Where to start?

Soooooo much has happened. It's overwhelming to try and remember it all, much less compose it into a blog post. We've had a lot of help these days. A lot of family, too. I love our new house more every day we're in it. Robert is grumpy most of the time due to the untimely combination of a fighting a cold and cutting his 2-year molars. Poor, snotty, tired, frustrated little fellow. Two in, two to go, then he's done with teething until age 6. Woo hoo!

We're down to one car again. On Tuesday of this week we were heading to St. Louis for a temple trip and hit a patch of ice on the freeway. We spun around a couple times, went into the ditch, hit a freeway sign, and almost came spinning out of the ditch back onto the freeway before our car finally stopped. No one was hurt, thankfully, and we didn't hit anyone else, extra thankfully, or a concrete overpass (erk). Bobby's parents had Alice in their car and they were following us at the time and able to pull over and help. It's mostly a blur from that point on. The car was totaled from an insurance standpoint. We're at an awkward spot right now trying to figure out when/if to purchase a replacement vehicle. Do we get something bigger in case we have another couple kids (our current car won't fit three car seats in back)? Do we get something super small and efficient exclusively for Bobby's 2-mile commute and worry about the kid thing later?

Lots of thinking in our future, and a unique opportunity. When we were looking for a new home, proximity to the stores and services we used most often was a key priority. I even began secret plans to get rid of our second car altogether and use my bike and the bus more. It's a little earlier than I wanted to start the experiment, and December 31st is hardly the best time to start riding one's bike more in the frigid midwest, but if not now...when? So, we've decided to put the insurance check into savings and try this one-car-family thing again for a month. Work, school, shopping, medical clinic, dentist, pharmacy, and several friends literally live within 2 miles of our new home. As long as it's not actively storming or dangerously cold, there is little excuse for me to use a car. I wonder if a month is long enough to truly create a new rhythm. I want to get past "survivor" mode. Is a month long enough to generate a sustainable routine? Hmmmm. I might shoot for 100 days...April 9th, 2012. January, February, and March will probably be the hardest months. This week and the last week of the trial period should be perfectly sublime. HA HA HA! I'm crazy. And yet...

Anyway, I'm still trying to find the USB cable that will allow me to upload pictures from our camera.

I had a lovely time this week reconnecting with Bobby's parents and getting to know Jon and Brooke a little better. I stayed up way too late, ate way too much delicious food, and did way too little by way of real life (i.e. unpacking, laundry, house chores, email, blogging, etc.). It was truly a vacation! I appreciate all the Evanses who helped make it that way :) We are planning on a very, very, very quiet New Year's Eve celebration tonight with nachos supreme for dinner, a bath for the kids, movie and popcorn, and a regular bedtime. *sigh* Sounds divine. Can't wait to get started :)

If anyone has any Lowe's/Home Depot/Menards coupons or discounts they won't be using, will you please send them our way? The bathrooms are almost "done." We haven't even started with the kitchen. This house doesn't need many rigorous fixes that we can do ourselves, so we get to play around with details until help arrives later. Bobby would like to install remote-controlled ceiling fans in every bedroom. I'm looking into curtains and other decor (a new arena for me, to be sure). Then there's the yard and garden. Ooooo, I'm itching to get started. Lots more planning to go on there. Can't get a fence and garden beds installed until spring. The previous owners opted for landscape plastic and river rocks all the way around the house. They also nurtured a monstrous patch of poke weed (i.e. tap roots and beautiful clusters of purple poisonous berries) that I will be battling for many years to come. So, maybe I can start on one of those projects while the weather is still freakishly mild.

All that bus-riding and bike-riding will toughen me up for outdoor work anyway :)

Bobby's Sunday Summary

I know it has been a long time since I last wrote.  A lot of that is because we have been moving and have not had internet access in our home until very recently.  Well we are back, and like Susan said I don't think we will be able to catch up with everything that has happened sine the last time I wrote.  Lets see, we first moved from our house to a temporary house.  This is because some things changes with the price of our new house, which forced the loan to go through some hoops and need to be rewritten so that resulted in us being homeless for a little less then a week.

Wonderfully we have some great friends who did not need their house for that very week, so we first moved in there, then this past Wednesday we finally closed on our new house and have moved in.  We are still putting some things away, and we have to hang the pictures on the walls, but we are finally home.

Today was Christmas.  I think this was one of the best Christmases ever.  Both Alice and Robert had a lot of fun.  I think some of that was that they took their time.  They would open up one present, and fall in love with it.  They would play with it and explore it for a while before moving on to the next one.  Part of it too was because we had a real family Christmas.  It was great to have my parents in town, but also to have my brother and his family living close enough that the house was actually full, and everyone was having a good time.

I will try to post some pictures soon.

Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed our first Christmas morning in our new home today. Alice is awash in pink princessey happiness (Erin, she's already eaten two meals in the dress you gave her. We wouldn't let her wear it to church, despite it's excellent quality and formal nature. She and Bobby are currently attending a ball in the dining room). Robert is up to his elbows in string cheese and tangerines, happy as can be. There is so much to share with the move and our new house and Christmas! I'll never catch it all again well enough to frame it on the blog. Suffice it to say the stress and uncertainty ended when we left the closing table with new keys in our hand. This is the right place for us and the transition has been more fun than I had anticipated. I get to put real roots down here. Everything feels different.

