Easter -- Part Two

After everyone dug into their baskets, Norah went behind them and took what she liked from the shrapnel on the floor.

Lu got nail polish. Their MUST be a real Easter Bunny because mom doesn't allow that stuff

Norah decided she wanted Jacob's balls.

Derek was showing Jacob where some candy was and look who decided to try and WALK over to help out. She only managed one step before she fell down, but I am still getting used to her standing.

Hunting for eggs outsides wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. My kids aren't really into candy and the idea of finding eggs with candy in them wasn't enough to motivate them at all. Finally, we turned it into a sibling war and be Cubby that he would find more than Lauren. They were OFF.

In the end, they only found about half of them and Derek and I had to go after them and clean up the rest (in fact, we found more candy this morning...). Next year, we are just going to cut to the chase and hide money.

It was such a beautiful day outside that day we just hung out. The big kids got into the hose and got soaking wet, Norah just tried to keep up. It was so nice to sit on our chairs in the backyard. I was holding the little one (who was only 4 days old and now seems SO MUCH BIGGER) and Derek studied. A house, a yard, the baby, healthy kids..there was much to be thankful for this Easter.

Easter -- Part One

The kids in their Easter outfits. Remember how I was the mom that had them in matching outfits all the time? I think that mom is on vacation.

I keep hearing everyone say how Easter snuck up on them this year. I knew I would be (possibly) having a baby right around then, so I shopped early. Then I moved and put everything in a "safe place". So safe it was never to be seen again. So, when Easter REALLY snuck up on me a few days after getting out of the hospital, I had to start all over again. I used my superhuman mom skills to make Lauren think it would be a good idea for the Easter Bunny to come during church in case I was up at night with the baby.... Here is the note she wrote. It is priceless.

Dear Easter Bunny (I corrected the spelling)

Please skip our house if mom is up with Grace and if not, hurry and do it quick before mom wakes up and if mom is up come back when mom is at the doctor and we are at church between 9:30 and 12:00 am. The almost eight sister (it was mom's idea), Lauren.

So, the Easter Bunny left this note on the door

Lu wanted to check and see if he ate the carrots she left

This is what they found (Jacob can make the greatest gasping sound...)

Lauren is a believer, I think

While the kids were at church, the Easter Bunny got cracking. I kept the two little girls home that day (we still have to take Gracie J in to the doc every day). Norah "helped" me.

The kids Easter baskets are these metal buckets I have had forever. During the rest of the year, they hold craft stuff, but they get to come out once a year and be Easter Baskets.

These plastic pinwheels were in the garden section of the dollar store, but they are pretty sturdy and haven't been destroyed yet. Plus, the matched the baskets, so I HAD to get them...

This year, Easter was brought to us by the Japanese dollar store that is next to my ped's office. Not kidding. I spent 30 dollars and had Easter DONE.

I also had some candy. I was very happily putting candy in the plastic eggs to hide. Norah was just as happily opening them up, tasting each piece and spitting them back in the egg. We make a good team. For the record, she likes jelly beans but isn't a fan of those marshmallow circus peanut things (these were Tigger shaped). I only had about 20 eggs because the kids found the eggs earlier in the week. They very carefully lined them up on the back deck and hit them with their golf clubs. Bye bye eggs. It is a good thing that our back fence is 12 feet tall and covered in spider vine. I can imagine that we will find ALL KINDS of good stuff in there when we finally get rid of it. Norah also got one of those Fur Real chickens. My MIL has one and she spends lots of time carefully feeding it the bottle so it will make sounds. I let her have it while I played Easter Bunny.

The one and only picture

....of me pregnant. I think my sister has one of me at Disneyland a few months ago, but I just didn't take any. Now I know why. This proves that no matter how small you are at the beginning and how "well" you carry and how good you feel...we are all huge by the end.

I didn't feel as big as I looked. Yikes. I also wore black a lot, but did the white thing so you can see the real size. No wonder the baggers at Safeway always wanted to unload my cart for me. Sheesh.

This was on the way to the hospital and Gracie J was here just a few hours after this photo. It has only been 6 days but I already can't believe that she was ever in there....

Photo Tapas....

My new favorite picture. Lu can always get her to wake up!!!

Derek's sister gave us this doll after she saw Gracie for the first time, twins! She also pinned what Grace looks like all swaddled up. A glowworm!

I am uploading more, but we have to go back to the doctor. This girl doesn't seem to want to gain weight. Little does she know that we have done this before--so it is full fat greek yogurt for this one soon.....

