...It's actually ok, though, because it means her naps will all be a little earlier, and that works well for today. We're going to a playgroup, but I thought we'd miss most of it since she normally sleeps until 11 - nope, we'll be almost on time; later this afternoon we're going to go hang out with Anna and Molly while Claire's out, and again, normally it would be pushing it to be sure to be there by 3:30, but today it won't be an issue. So we have a fun day planned - with lots of meals out of the house for Kate. She won't mind.
 Last night Jess introduced me to her friend, Rosie, who has a darling 8 1/2 month old daughter. We all hung out and ate ice cream, and it was fun to meet someone else that just has a single baby. Most of the moms in our group have multiple children, and those with only one child have a preschooler. That's all great, of course, but it would be nice to have some other single baby friends, if not only because scheduling things is easier when everyone is going through the same stage. Anyway, Rosie and Cecily were very nice, and I can't wait for Kate to meet them.
Alright, I'm off to shower and shake off the remaining sleepiness I'm feeling... 2007/8/28 the never ending day*sigh* We left New Windsor at 6:10 this morning, and had a successful trip home by way of Philadelphia. Jay had meetings at UPenn all day, so we re-routed our return trip to just drop him off on the way (really, it isn't that much out of the way at all). That all went ok. His meetings started at 10 and we got to the building at 9:15. We hit some morning Philly traffic, ~35min worth, but all in all that leg was fine. Kate had been fussy because she was in the sun (we were driving south and she's on the driver side), so we took advantage of the extra time before Jay's meetings to move her carseat to the passenger side of the car and change her diaper. I was in desperate need of a restroom, so we found one in the building, and then Kate and I headed home, a little before 10. Our journey was pretty uneventful for a long time. Kate played and then took a two hour nap (phew!). We sailed through Delaware and Baltimore, but then came to a screeching halt on the Beltway outside of D.C. It was ~11:30 when we got on it, and I thought, wow, we're going to be home by 12:30 - I wasn't even sure if Kate would have woken up by then. Yeah, right. In an area this crowded, it's just not possible to do road work during the day, ok? Just ridiculous. We spent at least 45min crawling along until we got past the trucks doing brush clean up. UGH, I was losing my mind. Kate slept through a lot of it, but she did wake up while we were STILL on the Beltway. Finally we broke free and made it home easily (at ~1:00). She was hungry, but we were so close to home that there was no way we were stopping to have lunch. She did ok munching on pretzels and had lunch ASAP when we got home. Jay, meanwhile, bought a ticket on Amtrak to get home. The train runs from Philly to D.C., then he's going to take the Metro to the farthest stop. I have to go get him while Claire holds down the fort. A decent plan, we thought. His train was supposed to leave at ~5:30, putting him into DC around 7:45 and into Vienna for pick up ~8:40. Then I get a call from him - the train has been delayed 45min. I call Claire to let her know. Then I get another call, ~6:15 - his train has been canceled, he now has a ticket for the 7:00 train, so he should be getting to Vienna ~10. Ugh, that means I won't be home until almost 11. Then a text message - the 7:00 is delayed until 7:25. I just got another text - the train is delayed until 7:40. OMG! Jay is never going to get home, Claire is going to have to crash here waiting for me, and I'm going to be dragging my ass out to Vienna!! So, now you see why it's the never ending day. Wish us all luck out here! OK, on that note, I'm out of here. I'm starving and debating having ice cream for dinner... 2007/8/25 touching baseWe're in New Windsor, and I'm feely about not posting again before we left town. I don't really have time to write now - we're about to eat dinner - but I thought something would be better than nothing.
We had an ok trip up here on Thursday. It was 8 hours from door to door, partly because we stopped twice and partly because we hit major PA construction. Oh well, the actual trip was fine. Pat and Duane are just thrilled to pieces with Kate (she really is such a sweet little thing), so that's been fun. We all went in the pool today, and Pat and Duane were just dumbfounded at her total comfort in the water. She does seem like a little tadpole - if you hold her on her stomach she kicks and splashes with her arms, and she puts her face in the water all the time. We'll go in again tomorrow, I'm sure - it's pretty hot here.
Kate is stil sleeping great - being in a strange house in a strange bed hasn't been an issue. I am loving sleeping through the night! We'll see what happens tonight; we moved her pack-n-play into our room (with A/C), and we haven't all slept in the same room in a while. Wish us luck!