Bobby's parents are in town and we're having them break in our guest room. Several neighbors have already come by to introduce themselves and bring us treats. Families with kids! Bobby's been home full-time since the move, too. I'm in a strange dream world of fun, time, new promise, and plenty of help to do everything I want to do. It's dreamy :)

Better

I'm feeling better today, despite Alice's double case of pink eye and a growing sense of swelling in my own ears, nose, and throat. Lots of prayer and several little steps towards the end add up to a happier me. Our house is still chaos, but I'm less feeling less chaotic.

Spent

I am so blasted tired. Not sleepy, really, but completely spent. House in chaos. Trying to live normal life (dishes, laundry, meal preparation, preschool schedule, attending social events) and this surreal second life (packing, relocating, signing binding legal documents, relocating again) at the same time. It's exhausting.

Alice is coming down with something that's making her eyes goop shut when she sleeps. The term "snot up to her eyeballs" seems accurate. She has a cough and stuffy nose, too. No fever or vomiting, though, and I'm wondering if I should send her to preschool tomorrow at all. Do other people want their kids crying boogers? Probably not. Maybe today was the worst of it and she'll be better tomorrow?

I don't know if having her home will make it better or worse for me scurrying about. I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow. My brain is spent. Done. No energy for planning because planning isn't really what I feel needs to be done. I don't know what needs to be done. I'm twiddling.

Maybe I'll pack our suitcases. That seems a reasonable thing to do the day before we move :) Maybe I'll return library books, too. I'd hate to lose one of those in the shuffle.

One day at a time

Everything is settled now. The mold in our new home wasn't as bad as we thought. Now all the inspection issues with our current home and our future home have been resolved. It turns out that "early possession" would require us to give up several safety clauses in our contract that we aren't willing to go without. Ta da! Decision made.

We will help our friends move out on Wednesday, then we'll move into their house on Thursday and close on our current house on Friday. We'll camp out in limbo until we close on our new house the next Wednesday. I am SUPER relieved to be staying at the Bair's house, by the way: washer/dryer, 3 bedrooms, full-size kitchen, sparkling clean fridge, and stable neighbors. What a joy! You can't get that at the Extended Stay Inn. We'll move from the Bair's to our new house a couple days before Bobby's parents fly in for Christmas. Christmas in our new place! Then we get back to work scheduling all the repairs we want done on the new house.

There's been a stomach flu making the rounds. Two families I normally call on for babysitting have been knocked out of commission, so Alice and Robert got to come with me to the mold inspection and an appointment with the optometrist today (did I mention I tore my last contact lens this morning?). They were quite well-behaved at both appointments. Your prayers are creating miracles after all :) I have no room for complaint, however, since one of those barfing families happens to be the Bair's. They could probably use a few prayers, too.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has felt like one of the most stressful weeks of my life.  We are going to be selling our house on Friday of this next week, and well we will probably not be able to move into our new house until Wednesday of the following week.  I did not really think that it would stress me out like it has, but it has really stressed me out.  I feel a lot better now that we have a plan on exactly what we are going to do either way.  Honestly the rest of the week just seems like a blur, so I think I will just leave it at that for now.

Holy cow, what just happened?

Each new email from our Realtor, lawyer, or mortgage broker causes a cold shiver and a thrill of anticipation as I open it up. Good news, bad news, waiting news, no news. Argh! There's so much back-and-forth. I'll spare you the nitty-gritty details. The important tidbits are here: 1) our buyers must close on the 16th and 2) our financing for the new place won't be ready until the 21st.

Um, that's a pretty big gap.

We're applying for early possession of the new house (i.e. renting it from the owners until we can close on it), but that's not guaranteed to come through by Wednesday or Thursday since we're renegotiating the price on MONDAY! Blast it all! If early possession doesn't come through, we do have a place to go, but it's bittersweet. We'll help our dear friends the Bairs move away and then stay in their home until closing day. It's a strange place for me to be emotionally: one event making me so terribly sad and so terribly grateful at the same time.

So, we're packing the house as if we were leaving on Friday. Our closets are empty and our living spaces are piled with boxes. It's surreal. How did this all happen like this? Why can't I figure out what to do with myself half the time? I crave escape, but I need resolution. Res-o-lu-tion!

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Well,  I don't think this is that new, but it is now official enough that the realtor finally decided to make the change to the sign.

Yesterday was very busy.  We ran lots of errands.  As part of it we were out and decided to eat at a little Mexican grocery store in town.  It was very good.  http://www.elcharrochampaign.com/  It is a hole in the wall, but totally worth it.

Friday night was supposed to be our date night.  I had just dropped Alice and Robert off at a friends house and was walking down the street when our friend came running out yelling that Robert had just thrown up all over the place.  I came in just in time to have him expel the second half of the contents of his stomach.  So Susan and I spent our date night giving Robert a bath and putting him to bed.  We think it may have been caused by teething, but we don't know for sure, because he was back to his old self very quickly.  Ashley, we are still sorry about your piano and floor.

That was our week this week.

I know I'm feeling stressed when...

...I roll out of bed craving my Google Reader. Floating in the blogosphere is a blissful step away from the reality of poopy morning diapers, dinner dishes still on the table from last night, and an email inbox full of "need this ASAP" requests.