More pictures and stories by the end of the day, I promise (and this is mostly for my family that have only managed to see the ones on the blog.... ).

Right as I took this picture, Jacob was reaching over to touch her face and I heard him say "oh, cute Santa". He calls her Santa, still. :-)

Good Friday = A good Friday

Hey there!


Thank you for all the nice messages on Wednesday. I had my new fancy schmancy iPhone in the hospital so I could read all the comments and e mails. I didn't respond because the keyboard on that thing is too annoying to type on. I also have a million pictures, but I am trying to figure out how to download them...so give me another day or so. Until then, I wanted to put a few things down before I forget them.


--The labor was really fast and easy as labor goes. My Dr. is awesome. I checked in dilated to about a 3. At about noon the pitocin kicked in and I got the epidural right away (again!!). I was only dilated to a 4..but her theory is "why be in pain?" That is lucky because that happens to be my theory too. She lets you get the epi whenever you want it. About 30 minutes of wonderful, epidural bliss the contractions REALLY started hurting. I called the Dr. back and I was at a 10 and ready to go. It took all of 30 minutes. She let me get another shot of pain meds and waited for it to kick in and then we had a baby. It was pretty painless (except the last few minutes, nothing really can take that away) but all in all, easy peasy. I am thankful for that. The nurses were so nice and everyone took really good care of me at the hospital. I even got a private room...so the stars lined up. I got smart this time and banned all visitors (except those bearing In N Out --thanks Suzi) and just had quiet hospital time. Derek's family was so great to stay with the kids an awful lot, allowing him to be there a lot too. We got home yesterday and it is so far so good. I am feeling REALLY good and it is tempting to be up and about, but I am going to take it easy for a few weeks so I don't crash a month from now....



--A few minutes after Gracie was born, we called Lauren to tell her. She asked me "what is she doing?" I told her that she was crying a little bit and getting checked by the doctors. Lauren then told me "She is probably hungry. You should try nursing her. Did you think of that?" She wasn't being flip....just "helpful". Bless her little heart. It hasn't stopped since then. Lauren is #1 mom. According to her, I don't feed her fast enough, or put her in the car seat right, etc, etc. It isn't in a bossy way, so don't get the wrong idea. She is just VERY invested in this baby and wants to hold and feed her and be the first responder. I am making sure (and will have to continue to be careful with this) that she doesn't feel responsible for her or feel that she has to mother her. She can just do it if it is fun.


--I talked to Lu about Gracie's Down Syndrome. I knew that she would start to overhear things from people and doctors (she has begged to come to the Dr. with me for the baby and so far we have let her). She seemed pretty non plussed. I told her that she could tell the family and ask them if they had any questions about it. I asked her how she would explain DS to someone. She replied that people with Down Syndrome have "faces that are squished". Um, no, that is a new baby thing. That was pretty funny.


She called my mom and told her about Gracie. My mom was talking to her about it and Lu piped up "I just hope that she doesn't grow up to be a sociopath".........


Huh?


My mom told her that sociopaths are people who are really crazy and she said "I know and I hope that isn't how Gracie turns out". S0 there we have it. The DS was nothing, there are much bigger things that she is worried about. Funny, huh?


--Jacob and Norah have been so fun. I know it is the honeymoon period with them but still. When we brought Gracie home, Norah crawled to her and said "my baby" over and over. If I am holding Grace, she alternates between hitting her and stealing her bottle and trying to hold her and rock her. She does always call her "my baby". It is amazing to see her even be aware of what is going on. Nothing turns your baby into a toddler faster than bringing home a new one. When she sees the car seat she says "car? car?". Also, this girl only has about 12 words, but she did a 4 word sentence today. It was "My baby Jacob, NO". Good girl.

--In the hospital, Derek brought the big kids to see Grace. Jacob was a whirlwind of energy (and we just feel lucky no one accidentally got unplugged while he was there....). A nurse came in and said asked him what his name is and he replied "my name is Baby Grace". Then the nurse said "No, I think that is the baby's name. What is your sisters name?" and he quickly replied "Santa".

Tomorrow there will be pictures of the kids, Easter photos, new baby Grace pictures (cheeks and all) and some fun hospital stories including: why nurse Leslie almost got the smack down, how I feel about pebbled ice and the all time favorite "Breastfeeding...will she or won't she?"

Happy Easter everyone!

Welcome!!!!

Grace Jane Bingham made her debut today, March 19, 2008, at 4:15 p.m! She weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. (big for a downs baby, but small for a kinsel one...!) She was able to breathe on her own right away and last we heard, she was working on nursing. So, things look really good so far! Bek is also doing well, and my guess is that she is enjoying a diet coke right about now. If all continues to go well, Bek will be home on friday.

