Marcus is sick with what can only be described as "The Crud." Apparently that is a medical term here in Alabama. It's what the urgent care doctor told me I had last time I was sick. The Crud. And one of our co-workers thinks she has the shingles. Half our students have pneumonia or some version of the dreaded Crud. Welcome to February in Alabama! 70 degrees one minute 21 the next. And how 'bout those 50 mph winds and tornadoes? Good times, I say, good times.
I'm currently obsessed with the idea of keeping myself and Dean healthy. I chugged a big glass of juice today and shoved countless Zicam swabs up my nose. I even gave Dean two servings of juice water. (All "the stuff" I've read about juice and obesity and aaaaaaaaah, evil suuuuuuuuuugaaaaaaaaaarrrr has sufficiently freaked me out, so I give Dean 1 part juice to 2 parts water. It's just how I roll. Yet I let him eat Gerber baby fruit roll ups. Go figure.) Anyway, we are all up on our vitamin C now.
I knew Marcus was really sick when he asked me to call in and let the secretary know he wouldn't be teaching class OR having rehearsal today. Usually he'll just try to push through. Not so much today. He got up long enough to eat some Fruity Pebbles and sit with Dean while I showered and got ready for work. When I came downstairs, they were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Well, watching is a generous way to describe it. Dean doesn't really watch it per se, he mostly just plays til the Hot Dog Dance comes on, then goes nuts. Marcus was conked out on the couch and Dean had his little hand on his Daddy's knee. It was kind of the cutest thing I've ever seen. As I got closer, I understood just how clogged Marcus's nose must be because MY GOD the poop. I quickly took Dean up for fresh pants and dragged Marcus back to bed. Once he was settled, I closed our bedroom door and sealed it with Lysol. Oh, yes, I did.
I do not want to get sick. I will not get sick. (knocks frantically on wooden tray table) I deny the existence of The Crud. And now I go to stick another Zicam swab up my nose and chug one more glass of juice before I settle in for the night. In our guest room.
Showing posts with label domestic bliss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domestic bliss. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Well, whaddya know?
I have made a discovery. As I told you before, the numbers on my scale have been mercifully reducing over the past few months. I was pondering this yesterday. When we first moved, I was walking regularly, about 3 days a week, about 3 miles each time. Since the weather has turned cooler and my Aunt M has taken on a major kitchen renovation (she's my walking buddy), to call my workouts "spotty" is being extremely kind. However, Dean is much more active now, so I feel like I'm burning calories every minute I'm chasing him around or playing with toys. Since he's started solids, I've been making toddler-friendly meals and sharing them, especially on the days I'm home for lunch. Therein lies my discovery: if you eat like a toddler, you will not only be eating healthier, but you will lose weight.
Eat like a toddler, look like a hottie.
It's my new mantra. What do you think? I don't know how I'd do with WW, counting points and such. Doing a food journal has helped in the past, like when I needed to drop the 11 pounds I piled on after getting married. But portion control has never been something I was good at. Until now. I've started serving myself toddler-sized portions of the entree (in our house, that usually means some type of pasta with lean meat and as many veggies as possible crammed in--see my recipe for turkey meatballs). I've even started serving myself out of Dean's Gerber bowls. Of course, these portions don't completely fill me up, so I fill the void with salad or low-fat soups or fruit. Dean FINALLY has enough teeth to chew a ripe pear or chunks of banana, so whole fruits have taken over the dessert scene in our house. (Much healthier than our previous dessert scene, which often consisted of my latest cake creation or gummi bears.) Another thing about toddler meals: We're less inclined to put a lot of added salt, butter, sugar, etc. into our kids' food, right? Those of us with high blood pressure, like me, don't need the salt anyway, so why not follow our kids' healthy-eating lead?
I'm going to give this a try and see if it really makes the difference I think it will. If I hit upon a great recipe that's both satisfying and yummy, I'll be sure to share it. In the meantime, if YOU have any toddler-friendly recipes, please share them!
Here's to hotness.
Eat like a toddler, look like a hottie.