...I crave a handful of chocolate chips after breakfast. Just a little pick-me-up, y'know?

Things will get better next week as the paperwork and deadlines move out of my inbox into someone else's. We will need to get our current roof fixed too, apparently. I'm grateful for a competent and honest handyman who's certified to make all the repairs we'll need. I can't say enough about the awesome professionals I've come to know in this process. It's intimidating to step into something I'm SO unfamiliar with (despite my best efforts to prepare) and admit I just don't have the time or desire to become an expert in any of it. Self-sufficiency is important to me, but I don't expect to be able to do everything right now.

And I did resist the chocolate chip craving until after lunch when the handyman left, we had a new home insurance quote (over the phone), Alice had a gold star from the dentist, and I made an appointment for Bobby and me to meet with our mortgage broker...again. I couldn't manage a babysitter on such short notice at such an awkward time, but we'll make do :) They must have a couple stray lollipops hanging around their office somewhere. Speaking of which, time to wake up Robert, bundle the kidlets, and head out to said meeting.

Things will get a lot better tomorrow.

Whew.

Up to my eyeballs in paperwork and deadlines

Selling a house and buying a house at the same time is a lot of stress :(  Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Then there's the negotiation at every step in the process, setting up appointments with mortgage brokers, house inspectors, attorneys, and other professionals for EACH house and EACH set of buyers and sellers. I don't remember our first mortgage application being this complicated, but our finances were simpler then and we weren't on a 30-day possession timeline. By the way, 30 days is very little time.

Maybe the process has changed, too, in the last 6 years :)

In related news, Bobby and I were there in the maple leaf house when the inspection was being performed. I really, really liked that experience. I could see how thorough the inspection was: every window, every doorknob, every light switch...every single thing in that house was tested. He measured the moisture level on suspicious-looking ceiling spots. He answered every question I could think of. It was an enlightening experience, and actually pretty fun. At one point, I asked if the kitchen was rigged for a gas stove. Our Realtor just pulled the stove from the wall himself so we could have a look! The inspector called him a stud for it. Cracked me up.

All in all, the interior of the home is in good shape. It's much larger than I had remembered. Each bedroom has its own enormous closet. The tile work isn't as hideous as I had remembered, either. And I just kept looking out that sliding glass door at the expanse of the yard..."fruit trees here, garden beds there, there, and there, chicken coop back there, compost bin definitely right there...and maybe the kids will play out there every once in a while, too" ;) The interior was comfortable, but I was drawn to the windows wherever I went, just drinking in all that new green space to play with.

An oak tree in the north east corner of the yard suggests we will be battling squirrels quite often. I may end up renting a few plots in the community garden across the street just so I can harvest some sweet corn  and tomatoes every once in a while. My poor, future peach trees. Will I ever get a harvest from you? Or, *gasp* we may need to acquire a dog to keep those squirrels out of my orchard. I swore off pets long ago, but a farm dog is a totally different story.

The attic and crawlspace have had some serious water leakage and will need repairs and professional treatment for mold, but those aren't deal-breaking problems. Also, the furnace can't seem to get hot air to any of the vents sooooooo far from it. There are affordable fixes for that, too. We're moving ahead with our offer and application.

Now if I could only find the motivation to start packing!

Paintrlite

Alice created this masterpiece on Bobby's smartphone while I was dozing next to them in my bed. I never thought I'd be so tired as to sleep through something like that.

It's a picture of me after I've eaten a grape popsicle. Purple juice all over my mouth and dripping down my legs. I'm, um, flattered?

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Well, lets see.  It has been a while since I last wrote and a lot has happened since then.  First Susan left for a quick trip to California.  She was gone for about a week and I got to go solo with the kids.  While she was away we got an offer on our current house and consequently made an offer on a different house. So there was a lot of paper signing and scanning/e-mailing that happened that week.  Hopefully the financing will all go through just fine and we will be in our new house by Christmas.

One of the big things that happened while Susan was gone is that Robert started getting very nervous when we leave him anywhere.  I think it has something to do with Susan leaving.  He is doing fine now, but he has really bonded with me and now will cry out for me before he asks for Susan.  This has become a problem in church, where he can see me sitting on the stand, but cannot go up to hug me and get some comfort.

Thanksgiving was fun.  We got together with some friends.  It was a fairly laid back holiday.  We did the turkey, gravy, stuffing, and a pie.  They did rolls, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and two other pies.  Neither of us felt overwhelmed and the kids played together very well.  It made the whole experience a good one.

BOUGHT!

With just a little negotiation, we find ourselves newly betrothed to the "maple leaf" house. So happy! So much work to do in such a short time. If all goes well, we'll be closing on it the week before Christmas. I've already planned out the garden and orchard out back, I know where I want to put our Christmas tree, and I'm mentally setting up the guest bedroom for Bobby's parents :)

It's bigger than we were originally looking for, but the location and lot are spot-on. The house itself has a brick exterior, bay windows in front, 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, separate family room, and a wide, sunny, green back yard with decent-sized patio. We have friends already living just a few doors down from it. They tell us there's another family next door to us with kids our kids' ages. It's a quiet neighborhood, mature, and closer to everything we do most often. I am very, very pleased.