***Update

bek sent this email last night with the above photo:

"No nursing yet and haven't seen baby since about six pm. She was not able to hold her body temp up or maintain oxgn levels. No one is too worried yet. But we hope she gets it soon."

Baby Day...

We are all set for tomorrow. I think.

Today I bought some clothes for the baby (we needed those, I got rid of the rest and can't find the packed stuff), a car seat, some diapers and a few blankets. That is all I need, right?

The camera is charged, the DVD player is charged (DVD's to be packed later), the iPod is charged..... and I finished the laundry. I got a haircut (but didn't make time to color...boo) and Lu and I had a pedicure today. Check and check.

There is something to be said for leaving things to the last minute. The kids are actually being good today (granted, I haven't had them inside much, I even ordered pizza and "encouraged" them to eat it picnic style outside). Jacob also said for the first time "there is a baby in my mom's tummy". He hasn't really gotten it. Then he went on to tell the listener that it was a dragon with fire in it's mouth. So, maybe he really doesn't get it.

Lauren is convinced that the baby will have red hair (I wish), I think she might be a little white haired/blue eyed like Lu. Maybe she will be black :-). Mostly we just hope she figures out the whole eating/oxygen thing in a timely fashion. Stanford doesn't have more than a few private rooms and it isn't one of those hospitals that has birthing suites. It is a hospital... so going home is a good thing....

My sister will update the blog as soon as she gets info. I even have a new iPhone and can e mail pictures (I am a total techno-dinosaur). So check here. Prayers are always appreciated, but I know that most of you have done this before and millions of women have done it before me. I don't look forward to the actual LABOR part of labor, but at least by tomorrow, it will be over.

I am also thankful for knowing this diagnosis before. It would be so shocking if after all the delivery stuff of tomorrow, I had to deal with the initial shock and trauma. It has only been 5 months, but I still remember it. What a small blessing to have tomorrow be just about anticipation and joy.......

Talk to you soon, wish me luck.

Babywatch....

So, my sister just left and she managed to get the whole house unpacked.

BRAVO. She has officially earned her place in heaven.

I am going to be induced on Wednesday, if she doesn't show up before then. My belly button just popped out, so if we use the turkey thermometer as a guide, I am officially cooked. Someone asked if we were keeping the name a secret. Not really (we aren't those people who don't tell) but I figured that since the whole wide internet already knows her story, including the state of her actual chromosomes, we might as well have SOMETHING to tell when she comes....

I just found my camera, so pictures are coming. I don't have a single picture of me pregnant, so I better take one of those......

Have a good weekend. Update on Sunday for sure...........

Stick a fork in me....

Ha!!!

I feel like I have spent that last few weeks just hoping and praying that the baby would hold off coming "until" (the MRI, the move, etc, etc). It has only been about 16 hours since it would have officially been OK in my mind to have her, and SHE ISN'T HERE.

Um. I am ready not to be pregnant anymore.

The boxes with food, laundry soap, videos and clothes are unpacked. You know, the necessities. I can go to the hospital and let someone else do the rest. Right?

Right?

(cue the crickets...).

Actually my husband is out of town, so it is ok if I don't have this baby right now. Granted, it could be a great story and something fun to hold over his head for a few years ("remember how you missed the birth of your child? I think that it is YOUR turn to wrestle Cubby in the ER"), it would be nice if he was there. So, I will wait. BUT, my labor coach in waiting is my friend Suzi and I have always loved the name Susannah, so if he misses it, I am changing her name to Susannah....I figure that if you aren't there to fill out the birth certificate, you loose your vote.

My sister, Nie, comes tonight. She is going to help me get the rest of the house settled and play with my kids. Like all my sisters, she knows how to show my kids a fun time. I hope she likes sleeping on an air mattress in a room that STILL smells like dog (any suggestions? There is no fiber in the room, it is all wooden--even the walls and floors...how can it still smell like dog?). It might make getting up at all hours with her 18 month old seem like fun again.... Lu is so excited for her to come because Nie does her hair and plays with her toys (she only has boys so far).