OK, I'm off to eat. I'll post pics and more stories later (probably tomorrow). 2007/8/20 a weird daySince she started sleeping through the night (a whole week now!), Kate has been waking up most days around 6:30 (instead of the usual 7:20), and depending on the day, I either ignore her or nurse her and she goes back to sleep (more on this later). Today I finally said, ok, maybe she actually wants to be up at 6:30, so I went in, nursed her, and we started our day. Predictably, she was rubbing her eyes around 7:15. I managed to stretch her until ~7:45, but she was pretty zonked by then. She only slept for 2 hours, so that meant our whole schedule was still shifted forward an hour (she normally gets up from her nap at 11). But, since then, we've gotten pretty much back on track. She just went down for her nap, about 15-30 min early, so that's not bad. I was a little afraid that all day she'd be an hour ahead - thus going to bed at 6, for example. I actually wouldn't mind at all if she went to a 6:30 wake up, particularly if it means that we have from 10 until 1 between naps - that's a much more useful amount of time to use. We'll see how the rest of the day and night go and what she does tomorrow morning.
In contrast to today, yesterday I nursed her at 6:30 and put her back to bed (I think the 2nd time I've done that), knowing that she would sleep late. Sleep late, she did - she woke up at 8:30, and I had gone in her room to get her up, so who knows what she would have done without my presence. The issue was that yesterday the three of us went to the D.C. Nationals game (MLB, vs. the Mets) with Carl and Carla (his girlfriend). The game was at 1:30 - smack in the middle of her normal nap - and I was nervous about how the whole thing would go. So, at 6:30 I made the split second decision that it would be better for her to sleep in in the morning so that she could go a little longer without her afternoon nap. So, she got up at 8:30, and we tried to put her down at 10 (normally she's up at 7:20 and down again at 9). Nope, no doing. I went back in and nursed her, but at 10:50 Jay went and got her back up. We were supposed to pick Carl and Carla up at 12:30, so we needed to leave around noon, and if she fell asleep at 11 the whole thing was going to be a mess. So, we tried to get her to eat some lunch, and then we hopped in the car as planned. She fell asleep on the way, but her 2 hour morning nap was reduced to 30min. She did great at the game until ~3:15, then she started to lose it. I had my ergo baby carrier, and so I was walking around, hoping that she might consider sleeping on me, but she had no interest in that. Add to it my utter stupidity - I had left her pacifier at home! We had stopped at CVS before getting Carl, but they didn't have her normal one, and she did not want this substitute I was offering at the game. What a mess. After about 20 min I went back to the seat and told everyone that we needed to go. We knew that this was likely to happen, but I still felt badly about it. Then, the twit was happy as can be in her carseat as we're taking Carl and Carla home! How embarrassing after making everyone leave the game early! After we dropped them off she did cry for about 15 min, and then she conked out about 20 min from home. Ay. We needed to run one errand, so I think she managed to get ~45 min of sleeping in in the car. Again, not nearly the 2 hour nap she normally has. And, of course, there was no way she was going to go back to sleep once we were home (she woke up when we pulled into the garage). So, it was an early evening - she was in bed by 6:45. The baseball game was fun, regardless, particularly since we had these fantastic tix from Carl's law firm - right behind home plate, a free buffet until the 2nd inning, and then free food and drinks at the seats, oh, and a sweet parking spot in a small, close lot (also free). So, it was a cheap and fun afternoon, even with Kate's disruption.
OK, that's it for now. Kate is asleep and I have things to do. We're heading to New Windsor on Thursday to see Jay's mom and stepfather, so I have some work to do to get us ready for the trip. 2007/8/18 some explanationsI just posted some more photos, and I think this album needs some stories...
Crawling on the hearth
We have a fireplace with a brick hearth in the family room/play room, and we optimistically thought that by positioning furniture blocking it from view it might not be an issue with Kate. Well, it took a week or so, but she did realize that it exists. I had seen Kate standing by it a few times, and I knew that the time to block it off was coming. Then, I go around the couch one day to find her sitting on the hearth! As I'm watching, she decides to crawl along it. I grabbed the camera to capture the moment, but then she was removed and the hearth has been inaccessible ever since.