A couple drawbacks: 1) needs new kitchen appliances, washer, and dryer, 2) bathrooms chock-full of colored porcelain (avocado and mustard, mostly). We'll want to update the kitchen and light fixtures in many ways, but that's all cosmetic. Purely aesthetic. It's a functionally sound house. We'll let the inspector determine how structurally sound it is :)

Now to start the not-so-fun part: packing, cleaning old house, cleaning new house, moving stuff, unpacking. Maybe it's time for another purge.

SOLD!

I was casually packing for my pre-Thanksgiving trip to California, realizing I would have another 6 hours of leisurely waiting at home before heading out, and the thought actually crossed my mind, "Wouldn't it be funny if someone called to see the house this afternoon? I might actually have time to clean it." Ten minutes later, the phone rings and schedules a showing that evening at 5:30...right when I had planned to leave. That was okay, though, since I had oodles of time to clean and it turns out the first leg of my journey was flexible.

I cleaned out the fridge first...why? I don't know. I guess I didn't want to start the real work too early. Kids have a way of messing it up again if you give them enough time. We cooked the rest of the gingerbread dough into Ninjabread men. I even had time to decorate them. Then I started the hard work of putting everything away and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It had been a couple months since someone came to see the house. I made spiced apple cider in the crockpot. We watched Baby V again, which kept Alice well-occupied during the last part of the cleaning and organizing marathon. I bundled up the kids, dropped off Baby V, met Bobby for dinner at the Apple Dumpling, and took off towards Chicago. Bobby tells me the young couple was still there when he got back from dinner at 6:15pm. I took that as a good sign :)

The next morning, we had an offer. An insultingly low one, but we still countered. And over the course of a day with emails and phone calls across two time zones, we agreed on a price. It sold!

Still can't believe it. Really. Not our house anymore. It's what I wanted, right? The immediate joy has passed, leaving a lingering solemnity in its place.

And now it's time to get to work.

For the Barneys

You've created a monster! A dancing, hopping, panting monster!

Choir Practice

I'm driving home from church this afternoon and Alice pipes up from the back, "Mom, you know what my favorite part about choir practice was today?"

"Hmmmm. What was it?"

"Zee-Zee-Ahhhhhhhhh! Zee-Zee-Ahhhhhhhh! Will you sing that for me?"

"You mean the warm ups?"

"And there's another one with mmmmm's"

"Is it may-o-may-o-may-o-may-o-may?"

"Yeah! Zee-Zee-Ahhhhhhh. Mayo-mayo-may. That's my favorite."

Robert pipes up, "Zee-eee-ahhhh. Zee-eee-ahhhhh. Mayo!" He's frightfully close to on-key.

I think, "Crazy, awesome kids. Why not?"

We've been warming up our voices pretty much all day. During quiet time, Alice was playing some elaborate game with at least three different characters (I could tell that from the different "voices" she used for each one). There was a lot of warming up going on. Later, she tells me they were practicing for a performance and she had written down all the music for them in English and Spanish:

She sounded out "Zee-Eee-Ahhhhhhhh" on her own and put the "Mayo" bits in Spanish.

I'll say it again. Crazy, awesome kids.

Family photo shoots

When I pull out the camera to record something cute, it usually turns into a family photo shoot. Alice inevitably asks, "Can I have a turn, Mommy?" Then Robert sees Alice with "the shiny toy with buttons and lights" and begs for a turn when she's done, "Bwah! Al-ee. Done! Done!" (He does call her Al-ee sometimes. A name he certainly made up himself.)

Here are a few gems from our photo shoots this week. Yes, that's plural:

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Well this week has been fairly normal.  Work has been a bit difficult.  We have been trying to fix an annoying bug that shows up once a day, but we have no idea what is really causing it.  Alice and Robert have not reacted very well to the time change.  They have been staying up too late at night, which has caused them to be a bit grumpy during the day, but they are slowing returning to normal

Sunlight

I'm double-checking our financial picture and comparing it to our goals. It looks like we may be able to put an offer on a house soon, as long as we don't close on it until January or February. This is exciting news. And there's a story to go with it:

Buddy and I are heading home from aerobics this morning and we take a quick side-trip to see the house that is my current favorite in this crazy home buying game. I just have to see it again now that something might actually happen soon. We drive up and there are three tall maple trees that I had never noticed before. The whole front yard, driveway, and sidewalk is a flutter of brilliant red and orange leaves. A breeze shuffles the colors and suddenly the sun bursts out from behind the clouds. The whole world is brighter just right here and just for an instant. I gasp. Buddy snorts in his asleep. We turn around and head home in silence.

I don't think this experience was a 'sign', and that's not why I chose to share it here. It was just striking and beautiful in a way that I like striking and beautiful. This house has its drawbacks, believe me, like raking millions of brilliantly red and orange leaves every fall :) It's not a perfect house. I just really like it.