Anyway, that is us. As soon as I find the camera I will take pictures. I get Lu registered for school tomorrow, Norah is sleeping just fine while sharing a room with Jacob and we are all getting into a rhythem. Oh, Jacob has already broken the bathtub drain; and actually left the plumber speechless. It took him (the plumber) an HOUR to dismantle the entire thing and fix the spring loaded drain. He kept telling me "I don't know how such a small person could have done so much damage..." Yes, well, read the blog buster and you will also think yourself lucky that it only cost 200$ and a new drain. It could have been MUCH worse. The 48 hour talley-- House = 0 / Jacob = 3. He has also already figured out how to unlock and open our new, screenless windows (the beautiful kind that crank open). The goal for the next 48 hours is to keep him from falling to his death from his bedroom. Good times.

Acutally, Jacob is thrilled with the new place. There are a million boxes outside and he gets to spend all day OUTSIDE, hitting the boxes with a big stick. In fact, all three kids have been outside most of the day. I knew having a yard was going to be good, but this is REALLY good. Our wonderful nanny, Emma (who tag teams with our other wonderful nanny, Erin) has been taking the kids to the park each day, walking them everywhere, making brownies and even taught them about sour grass (a yellow flower that kids love to chew on... I had never heard of this, but apparently I am the only child on earth that hasn't....). What am I going to do when she is gone? She is going to Nepal for a few months to work with children there. Emma, I don't believe that those kids need you more than MY kids (just kidding). Good thing we have Erin, but she is leaving me too shortly to go have a fun and exciting life starting her own business and being awesome in the Pacific Northwest. Whatever. Actually, we are VERY blessed to have both of these people in our lives right now. The kids love them and they are helping me out so much. I am just glad I get them while I do.

Wow, off to go find the woodland creatures and make some sort of dinner (lets see.... mac and cheese, or mac and cheese? Or Girl Scout cookies. No wait, we had those last night...). I will find the camera someday......

We did it!!

We got the house packed (and mostly loaded) thanks to the nicest Pacific Islander guys ever. They even managed to not kill the peanut (who was underfoot more than I would have liked). We used an excellent moving company from this area that is woman owned. They came it at a higher estimate, but there are NO hidden costs. They will move my furniture 11 times if necessary for me to get it where I like it. They even know the names of the hermit crabs. They just might be our new best friends....

No one cried. No one had a baby. Victory on both counts (for me).

Today it all gets put in the new place. This is such a relief. Even with all the running I have done I am feeling great and not having any more contractions. I think the stress of anticipating moving was worse than the actual chore. Go figure.

Our cable and Internet won't be up until Monday. I did a half hearted attempt at sending the new address and phone number to my phone book, but like all things these days, didn't manage to get most people. Drop me an e mail if I missed you and I will send it right out. I will be sending a "we've moved/baby announcement" as soon as little G shows up, but if you need it before then, let me know.

Have a great weekend everyone and we will catch you early next week.

News is news...

I am happy to say that playing the odds FINALLY worked in our favor. We got a call back from the Neurologist tonight (how great is that? She called us this evening...) and there is no mass. That is the good news. Pretty much rulering out anything in her little noggin besides what is supposed to be there is good news. The bad news (if you can even call it that) is that it doesn't explain the behavior that made them think it was there in the first place. It also doesn't give us an "easy" answer for the delays. But, we will keep looking.

I have seen some great progress in the peaknuckle over the last few weeks. She will now point to (and recognize) her nose on a semi consistent basis, she decided to stand up all by herself last night (she just got on her knees and stood up...but she hasn't done it since), and she is pretty much constantly yelling "Jacob, NO". She may only have 8 words, but she puts them together..so that is something. She also is acting more and more toddler like each day; getting into mischief, dumping out boxes of things, playing in the toilet, getting into the shoes (and pretty much always going for the Gucci first, so she IS a smart girl) and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Totally normal (and in the tantrum department, might I even say ADVANCED) behavior.

I'll take it.

I am too tired to put a picture up, so this is another boring word post. I have stopped having contractions despite all the running around I have been doing. The house is mostly packed and what I don't get to, the packers will do. By Saturday it will all be moved to the new house. All the utilities are ready to go, we signed the papers on the house today and close on Friday, the cleaners are all lined up and I even managed to weed out unneeded books/papers and clothes. I am on FIRE.

How much do you want to bet I have this baby Sunday once everything is done? My OB is already down for 100$.... any takers?

The word of the day is prayer..