Climbing in the cabinet
When I set up the kitchen I purposefully left all the low drawers and most of the cabinets Kate-friendly. I put locks on the sink cabinet that has the garbage and some cleaning products, but everything else is unlocked. Over the last week or so she's been learning how to open everything up. The big trick has been to not lean on the door while trying to open it - that problem took a while to work around. But, now she has it down pat, and happily opens the cabinets and plays with the stuff inside. Yesterday I was washing dishes and she opened the cabinet in the corner. She kind of shifted some stuff around, and the cutting board fell over. Well, the next thing I see is that she's thinking about going in. I laugh, and lo and behold, one knee goes in on top of the cutting board. She was trying to reach the little top shelf, I think. It gets funnier, though, as she proceeds to completely climb into the cabinet. Funny, yes, but a little scary as she sometimes thinks she's going to sit back - which would cause her to fall out of the cabinet. I kept my hands behind her, and once Jay came in I grabbed the camera. We also took some video of it.
The piggy face
Kate has learned how to scrunch up her nose recently, and she does it all the time. At first when she did it she'd make the worst face - all scrunched up, mouth in a grimace while she said something (generally mwa-mwa-mwa-mwa). We of course thought this was hysterical and made it back to her. She has not been doing it as much the last few days - I guess the novelty is wearing off - so I really wanted to make sure that I got a picture of it.
K-K-K-K-Kitty!
Kate is fascinated by the cats, and has been intrigued by them since ~April. Once she started crawling they knew that they were in for it - although that realization took longer than you might have expected, and they still won't always leave the room when the hunt is on. She chased them all over the small apartment in Arlington, but they're pretty safe here because the house is so big. When my mom was here Kate woke up one day saying "keh-keh-keh," which we found kind of funny (you don't think of 'k' as an early sound). All day we were telling her 'K' words - it actually took a while before I realized that she probably had learned it from 'Kate' - and the 'k' sound has been a favorite for a while. A couple of days ago I realized that she goes ballistic with the 'k' sound whenever she sees a cat. The fact that she's freaking out excited is not new (seriously: squealing, crawling at hyper-speed), but now she chases them around - literally, around and around in circles - saying 'k' the entire time. Jay and I are sure her first word is going to be 'kitty.' (Well, after mama, maybe - I think she's starting to use it specifically.
 )Just some fun stories behind the goofy pics...
2007/8/16 no jinx yetMy mom refused to talk about Kate's improved sleeping yesterday because she was afraid of jinxing it. Well, night 4 was a success as well! She did wake up at ~2 and ~4, but she only cried for a few moments (less than 30 sec), so that was no biggie. At 5:50, though, she started crying her lungs out. Shoot, I shouldn't have gotten up to feed her yesterday!!! I steeled myself and said, I am NOT feeding her now! Jay went in to her room, laid her back down and gave her some reassurance, and then left. Oh man, then she really let loose! She was hysterical for about 10 min, but then she quieted down to an occassional whimper and fell back asleep. At 7:20 she was happy (and hungry!) - and I was happy that she got up at her normal time. She definitely was hungry this morning (again, she didn't nurse well at bedtime last night) - she nursed right away (draining an engorged breast), had a decent breakfast 20 min later, and then nursed again before her nap. That's a lot of food in an hour and a half. Anyway, I'm encouraged about her sleeping. No, she's not actually sleeping the entire night, but she doesn't need me, and that's HUGE. I know we'll get to the point of her just sleeping without any crying pretty soon.
Kate had a huge lunch today. We had some grilled chicken last night for dinner, so I diced some up for her and she loved it. That's her first real meat intake, so we'll see how long it holds her. She's so funny about her eating. I guess she knows what her usual foods look like, so when she's presented with something new she won't even touch it. She just looks at it. I have to put the flavor onto her lips, then she smacks her lips and thinks about it, then she digs in. *lol* Yesterday I spread pureed peaches on her toast (total yum!), and she refused to pick it up, even though she has toast everyday. I put some peaches on her lip and then there was no stopping her! She's so funny. I gave her some diced mango today, and I think it looked a lot like cheddar cheese so she didn't hesitate to pick it up. She loved that, too, which is funny because she would never eat pureed mango. She's also a HUGE cantaloupe fan. I froze some diced cantaloupe this morning, and I'm going to see how it thaws. They are in season and cheap right now, so I may load up the freezer with diced cantaloupe. I don't want to get too far of myself because I have lots of pureed food frozen that she's not going to be eating, and I don't want that to happen again. Then again, diced fruit is edible by older babies, too, right? I'm starting to see that the day that she just eats the food Jay and I eat isn't too far away. It's hard to believe...