Alice Answers the MEME

Alice's Answers:

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:

1. Girly Girl
2. Alice
3. iyes (as spelled by Alice describing what Robert calls her)

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:

1. Pajamas
2. Tattoos (rub on that do not go away)
3. Smile

THREE THINGS YOU WANT VERY BADLY AT THE MOMENT:

1. More princess dolls
2. A real tiara (Daddy, there's more then three things I want)
3. Grad-ma and Grand-pa at my birthday party (and a baby barbie disney princess baby doll)

THREE PEOPLE WHO YOU HOPE WILL DO THE MEME:

1. Will
2. Yikes I don't know

THREE THINGS YOU DID LAST NIGHT:

1. Slept
2. Listened to stories on my CD player
3. looked at books

THREE PEOPLE YOU LAST TALKED TO ON THE PHONE:

1. I don't know I never talked on the phone

THREE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO DO TOMORROW:

1. Go to preschool
2. Play with baby dolls
3. Do everything I want

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE DRINKS:

1. Punch
2. Juice
3. Water

THREE THINGS THAT MADE YOU SMILE TODAY:

1. Thinking about a baby barbie disney princess doll
2. Putting a baby on my head (she is currently doing it with her baby doll)
3. Playing a drawing guessing game in primary.  Her teachers didn't guess it was her friend from preschool, even with a lot of hints.

Oodles of Ideas

I happened upon this in a semi-random sampling of the non-fiction aisles in our library's Children's Department:

http://www.amazon.com/Tasha-Tudors-Old-Fashioned-Gifts-Occasions/dp/0679209816

Pure gold. I'm goggling every page and planning to make (almost) every delightfully old-fashioned (which does NOT necessarily mean simple) gift including wool pom-pom bunnies, miniature hat boxes, pinafores, hand-cut valentines, and birthday snappers packed with a handmade paper hat, a personalized limerick, and a small gift. Oh yeah.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

The big news this week was of course halloween.  After Alice's previous trick or treating opportunities, we decided that we did not need to go out that evening to anyones houses.  She didn't even notice.  We did do a Yahoo! trick or treating thing, which was fun.  Alice was very sad that she didn't win the costume contest, but it is hard to beat custom made jawa costumes with light up eyes.  The rest of the week was fairly typical.

Sheep Meme

Hmmm. Perhaps I should have completed this meme on any day besides Sunday. It's a good thing there's a Wikipedia article to explain/clarify anything, eh? Even LDS worship service lingo.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Mommy
2. Alice's Mommy
3. Susan

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Stickers
2. Contacts
3. Brown socks

THREE THINGS YOU WANT VERY BADLY AT THE MOMENT:
1. Sleep
2. Sustainable ideas for me to become a better Visiting Teacher
3. Can't really think of a third one..."very badly" isn't something I feel that often

THREE PEOPLE WHO YOU HOPE WILL DO THE MEME:
1. Ummmmm. Bobby.
2. Alice
3. Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Make your voice heard!

THREE THINGS YOU DID LAST NIGHT:
1. Date night swap
2. Worked on a secret Christmas gift
3. Cleaned up after the date night swap

THREE PEOPLE YOU LAST TALKED TO ON THE PHONE:
1. Neighbor asking for a ride (Saturday)
2. Wrong number (Friday)
3. Bobby asking when date night was supposed to start (Friday)

THREE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO DO TOMORROW:
1. Aerobics
2. Grocery shopping
3. Diaper laundry

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE DRINKS:
1. Water
2. Fresh lemonade
3. Cocoa

THREE THINGS THAT MADE YOU SMILE TODAY:
1. Robert sitting through Sacrament prayers for the first time...ever
2. Sitting and chatting with my husband during Sunday School
3. Robert happily sharing his snacks with Alice after she had finished her own. He learned that from her, actually, which amazes me on many levels. They just came that way.

Thoughts on Lifelong Friends

I've been thinking a lot recently about how life will change when all of our kids are in school. It was more fun raking leaves with kids running around and having fun than it ever was raking them alone in quieter times. I'm starting to see how people can eventually miss this chapter of their lives. Unfortunately, I'm already beginning to miss the people from this chapter in my life.

When we first moved to Illinois, Bobby's dad told us that the friends we made here would be our dearest friends for the rest of our lives. I didn't believe him. How on earth could this place be any different from everywhere else I had lived and made friends? It turns out that it's not the place that's important, but the stage of life. These truly are the best friends I've ever had. And even when they move away, we're still close (well, as close as I get to "close"). I never would have believed it without experiencing it myself. There's just something about that "new family with infant" stage that sticks people together like glue. Anyway, it gets harder and harder for me to make new friends as my kids grow up and my life becomes more and more different from the lives of new grad students moving in every summer. I sometimes wonder if I've passed that unique window of opportunity that Bobby's dad so wisely brought to my attention. I wonder if it's too late to make lifelong friends. I do have good friends, of course. More than I can manage to see regularly most weeks, and I've never had that problem before :) It's a fine problem to have.

I do wonder about the future, though. Most of these good friends are slated to leave at some point. They have no intention of staying. And while each one of them will certainly graduate to a "lifelong friend" relationship, I still like to have someone to sit by at functions, someone to swap date nights, and someone to invite to a birthday party. Y'know? What's more concerning is that I will have a child in school next year. Moms with kids in school tend to have very busy, very full, very complex lives that are hard to penetrate. I've tried several times ;) The ease and flexibility of toddlerhood has passed, even if there's still a toddler in the home. Life is rigid again. It's different. It's harder to begin new friendships. So what happens when friends leave faster than I can make new ones? Is that the next chapter? Does one throw her life into her family and coast on those friendships that she made before? Will I emerge at the other end with an empty nest and few friends to call my own? If so, I need someone to tell me now so I can prepare for it.

(Ever So Many) More Leaves

We had a fun little playdate in the leaves yesterday. It was probably the last warm and dry day we'll see in a long, long time. Alice was our photographer.