*** Update. We got the MRI and it all went smoothly. N didn't have any reactions to the meds.. in fact, I have never seen her SO animated. She was singing like a drunken sailor. I have a good idea of what she would be like drunk (the best part? She kept taking a toy car and would push it in wobbly circles on the bed with a very loud, very wet "vrrroooomm"). Even when she was going under, the nurses warned that some kids get very agitated. Norah just laughed like an evil genius. Coming out, she just sang and sang. I guess all the prayers worked. We should have results on Thursday. THANK YOU for all your prayers and thoughts. It worked!! ****

Even if you aren't a "prayer" please keep our little Norah in your thoughts. Tomorrow is the big day, the MRI. This is what we have been waiting for since we heard the words "we suspect there may be a mass in your daughters brain" over two months ago.

We have had many appointments leading up this with all kinds of experts trying to pin down exactly what is causing the delays (my vote is still on "stubborn diva with an attitude" but that is another story). The MRI will tell us, or rule out, tumors, cancer, etc, etc. That is the big one.

The test is at 1:00 pm PST..... keep your fingers crossed that she doesn't suddenly get a cold (they won't do it if she is sick) and that everything goes smoothly. I was in early labor all weekend and have been on official bed rest.... so my goal was to make it to Monday. At this point, after the test, the baby can come any time as far as I am concerned, though it would be nice for her to wait until after the weekend so we can move...

I'll let you all know....

Random Thoughts

--I love Thai food. The whole family went to Thai last week and even though we made the poor servers overload with stress (Cubby wanted to serve himself from their bowls) the food was so GOOD. My favorite is.......all of it. I love the Tom Kum Ka soup (coconut milk, lemongrass, broccoli and cabbage--the perfect combo of sweet, sour and hot) the most. I want to be marinated in a vat of it when I am buried. I also want a gallon of it waiting for me when I have this baby. Not kidding.

--I have a new testimony of "lowering the bar and being awesome" (a la, Oh Judy, CJane and many, many others). I find that it is MUCH happier to be surprised at how GREAT I am than being guilty at not doing enough. I have very low expectations for my kids and myself and each night go to bed thinking "WAY TO GO!!! You are AWESOME". Seriously. NPR did a program on this recently, and said how people who have realistic expectations say that they are happier. Makes sense to me. My expectations this week? 1) children fed, not off the floor 2) house kept "clean-ish". That means clean enough that all garbage gets thrown away, but I don't have to bend over more than necessary. I'll just tip my ladies really well this week 3) Don't have a baby 4) Get dressed in something clean. See how easy it is!! I really am awesome.

--I don't have many clothes that fit me now. I have stayed about the same size on the bottom (pretty much, it just all redistributed itself). I lost a lot of weight during the hell that was last summer and now, at 9 months pregnant, weigh about the same. I gained more than I should have this pregnancy, but since I am eating whatever I want, it is a fair trade. This week, though, my shirts are JUST a bit too short. I am constantly doing the "pull, pull, tuck, tuck" thing. It kind of drives me crazy, but I am too lazy to buy new clothes. Am I the only one that does this? Can I tough it out for a few more weeks? Will I just have to wear the last two shirts for the next month. Maybe. What can you do? ;-)

--I might be obsessed with food (shocker). I had another Reuben for lunch today. Heaven. I slather it with horseradish and cranberry mustard. Enough said. I had one waiting for me when I had Lauren. My favorite is from a place called Max's. We stopped there on the way home from the hospital when Lu was born. It was each kids first "outing". They changed their menu recently, so the food isn't as good as it was, but it is still my first choice. Lucky for me, our new house is just a few blocks from another Max's. And a Thai place. The really important stuff (I hear the schools are good too).

--My whole family is pretty much in bed by 7:00 pm. Really. I wish that I could totally blame it on my husband's early schedule, but my kids play hard and all I can think about is sleep. I assume that this is a pregnancy thing. I also have stopped checking my phone messages. I might check the missed calls log, but don't count on it. I know this is terrible, but if you want me, e mail me. This is all part of project Lowering The Bar.

--I watched the Oscars, but got bored after the 37th red dress. The best part was when a very impaired Gary Bussey kissed Jennifer Garner on the neck during her interview with Ryan Seacrest. She had NO idea who he was, and to be fair, he did look like a homeless guy wandering the carpet. That Gary is always good for a laugh. He then tried to be best friends with Ryan and Ryan played it off pretty well. Good times. I didn't see any of the movies so I assume that the people who won deserved it. If they didn't, I don't really care.

--Thanks to the raves on Rarely Home Mom, I started watching The Biggest Looser. Now I am obsessed with it. Pretty much that and the Animal channel (along with my boyfriends) take up my TV time. Tonight one of the trainers, Jillian, was dealing with one of the girls who didn't want to keep going with her workout and she said "Do one more or I am going to rip your arm out of the socket and beat you over the head with it". Now THAT is a good motivator. I am going to have to remember that one.