OK, I was productive around the house last night so I'm off to do more. I have this plan to go to Tyson's Corner on Sunday (hoping Claire will come!), so I need to get my butt in gear if this is all going to be done by the end of the weekend! 2007/8/15 WednesdayThe guilt of not getting the things done around the house that I need to is getting to me...maybe tonight I'll get to work finally! I actually did a couple of small things during Kate's nap this afternoon, but they weren't house-related and thus the place still looks the same. Before the weekend is over I will have this all behind me...
Today was unexciting. Kate has slept through the night 3 nights in a row! OK, with a teensy issue this morning. She started crying at 5:50, off and on, and at 6:20 I said, fine! and got up. I fed her, at least partly because she didn't nurse well at bedtime last night, so it seemed likely that she was actually hungry. Hopefully that moment of weakness won't have long lasting ramifications. For now, though, I'm thrilled that she's going to bed at 7 and that's it. Yay! My body is totally out of whack, though. UGH. I'm hoping that by the end of the week I won't have to sleep on my back all night, but I'm not holding my breath. This morning since she ate at 6:20 she then slept in - until 8:30! Holy crap! She normally takes her nap at 9, so the day has been skewed by about an hour all day (i.e. she napped at 10 and 2). I was afraid that might mean she'd be up until 8 tonight, but she only took at 90 min afternoon nap, so that's a half hour difference, and she's already rubbing her eyes. So, 7 should not be an issue. Hopefully she'll nurse better tonight and sleep right through...
Claire and John brought Anna and Molly over last night for a little while. The girls enjoyed the pool immensely, although it became quickly apparent that, although the pool may be large enough for the three girls, Kate won't be able to be in it with them. I was glad they enjoyed it, though - I always feel bad when they're here and all they have are Kate's toys to amuse themselves with. After the pool we watched Pooh and had popsicles, then I took them home to put them to bed. Claire and John got home in the middle of that process, and then Claire and I went to Friendly's for a sundae (BOGO). Yum! Claire and I are great influences on each other, huh? Shopping and ice cream...
 It sounds like Jay has finished Kate's bath, so I'm off to play for a bit before bed. Bye! 2007/8/13 where are the days going???I can't believe that it's already the end of Monday...I just don't understand!
Saturday ended up being a fun day. After I blogged I went to the store like I had planned, and when I got home it was ~11:30. Kate saw me and freaked out - that was great. It's nice to know that she likes me ok.
I ended up screwing up my 'easy' cake (and really, it is easy, there's just a little timing involved), so we bought a pb pie on the way to the bbq. The bbq was ~1 hour from here, and it was nice to meet some new people and show off Kate. Carl is a friend of Jay's from Cornell, and he lives in Arlington now; the bbq was being hosted by some friends of his, some of whom Jay had met when I was in Rochester at the end of June. Kate had fun, I think, seeing new people and being outside. She really does love to be outdoors. We ended up setting up her pack n play in the backyard so that she could get down and do what she wanted without having access to grass. I know playpens are out of vogue right now, but man, they really have a place. I've put her in that thing more times than I can count since we've moved into the house. Sometimes she just needs to be contained! Anyway, the bbq was fun. We ended up getting home around 9pm, so it wasn't a late night.Yesterday Jay had Kate responsibility again in the morning. I did some work in the backyard - raking up leaves (we're in a major drought) and planting some flowers. I bought these sunflower plants that are pretty cute and put them in the bed that is seen from the kitchen, and today I see that the flowers off one of the plants are slowly disappearing...some critter is out there eating my flowers! Hmph. After I did the yard work I ran a couple of errands. I intended to do some job searching at the library but that didn't happen - you have to prove your residency everywhere here, and I don't have my new license yet, so...no dice. Kate and I went over to Claire's to go in the pool with the girls. That was fun, although Kate was hungry so she didn't enjoy it as much as usual. Then we stayed for dinner sans husbands/dads. It was good to see Anna and Molly - they were camping with John all last week, so it had been awhile. The best part of the day, though, happened overnight. I put Kate to bed at 7 like normal, and she woke up crying around 11. I haven't nursed her in that timeframe in almost two weeks, so I didn't go in there. She cried for ~10 min, then off and on for another 15, then back to sleep. Good so far (this has been happening off and on - some nights she wakes and cries for a bit, some nights she just sleeps through that time). I ended up going to bed at 12 (again! I have GOT to get to bed earlier!), and at 2:30 I woke up...silence...at 4:20 I woke up...silence, but I was sure that it was not going to last...at 7:20 I woke up to a babbling baby. AH!!! She slept all night by herself without any assistance!! Yay! If it repeats tonight I'm going to be one happy momma.