This little sweetie is one month younger than Robert. Alice did her hair. I can't decide if I invite this cutie over more for me or for Alice, but we both have a great time with her.

Buddy had more fun pushing the rake into people than into the leaves.

Man, I need a haircut. 

Robert asked nicely for another playdate with the car, so I let him in. Alice happened upon him just as he happened upon a piece of candy left behind. To his credit, he brought it straight to me, not entirely sure what it was.

Alice wanted to take a picture of someone in the leaf pile. Neither of the babies felt like it and I certainly wasn't up to it, so she decided on a self-portrait.

We raked and bagged all the leaves. A storm blew in overnight. Our lawn now looks more full of leaves than ever *sigh* but at least it's a temporary kind of  futile "invisible progress" work. The trees will eventually run out of leaves to drop, unlike my sink and its dishes.

Hug!

We are all driving home from St. Louis last weekend and I'm passing lunch back to Buddy one course at a time. He had slept through much of Alice's lunch earlier. The ham and bread make him very happy. Silly, actually. A minute or two later, I hear him straining and saying, "Huuuuug! Huuuuuug!" A hug? What on earth is he talking about? I look back and can't see anything out of the ordinary, but he's got that crazy grin on his face. He spreads his knees apart and I can see a very smashed pile of ham and bread in his crotch. His knees snap shut again and he strains while he squeezes his knees together,  "Huuuuuuuuug! (giggle giggle)"

Mmmmm. Crotch-hug sandwich.

Halloween 2011

Here are pictures of our Halloween celebrations this year. Robert was dressed as a tooth and Alice had planned for months to be a dentist. I whipped up a snazzy kid-size lab coat for her last month. Alice managed to attend all three parties in three different costumes, and not one of them was a dentist.

Mothers and More Halloween Parade, Friday, October 28th

Me, Tooth, and Tooth Fairy

Protective Tooth Fairy, Grateful Tooth, lots of friends

Urbana Ward Trunk or Treat, Saturday, October 29th

Barbie bride. The umbrella cape is her veil.

Y!Boo Trick or Treat, Monday, October 31st

Bobby, Tooth, and Princess Barbie (though it's exactly what she wore to church yesterday)

 

I had hopes that her dentist costume would eventually earn a showing, but it wasn't a complete surprise to me that she chose somewhat more traditional (and traditionally Alice) costumes to wear. I have a girly girl. Through and through.

Robert took to the trick-or-treating habit like a pro. Candy was eagerly sought for, gratefully received, and devoured with care:

 

A few more pictures just for fun:

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Well, most of the week was fairly normal.  On Friday the kids went to a costume parade at a local retirement home, and each got a bag of goodies.  Saturday, however, was crazy.  We went to the temple because it was the only day that would work for us.  It was also the day for our ward to have their Trunk or Treat party.  Going down was mostly good, but coming back was very difficult.  Robert was done with the car when we had an hour and a half left and was letting us all know about it.  Both Susan and I were done when we finally made it home.  Susan took Alice to the party while I stayed home with Robert to let him wind down.  We did learn a few things about Robert from the trip.  First we learned that Robert is not a huge fan of dorritos. He liked them, but was fine sharing with Alice as many as she wanted.  Second Robert loves tootsiroll pops, the tootsiroll more then the pop part.  After a few licks he was happy to share with Alice, at least until she bit into it and revealed the inside of it.  The no one was allowed near it until it was completely consumed.  

18 months and Squinting

Robert had his "well baby" checkup last week. All is well. He's 75th percentile for height and weight, 50th percentile for head circumference. His slightly smaller head and slightly larger bum (cloth dipes) make him look a lot bigger than he really is.

We were shown to the exam room and Robert suddenly used every limb to sucker himself to my chest. Octopus boy, I tell you! He screamed and cried while the aide took his measurements, then wrapped himself around me as I picked him up. The moment the aide left us alone in the room, Robert's head popped up off my shoulder and he climbed down to explore the room. He peeked into the table cabinets and found an empty space. He smiled his big grin and said, "Nigh-neen", which is to mean "hiding." I gave him an assuring nod and he climbed on in and shut the door on himself. Crazy, silly, funny boy. We played the hiding game for a few minutes until the doctor came in. She was amused at his antics, like no other kid had ever tried that before. I think it's more likely that no other parent had let the kid do it long enough for the doctor to walk in on (blush).

Robert turned into an octopus again while we went through all the preliminary questions for the visit. He was laying his head on my shoulder so quietly and so still that Dr. Beck even asked, "Did he fall asleep?" Yeah right. Crying, but resigned to the reality of the physical exam, Robert endured the prodding, peeking, and odd little lights quite well. Dr. Beck left and he hopped off my lap to go play in the cabinet again. We had a good few minutes to acclimate before the nurse came in. Robert ran over to me, but didn't do anything more until he saw her put on the gloves. That was it! He scrambled into my lap, pressed his body into my chest as hard as he could, wrapped his arms around my neck, buried his face into my shoulder, and sat perfectly motionless and silent. I imagine him thinking, "If I can just stay still, she won't see me anymore." The reality was, he never saw the first shot coming, but he was absolutely aware of the following two. 