--I have decided that along with not checking my messages, I am not going to do links on my blog for awhile. You know the trick where you make the word the link? It takes too much time (I have to go back and find the website that explains it, and then I might actually have to engage my brain.......). Sorry to my 12 readers for the inconvenience, but not sorry enough to do it.

--I have also decided that I am not going to make my daughter do her homework for the next two weeks until we move. Nor will I go to the parent/teacher conference this week (sorry mom and all you other teachers). I am not impressed with her teacher, and since I have very low expectations you can assume that she is REALLY something else. She is pretty much a worksheet teacher, and does not do any creative classroom things that I can see. She is sarcastic to my daughter and I have had words with her in the past about her attitude towards my girl (who is the sweetest thing, but still 7, so I am sure has her share of sass. Guess what? Don't teach 2nd grade if you don't like the age). Even though we go to a public school, this school gets A LOT of money from the parents. Each CLASS has a yearly fundraising goal of $1.5 million. Yes, million. The tickets to the yearly fundraiser "hoedown" are $250 per person, not including the food tickets. People donate and auction off things like trips to Mexico in private jets, stays in guest houses in Europe or Asia, vintage wine, lunch with the President, etc, etc. Not really my peer group. They also pride themselves on paying their teachers more, giving more, having small class room ratios etc, etc. So, frankly, I expect more from her teachers than a regular, overworked, trying her hardest w/ too many kids in the class teacher. Too bad. I also think that sarcasm has no place in the classroom. I also don't like passive/aggressive. So, I will take it out in my own passive/aggressive way by not having her do her homework. I realize that she will still need to know the info from the worksheets, but frankly I think she has too many anyway.

--This baby is going to show up soon. I keep trying to ignore it but it seems like it is still going to happen. I have one outfit, I will find the carseat in the move and the hospital will give us diapers. She can sleep in a laundry basket in the closet for the first little while like all the rest of my kids did. So, in theory, we are ready.

--I really am not as ambivalent about children and my life as it might seem. Just logical and content. Things are going really well here. Derek is working hard, we are about to move into our house, I just conned one of my sisters into helping me unpack (thanks Nie), I have good friends, good family and occasionally (like today) my kids go for more than an hour without fighting. What more does one need? Besides more Thai food, of course.

Welcome to my mind. Do you wish that I would go back to pictures (and can anyone tell me why the formatting on Blogger is so LAME? It doesn't want me to keep spaces between my paragraphs).

Seaworld...

I am sorry I have been absent, but here are a few pictures to tide you over. We had a family trip to SeaWorld and Disneyland in January. We met up with two of my sisters and their kids. It was fun to see all the kids together, hopped up on sugar, being crazy.....

The kids loved the stingrays this time. We spent a LOT of time here....

After the Shamu show (which the kids were only semi interested in, but one of my niece's loved and kept shouting "Shampoo!! Shampoo!!) Jacob took great delight in feeding the seagulls his extra popcorn. For a few minutes we thought some of them might carry him away... he loved it.
D with Jacob and my niece Rapunzel. The had a good time picking up the starfish and then throwing them back. Poor starfish. Cubby and L are only a few weeks apart in age, Norah and Tank are just a few weeks apart too, we love to steal thunder in our family (our kids are younger and showed up w/ short notice..there is a new family joke that when someone has a baby, it means we are going to adopt again... ).


It is not fair for such a small girl to have SUCH beautiful, long hair. Lucky Rapunzel (unlucky mamma that has to brush it!!)


Tank and Norah (2 weeks apart) running around by the penguin exhibit. Penguins smell. Really, really smell. Ick.

D helping Norah practice walking. So close. We are SOOO close (and this is the point where she usually throws herself on the ground and screams bloody murder b/c she does NOT want to practice walking). Stubborn little lady.

Norah wasn't quite as enamoured with the starfish as the rest of the kids.

Baby Bird... she is Rapunzel's baby sister. She is the happiest baby EVER!

Here are my sister Nie's kids. Tank is in the back and in the front is The Monkey Man. They are the dynamic duo. One sister has two girls, the other has two boys. We are all about symmetry in our family....

Aunt Nie brings the good stuff. Nothing like suckers to keep everyone happy. We might have gone through her entire, huge Ziploc bag...... oops.

Just to clarify, I know it looks like Tank has just returned from an Ultimate Fighting match (that he lost), but really he just loves to fall down; down stairs, off chairs, etc, etc. The poor boy was sporting several goose eggs. I know Nie thinks that everyone will think she did this to her kids, but they do a great job whacking up themselves (and for them, it is all in a day's adventure, they have no consideration for their poor mamma!!!).