Today was uneventful. Claire, Kate, and I went to Trader Joe's around lunch time, but that was it. Do you know that this little girl ate an entire pound of those little grapes in 10 days?? I bought 2lbs today...
BTW, it's looking like teeth are really on the horizon now - really, no fooling! Believe me, I'll post when some of that pearly white pops through!! 2007/8/11 peace and quiet(with the exception of my washing machine, that is.) Jay and Kate are sleeping, and it's nice to be alone. Kate always naps from 9-11, so I'm generally alone then, but the difference today is that Jay got up with the baby and I slept in until she went down for her nap. Thus, I haven't seen her, much less done any work today. Ah...happiness is having two parents around (seriously, I have no idea how single parents do it!).
So I'm here, reading my favorite blogs, drinking my coffee. I need to go dry my hair and run to the grocery store. We're going to a bbq this afternoon in Maryland, near the city, and Jay signed us up for dessert. I forgot about it until yesterday afternoon, so now I'll be throwing something together this morning. Claire made the chocolate buttermilk cake on Thursday night, and it was a big hit. It's been a long time since I've had it (an old family favorite), so I'd forgotten how tasty it is. Anyway, it's easy and fast, so that's going to be the answer.
The problem with sleeping in is that it's already 10:30...sigh...I'm off to be productive! 2007/8/9 hmm...Man, it's hot here. Yesterday D.C. broke a record - it was 102 at Reagan Airport! HOLY CRAP! My thermometer registered 100 in the shade, so I don't doubt it. It wasn't horrendously humid, luckily, but it was plenty hot. I got a kiddie pool off of Freecycle, so I wanted us to go in it yesterday but I needed to wash it. So I went outside with the hose and scrub brush to clean it while Kate was sleeping. Well, once I was out there I kept getting sucked into other things - sweeping the deck and patio, picking up sticks in the yard...in the 100 degree weather! I never intended to do yardwork, but it just happened. I think my neighbor thought I was nuts; we chatted for a few minutes and he reassured me that it doesn't normally hit 100 here. Good thing... Anyway, after Kate got up from her nap I threw on her swimsuit and we went in the pool together. She had a great time! Lots of splashing, standing on the sides, and diving across my legs. For some reason she really seemed intent on chewing on my toes (which was, of course, not allowed). Claire's been over the last two nights for dinner (since we're both alone this week), and then Tuesday night she hung out for awhile after Kate was in bed. Last night we both needed to wash our floors (lol) so she headed home earlier. Tonight she's having the mom's group over and I'm bringing Kate to sleep there (Jay is in Seattle). I'm crossing my fingers that it goes ok. I don't worry about Kate falling asleep there, but then I'll have to wake her to get her home, and that could be interesting. She's FINALLY stopped waking up at 10:30 to be fed in the last week (no more dream feed!), so I'd hate to feed her tonight in that timeframe to get her back down...we'll see. Maybe I'll get lucky. Anyway, it's been a fun week, although not very interesting. Not a whole lot going on on the job seeking front. I've been watching the classifieds here and there. I just don't have much condensed time during the day and I'm not into it in the evening. I need to get my butt in gear, that's for sure. OK, off I go. We're heading over to Claire's in about an hour, and I have some clean up to do around here. 2007/8/7 eat, eat, eatIt seems like that's all Kate does all day! Kate's sleeping overnight hasn't improved much, and I've been actively trying to bump up her food intake during the day to make sure that she's really not hungry overnight. Breakfast of solids is first thing in the morning, then after her nap she nurses. About an hour later (~12:00) she has lunch. After her second nap she nurses, and then again, about an hour later she has her third meal (~4:30). Then she nurses before bed. Whew - that's a lot of eating! The meals of solids have become quite a production. About two weeks ago she suddenly insisted on feeding herself, and for a couple of days adamantly refused the spoon from us. That's lessened, but she's still almost entirely feeding herself. While it's really nice to just give her food and let her eat it, it does take a long time...thus my day seems to revolve around feeding this kid. I'm always thinking ahead to the next meal, getting stuff diced and ready, etc. It's funny because newborns are like this - they eat all the time - but in a totally different way. Anyway, here's a sample menu of Kate's meals:
Notice the glaring omission? Vegetables! I guess I should try dicing up cooked broccoli and carrots and see what happens. I just have been assuming that they won't go over well, but maybe I'm wrong. I've been trying to make sure that she gets some protein, some carb, and some fruit each meal, but I probably need to put a little more effort into rounding the menu out better. She's sampled a little ground beef and chicken from our dinners, and she enjoyed both, so I guess I could add meat in. I've also been intending to see what she thinks of hummus and cubed tofu. I don't have a lot of variety to offer on the protein front (unlike the carbs which, of course, we have more than covered). Anyway, Kate's - surprise! - eating right now, working on a brown rice cake (she ate about a quarter of it yesterday and is diligently making progress on it today). We always have her music on, and it is pretty cute to see her bobbing around with the beat while she stuffs her face. Such a cutie... And, OMG!, she's 10 months old today!! Ay! 2007/8/4 out on the townClaire is babysitting tonight so that Jay and I can belatedly celebrate our anniversary (it was 2 weeks ago). It'll be the first time the two of us have been out together without Kate since...Thanksgiving, when she was 6 weeks old and Pat and Duane were in town. Man, that sucks, huh? Anyway, we're both looking forward to a yummy Morton's dinner (we love Morton's and they have this great special right now!). Our reservation is for 8:30, so I have a few minutes before I need to get myself together. This is one of the major perks of being close to Claire - a babysitter! We never asked our friends in Seattle for whatever reason (most of them lived far away, although Mike and Melinda probably would have been happy to watch Kate once in a while), but Claire is the perfect answer. Free, no feeling bad, she's happy to do it...she's got it easy tonight. Kate's already in bed, so I think she's planning on plopping in front of the 65" tv and watching a movie or something. Not a bad deal... Today was errand filled! Kate and I went to the post office and Lowe's this morning between naps, and then once she got up we went with Claire and the girls to JC Penney. It's tax free weekend in VA, and they were having a huge sale - essentially everything was 'buy one, get the second for $1,' so we each got our kids a few more clothing items (Anna needed skirts, Kate needed pjs and some t shirts) and I wanted some new bath towels which then led Claire to get some...anyway, we made out like bandits. In addition to the sale there were two coupons - $10 off of $50 and $15 off of $75, so we saved another $25 there. I sure am glad I saw that ad last night... OK, just a quick entry. I'm off to pretty myself up and make sure things are in order for Claire... 2007/8/3 new photosI just added some new photos so make sure you see them - the album is almost complete! 10 months on Tuesday... ok, fineSo you guys want me to rehash the last two weeks, do you? OK, but not all at once! Our new house is great. There are 4 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs; living room, dining room, office, large eat in kitchen, laundry, 1/2 bath, and family room on the main floor, and the basement is finished (including a wet bar) with a 3/4 bath. (BTW, there are 3 1/2 baths, not 4 1/2 like the posting said - whew!). Jay has been yearning and dreaming of the day when he could have a media room, and he saw the opportunity and jumped (much to my initial chagrin). We are now the proud owners of a 65 INCH TV! Good god, it's huge. "Tricky" doesn't quite capture the difficulty the delivery guys had in getting it into the basement...getting it out should be loads of fun. I'll admit that it is very very nice, and watching movies down there does feel like a theater. He also got a Wii, just for kicks, I guess. And to top it all off a new elliptical (which I was wholeheartedly supportive of). We're just throwing around many thousands of dollars over here...