He wasn't a fan of the shots. Thankfully, the angry, throaty, unearthly screams were missing this time around.  Or maybe he's just grown into them? The best part, though, was showing him the new "doggie stickers" on his thighs and telling him we were all done. He chirped, "Ah-dunn? Ah-dunn? Ah-dunn. Doggie!" as I put on his clothes. He had no more tears. He wanted no snuggles. He wanted to go. Now. Happily. And we did.

It was a good visit. I love this little character! There was another story I wanted to record here before I forgot about it:

Three mornings a week, Robert and I drive Alice to preschool. It's usually just as the sun comes over the trees and poor Robert gets a whole face full of sunshine most of the way there. It makes him sneeze and he squinches up his face shouting, "Eyes! Eyes! Eyes!" Well, last Wednesday, we turned onto the street that usually assaults Robert with sunshine and I saw him back there squinching and yelling, "Eyes! Eyes!" I burst out laughing and said, "Buddy, it's cloudy today! There's no sun in your eyes." He stopped shouting, unsquinched his eyes a little, and then looked out the window a little confused. A huge grin lit up his face and all three of us were laughing, laughing, laughing the rest of the way to preschool.

Yep, I'll keep him. Keep 'em both, actually. They're so good for me.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Not too much new happened this past week.  Well at least there were a few field trips that Susan already posted pictures and what not about, but as far as my work, and home life nothing too new has happened.  I still go to work every day, stare at a computer screen for hours on end, then come home, play with Alice and Robert until it is time for them to go to bed.  I have a pretty good life.

Negangard Pumpkins 2011

Wake up, Buddy, it's time to freeze your tail off at the pumpkin patch!

We picked the most freezy, windy, bitter day of the week to go choose pumpkins. If I had held off just 24 hours, it would have been blissfully sunny and quintessentially fall. Oh well. I got to use the good weather for some of my own gardening projects. I think the kids had fun despite the cold :) Thanks to the Jarvies for suggesting snow pants!

He's either saying "That one!" or, "Alice is WAY too close to me!"

Freezing, freezing cold. If we hadn't had cocoa and toast for breakfast, I would have picked it for dinner :(

 Alice picked out 8 lovely miniature gourds/squash. She turned the acorn squash into a pirate jack-o-lantern:

The black spot is the eye patch next to a normal eye. The three holes in the middle are left, cheek, nose, and right cheek. Then there's the wry smile at the bottom. Only a birthday candle would fit inside :)

Then she wanted to cut a few open to see what was inside. We're drying some of the seeds to plant in our garden next year. 

Buddy just keeps trying to eat the miniature squash like apples. Very disappointing for him. I purchased a few smaller pumpkins and a couple butternut squash to cook for pumpkin/squash pies, breads, cakes, and cookies. I think I'll roast them in the oven and then freeze the puree. Alice also helped me pick out a larger pumpkin for a family jack-o-lantern.

I'm still not entirely sure how to approach holiday decorating, but Halloween seems like an easy enough place to start. A jack-o-lantern and a swarm of bats sounds just about right :)

Tractors!

Guess where our field trip took us today?

Tractors! Front loaders, back hoes, combines, excavators, steamrollers, and articulated wheel loaders! Oh yeah, baby, we totally toured Birkey's Farm Store in Urbana. The temperature was hovering around 35F and the wind gusts were up to 25mph, but our little cluster of kids held out pretty well. The manager let us climb in and explore all kinds of heavy machinery for agriculture and construction. I wish I had known more about it so I could ask our generous and friendly tour guide more questions.

Regardless of what the awkward picture above suggests, Robert liked wandering, climbing, sitting and steering. Alice enjoyed it off and on, depending on how cold she felt at the moment. Spencer B. was at our tour guide's side, leading the way, and almost always the first one to hop onto the next big machine.

If I ever do this again, I will do it in the middle of the summer. Brrrrr.

Bobby's Sunday Summary (God is a better computer programmer then me)

Well quite a bit has happened this week.  We had the primary program at Church.  This was Alice's first program.  She did a wonderful job.  She said her line and she sang all of the songs.  Susan was very sad that she missed Alice's line, because she was changing Robert's diaper.

We raked leaves yesterday too.

But the thing the stood out to me the most was an experience I had Saturday morning.  At work I work on an open source project.  What that means is that several different companies, and individuals work together to create this software.  What it comes down to is that there are a lot more politics involved with doing something then in other projects I have worked on.  Anyways this past week I have been rather stressed out.  I was given the assignment to work on adding in some security to a very complex and convoluted web site.  I had some fundamental disagreements with someone else about the design of the software.  I am rather new to the project so I gave in and said that I would do it the way that he wanted me to.  But the software I have so far is very complicated, isn't going to work correctly without me making it even more complex, and way outside my area of expertise.

Anyways I was having lots of issues trying to get this thing to work. So I was praying about it Friday night trying to decided what I should do, and I felt that there was a third way to do it, I should just go to bed, and I would have the answer in the morning.  I wasn't quite sure about it so I decided to just do it, because going to bed is something that I am actually rather good at.  Anyways Saturday morning when I work up the first thing that pops into my head is a picture of a building with lots of windows.  I don't understand all of how that picture led to what poped into my head, but within a few minutes I had a solution to the problem that not only solved this issue but solved several other issues that were going to be left for the next round of development.  If you want the dry boring details of the design I would be happy to let anyone who actually cares about it know, but I figure most people have no desire to know about it.