The end of the day it got REALLY cold and foggy. We loaded the kids up on peanut butter and funnel cake and prepared ourselves for two fun filled days at the Happiest Place on Earth......

Domicile

Holy Cow!! It was so fun to house shop and day dream about our house. Finding my dream home was just the icing on the cake. We are so excited to move in. Today it hit me. I have to MOVE. That means packing things in boxes (the easy part for me) and UNPACKING them on the other side (not my favorite part, in fact, there are a few boxes that I never unpacked from the summer--score!). That means work. I also just realized that I am going to have a baby. I have been ignoring that for the last 6 months, not because of her extra 21st chromosome, but because I DON"T HAVE TIME FOR ANOTHER CHILD. Strangely, she is coming anyway. In 5 weeks.

Crap.

Since my sweet husband (who is on the mend, btw) took the kids away, I was planning on doing lots of pre moving stuff. I was even going to clean the cars and organize the garage. Instead, I have eaten 3 Ruben sandwiches (my favorite, don't forget the cranberry mustard), watched the Animal Planet Channel almost non-stop (WHY? I hate animals.... something is wrong with me..) and pretty much have not moved off the couch except to fetch the occasional diaper for Norah. It is a good thing that my husband does not read my blog because I feel guilty for not being more productive. Not guilty enough to get off my rear and DO something.....

I finally got my hands on some pictures of the house. I didn't want to post the link because it has the price on it and that is tacky (although, I did send the link to a few friends and didn't realize that it wasn't just the PICTURES... sorry). I am going to give you a walking tour that might be a bit too involved for the average reader, but since most of my family will likely never see it in real life, this is the next best thing. This is also for you AJ... but I fully expect YOU to see it in real life someday. The rest of you are invited too, come visit San Francisco and stay for dinner!

I am very excited to get settled. I think that I am the only person on the planet that isn't on the Mid Century Modern bandwagon. I really do love the style and have often been envious about some of the homes and designs of my friends (and we have some families in our ward that have refurbished some Eichlers that would take your breath away). I am an Arts and Crafts girl. MCM just isn't my thing. It isn't how I live. The very first piece of furniture that I bought was Arts and Crafts (sometimes called Mission style). In fact, ALL my furniture is. Arts and Crafts style was a backlash of the very ornate Victorian style. Instead of being fussy and swirly, it is simple, dark woods, natural, straight lines, exposed beams (thanks to my sister Jen for giving me some good background). It is just very clean and simple. It feels very calm and the symmetry appeals to me. The best part about our new house is that the architecture is decoration enough. A few family pictures and we are set...

So, here is is!

Welcome to my home, come on up to my front porch!!

This is just inside the front door. This was the original porch of the house but now it is a really large entry way. There are glass "windows" on all the sides. One shows the outside (the one you see here) the other shows you a view into the front room, the other, into the dining room. So, even though it is dark wood, it feels very light and open. Also, the lot is very narrow, but this is the only place in the house where you can see the neighbor's house...

Just to the right of where this picture ends (by the crosses and the heart chest) is the open entryway. There are built in shelves in the left corner and that awesome fireplace (which will not be used for a LONG time. It needs to be completely upgraded inside and out). It is a smallish room, but since this is a dedicated "front room" that won't have a TV or anything child related it doesn't really matter. It is still a light and happy space.

When I saw this picture on the web listing I actually gasped. This is on the other side of that glass wall in the entryway. This space is the same size as the front room, but it means we have a dedicated dining room (something we have never had before). On the left wall (you can't see it) is some really interesting, but beautiful, built in drawers and cupboards. They are original to the house and will give us some great storage. You can't really see it, but at the top of the room where the wood meets the (original) wall paper there is a little ledge with some wonderful detail work. Can't you just see candles all around the room? Sigh.

This is the kitchen. The little window on the top left of the photo (by the fridge) is a little open window into the dining room. The kitchen was updated in 2005. AND it is dark wood. It even has an island that the kids can eat at (on my wish list) and a kitchen desk (something I have learned I can't live without). It is unusual to have a large kitchen in these old houses. Most have galley kitchens. The original owners knocked down some walls and made it a large space. Smart move and one of the reasons we knew we wanted it. It seems that around here you either get tiny dark rooms, or totally open floor plans. This was a nice middle ground (and one we preferred anyway).