*sigh* Thankfully the spending is done now (essentially, we're looking for a secondhand couch for the basement), and I have control over my hubby again. Sheesh. Anyway, back to the house. We've closed off two of the bedrooms to save some money on utilities, but that's all we can close off - unfortunately the dining and living rooms are open to the foyer and upstairs, and the thermostat is in the dining room, so closing off that room wouldn't be smart anyway. So, those rooms, while pretty much empty, are still nicely cooled. We've put our table in the eat in kitchen, and it's working out great. The family room is doubling as Kate's play room and our family room. I had wanted it to be solely Kate's and to really look like a play room, but there is not a way to get a cable jack into the living room, so our tv was just looking for a home. Once the tv was going to be in the family room we ended up with both of our loveseats in there. So, now it's really not a play room at all, and I still am bummed about that. Kate loves her space, though, and she loves crawling up into and around the kitchen (the family room is sunken by one step). Luckily there are doors all over the place - closing off the laundry/mud room, the dining room, and the hallway - in the kitchen, so she's pretty contained. We could have made the living room her playroom, but then there's the constant temptation of the stairs to deal with and I wouldn't be able to watch her while I'm in the kitchen. So, instead we have a dual purpose family room although we have more space than we know what to do with - go figure. Most of the house is carpeted with the exception of the kitchen, eating area, and main hallway. My mom busted her butt last week and kept me moving too, so the unpacking is just about done. There are a couple of those really difficult random boxes to deal with, but we're almost there. This weekend should just about do it. OK, that's it for now. Are you encouraged that I've posted two days in a row? 2007/8/2 back to itI'm just going to pick up as though I haven't been on a blogging hiatus for almost two weeks...the gaps will get filled in eventually, I imagine. Claire and I took the three girls to Trader Joe's this morning after dropping her car off at the mechanic's. I love TJ's! I was complaining to my mom about how far away it is, but then I realized that I'm lucky to have access to it at all. I've been dying to get over there - it's the store where I buy all of our snacks - so I went a little nuts this morning. Well, not really, I just bought a lot of all the things I normally get so that I won't have to go back for a couple of weeks. I wish it was just down the street like it was in Seattle, but I'll make do. An employee was doing a demo of greek yogurt with honey, nuts, and champagne grapes (build your own), and it was so tasty! I really like greek yogurt when it's flavored but it's a little too tart just plain, and I'm not really that into honey, so when I'm always told how good it is with honey I've just blown it off. Here was an opportunity to try it, and it was excellent. It was also an opportunity to see if Kate likes greek yogurt - she does. It was also an opportunity to give her some champagne grapes - they're miniscule - and she loved them. So, greek yogurt and tiny grapes were added to the order. After our outing we came back to my house and I put Kate down for a (late) nap. Then Anna and Molly took off their clothes and ran through the sprinkler in the back yard - they're so cute! I dropped them all off a bit later, and I don't know if I'll see them again today. The mom's group is going out for coffee tonight, so I'll see Claire there... So this whole living-down-the-street-from-Claire thing totally rocks! We're 1.1 miles apart from my driveway to her parking lot - how cool is that! I love that we can just dash down the street. On Tuesday Kate and I went over for about 45min between naps, and because they're so close, that short visit was totally worthwhile. Yay for being by my family! It's a good thing we're so close, I think. If we were in Falls Church or some burb closer to D.C. we'd still be at least 30min from Claire, so seeing her would fall back into the 'chore' category (a fun one, but still always planned). The distance from Seattle is starting to really hit me, so if we weren't really close to Claire I think I'd be like, what the hell are we doing here??? I have faith that we'll make new friends and settle into a nice life here, but change is not easy. I saw new pics of Melinda's ever-expanding belly (she looks great!), and it made me so sad to know that I won't see her pregnant again...but I will not dwell... On a positive note, I got a community newsletter in the mail yesterday and stumbled across an ad looking for adult women soccer players for the local league! YAY!!! I called and the guy's wife said, oh he's going to be so excited. Maybe the soccer thing will help me feel like my life isn't so foreign to me. OK, so I'm back. I promise to post regularly from here out... |
We were in there until she pruned up. Definitely a good score, there - a free pool that's plenty big enough for all three kids. Perfect!
She's been sleeping from 7-5am. Now, if we could just get that to be another hour or two...
I guess that's why they do demo tables, huh? |
|