His first sentence?

"Mummy nah-nuh ooooooo!"

Translation: "This sumptuous banana is freezing!"

Buddy-er than ever

Tumbling, exploring, squeezing into small places, climbing, and beckoning me to join him. Sweet Buddy. I like this age.

Fire Safety!

 

Crawl low through smoke. Stop, drop, and roll. Change your smoke detector batteries regularly. Take matches and lighters straight to an adult. Thank a firefighter. Weeeeeeee! Many thanks to our Urbana Firefighters for putting on a great program during Fire Safety Week and letting our little co-op preschool group come along.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Sorry about missing this last week.  I don't have a good excuse, I was just lazy.

Not too much out of the ordinary has happened these past two weeks.  The biggest news is that Robert is now officially 18 months old.  Today was his first official day as a member of Nursery.  For some reason Susan seemed to be in a much better mood today.  Who knows why?

Both Alice and Robert are doing very well, and are having lots of fun.  Hopefully we will have more to write about soon.

Comprehensible...almost...at 18 months

Robert's most recent ramblings:

"mummy" = Mommy, bunny, tummy, yummy, mousie

"ruckgh" = truck

"ruckgh-uh"= tractor

"arackgh"= car (I think he's putting the "r" sound before the "k" sound)

"yeh-woh"= window, unknown thing


He's trying more words than ever. He's eating less than ever (I'm calling him "half-picky"). He's also sleeping nicely. That boy loves his blankie and pacifier. The other day, I put him "down" for a nap and he didn't make a peep for 4 hours. I'm pretty sure he was only sleeping during the middle two hours. The first hour and the last hour were "lie in bed with pacifier and pet the blankie" time. I did not complain, though I do often wonder about the upcoming pacifier famine of 2011.

Robert understands basic choices like "would you like to leave now or in two minutes", "water or milk", "walk or ride", but he's still completely clueless when it comes to "when X is done, then you can enjoy Y." I'm hoping it's just a developmental milestone on its way. We do get a good tantrum every other day, usually regarding that pesky "when X, then Y" thing. Tantrums are age-appropriate, though, and his don't seem to last very long. Whew ;)

He's persistent. When we wants to show me something, he gets right in my face and beckons me with his hand and voice, "mon, mon, mon," until I move my body. Words like, "Oh, I see" or "Yes, I'll be there in a minute" mean absolutely nothing to him. Nothing. He wants me to move my body towards him, even if it's just six inches, before he'll stop beckoning and finally show me his fantastic new skill. He also continues to ask and annoy with greater energy far longer than I can remember Alice ever attempting. His persistence pays off sometimes, too, which is why he's so good at it *d'oh*. So that's one of my parenting foci these days: assess the request, formulate my answer, vocalize my answer, and STICK to that answer. Bring on the tantrums. I can take it.

Robert is making friends. He has real names for some of them. There's I-zee, Leh-luh, Lay-luh, Meh-moh, and Bah-bo (aka Isaac, Caleb, Kayla, Spencer, and Robert). Bah-bo only lives in mirrors, by the way. I can't tell if Robert knows it's his own reflection, or if he's just heard us refer to that kid in the mirror as "Robert." Heaven knows I never call Robert by his true name :) This morning at aerobics, Robert and I-zee were playing on the stage in the curtains. Then they got down and ran between the stage and the gym doors a few times. Robert liked the running, but I-zee lost interest and started wandering off. Robert waddled over, gave I-zee his "beckoning hand in the face" routine with lots of grunting and I-zee just cocked his head a little, suddenly smiled, and reached out to hold Robert's hand. Robert yanked his hand back, shook his head "Bo!", and put his beckoning hand right back in I-zee's face. I-zee didn't feel like figuring it out, so he turned around and walked away. Robert put his hand down, saw I-zee heading for the stage again and went toddling after him. Ah, the simplicity of toddler friendships. I am impressed that Robert did not hit I-zee in this exchange. Perhaps we are making progress on that front?

Alas, I have no recent pictures of the guy to post here. He turned 18 months yesterday. I'll take an abundance of photos this weekend to make up for it ;)

Grocery Store Tour

As part of our preschool field trip series, I scheduled a "behind the scenes" tour of our local grocery store. Apparently this is something they do regularly. We skimmed the fresh produce, went to the loading dock and receiving area, walked through an enormous cooler, met a few managers here and there, visited the deli, and spent a significant amount of time watching a bakery employee make one of these:

Then everyone was treated to milk and cookies from said bakery. Alice had a tough life lesson in hyperpalatability. After hearing that she would get to enjoy only one cookie, she burst into tears, "Why do they make these taste so good?! *sob*sob*sniff* I want a hundred of them!"All I could say was, "Yeah, I want a hundred of them, too. They make them that way on purpose." :(

I couldn't tell that any of the kids were particularly fascinated with any aspect of the tour, but when Bobby asked Alice about it later, she enthusiastically described the enormous fridge and the Barbie cake as her favorite parts. No mention of the cookie fiasco.

Robert was well-behaved and interested in the tour. He was MOST interested in the balloon display in the floral section, but reasonably comfortable and obedient the whole time. He's mellowed out a lot the last few days. Hitting less, snuggling more, and using words before freaking out are all good signs that juggling two will get easier someday :) Maybe.