This is the other view of the kitchen. It was taken from where the fridge it. On the left of the door that goes outside (so, behind that red chair) is the house access to the studio apartment. There is no picture of it, but it is up a flight of stairs. There is also outside access to the studio. The garage is on that side of the house and has been halfway turned into a playroom. That is a project we will finish in a few years. Until then it will be an exercise/storage room. There is a full bath and kitchen in the studio and a half bath and laundry room downstairs at the back of the garage.

This is the little family room area just off the kitchen. This is idea because it is a small-ish space and it is close to the kitchen (where I tend to spend my time). The kids can be close by, but not right on top of me. Just to the right (you can see it in the previous picture) is the staircase. There is a little nook under the stairs that will just fit the toy shelves and play kitchen. Add a TV and comfy couch and we have a perfect play room/tv room. It is out of the way (and therefore doesn't have to be clean whenever the doorbell rings) and easy to clean up. Perfect. There is not a picture of it, but on the other side of the stairs is one bedroom. It will be Lauren's room.

This is the downstairs bathroom. It is right next to Lu's room. It was also updated in 2005, so everything is new.

At the top of the staircase is this large hallway. I love that it is big enough to put a comfy chair and bookshelf for a nice reading space, or a desk for a homework station. It is having these extra, usable spaces that make this a good house for us. Not really a "room" but space we can use. There is no picture, but there is a bathroom and a laundry room just on the other side of that red chair.... and upstairs laundry was also something that I have dreamed about.

This is the other upstairs bedroom. It is just big enough for a bed, a crib and a dresser. There is a big closet at the foot of the bed. This is all that Cubby and No need. It is also right next to the master bedroom, so the babies are really close by. Eventually, we will turn this into the little girl's rooms and put Cubby in the finished garage room. For now, I need to know what the little tornado is up to.

This is the master bedroom. Small-ish but perfect. It is big enough to fit a bed, a dresser, a chair and enough breathing room to not feel cramped, but not big enough for a weight bench and exercise bike. :-) I love that it is bright and airy. There is another window across from the bed (not pictured).

Here is the master bath. Another thing on my wish list (you know, the list of things that would make you pass out if you got it, but not something you expect...). There is a HUGE tub and a great shower. It is also updated and feels clean. We have always had old bathrooms. It seems that no matter how clean they are, they don't FEEL clean when they are old. It is a pretty small space, but perfect for us.

This was what put us over the top on this house (besides the studio apt). We knew we needed a place for full time help to live. That means that the fourth bedroom was gone. We weren't sure if there was a space to put the baby. This is the closet in the master bedroom. It is the size of the garage. They knocked a hole in the wall (and made a secret door that is behind a bookcase, very Scooby Doo). The first half is a huge closet with TONS of shelves. The second half is what will become the baby's nursery. There is plenty of room for a crib, a rocking chair, a changing table/dresser and a great window. We aren't sure if it is insulated, but since we OWN this house and don't have stupid home owners rules, we can put a window air unit if we need to. This becomes our 4th bedroom. It is quiet and private and means I can take care of baby in the night and not have to move to the couch (Derek gets a pass on night baby care since he works at 4:00 am..... ). Pretty slick, huh?

Finally, this is the whole reason we needed a bigger place. My poor Cubby needs a place to run around. The yard isn't very big, but it is big enough to have a sandbox, a play structure and room to hit a ball. We were kind of bummed that the deck takes up about half of the yard space and considered taking it out. When the engineers report came back, they told us that the yard doesn't have great drainage (all of our town is on a gentle upward slope and we are at the bottom. We needed to be sure that all the runoff didn't empty into our foundation) and that the problem area is under the deck. It needs to be taken up, have proper pipes put in and replaced. Sweet. We just won't replace it all the way. Problem solved. The other plus to this property is that because of the slope of the land, the property behind us sits on a terraced lot (so that no one has a slanted back yard). This means that the fence behind us is about 12 feet tall. The one on the left side of this picture is about 8 feet. The other side is the side of the garage/studio. All of this translates into 1) not seeing the neighbors and 2) a Cubby proof yard. I am sure he will figure out a way to escape from it somehow, but it might take us awhile.

So that is it!! Our new house. It feels like a great fresh start. A new school for the kids, a new town for us, closer to work for dad (and a MUCH shorter commute), a new congregation, a neighborhood with yards and trees and sidewalks and kids. I am very sad to leave our community here after 10 great years, but excited about getting to know the new one. Besides, we are only about 15 miles away. I will still be down here all the time for doctors appointments and play dates. So it isn't REALLY goodbye.