It's my new mantra. What do you think? I don't know how I'd do with WW, counting points and such. Doing a food journal has helped in the past, like when I needed to drop the 11 pounds I piled on after getting married. But portion control has never been something I was good at. Until now. I've started serving myself toddler-sized portions of the entree (in our house, that usually means some type of pasta with lean meat and as many veggies as possible crammed in--see my recipe for turkey meatballs). I've even started serving myself out of Dean's Gerber bowls. Of course, these portions don't completely fill me up, so I fill the void with salad or low-fat soups or fruit. Dean FINALLY has enough teeth to chew a ripe pear or chunks of banana, so whole fruits have taken over the dessert scene in our house. (Much healthier than our previous dessert scene, which often consisted of my latest cake creation or gummi bears.) Another thing about toddler meals: We're less inclined to put a lot of added salt, butter, sugar, etc. into our kids' food, right? Those of us with high blood pressure, like me, don't need the salt anyway, so why not follow our kids' healthy-eating lead?
I'm going to give this a try and see if it really makes the difference I think it will. If I hit upon a great recipe that's both satisfying and yummy, I'll be sure to share it. In the meantime, if YOU have any toddler-friendly recipes, please share them!
Here's to hotness.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Things I have learned in the past 12 hours
On the eve of Dean's first birthday party, I've received an education from the great teacher Experience. Here are my findings:
1. There is absolutely no way to clean your house for a party the day before said party is to occur. That is, unless you send everyone currently living in your home to a hotel. Seeing as the money tree will not allow that at this time, all cleaning of the kitchen and living areas will be left until in the morning. Because Lord knows we'll be up early enough. (SLEEP, DEAN, SLEEP!)
Side note: Other moms, have you heard the tale that just before they really start walking, babies start waking up every few hours? Dean is "cruising" all over, but not walking independently yet, but he IS waking up about every four hours. Just curious if anyone else has experienced that.
2. If your husband comes to you late on the eve of the party when you've decided "What the heck? I'll start cleaning the kitchen tonight!" and tells you he's going to make beignets
for breakfast (for the first time ever, mind you), glare at him until he talks himself out of it and leaves the room.
3. The people at Wilton have obviously never actually baked a cake in one of their own pans. They give you very dramatic instructions like "ONLY coat the pan with shortening, then dust with flour! DO NOT use butter, margarine or oil!!! NEEVVVEEERRRRRRR!" Then in little, tiny 3 point font, they write "Non-stick cooking spray may be substituted for flour and shortening." Gr. Also, they think that a half-round cake pan that is approximately 6 inches deep will bake a cake in one hour. They are obviously ON CRACK. My cake? Took 1 hour 52 minutes. That time may have been shortened had I not had to pause for a few minutes to clean the burned cake globs out of the bottom of my oven when THE PAN OVERFLOWED! They tell you to put waaaaaaaaaay too much batter in there, y'all. I trimmed enough off of that cake to feed everyone coming to this party tomorrow.
4. No matter how many times they visit, I always feel the need to "show off" my house to my parents. Look! A sparkly clean bathroom! Look! Freshly vacuumed floors! Look! All the labels in the fridge are pointing out! (Ok, maybe not that last one) I think deep down I know that they are really just coming to play with Dean, but I still don't want them to think my house isn't up to par.
5. Dean does not nap well with other people in the house. Because he might miss something. He also likes salsa.
In the next few days, I hope to post party pictures, including the insane monkey cake I baked and decorated. Unless the finishing touches don't work out and it turns out to be butt-ugly, in which case I'm throwing it in the leaf pile, burning it and going to Publix for a sheet cake.
1. There is absolutely no way to clean your house for a party the day before said party is to occur. That is, unless you send everyone currently living in your home to a hotel. Seeing as the money tree will not allow that at this time, all cleaning of the kitchen and living areas will be left until in the morning. Because Lord knows we'll be up early enough. (SLEEP, DEAN, SLEEP!)
Side note: Other moms, have you heard the tale that just before they really start walking, babies start waking up every few hours? Dean is "cruising" all over, but not walking independently yet, but he IS waking up about every four hours. Just curious if anyone else has experienced that.
2. If your husband comes to you late on the eve of the party when you've decided "What the heck? I'll start cleaning the kitchen tonight!" and tells you he's going to make beignets
for breakfast (for the first time ever, mind you), glare at him until he talks himself out of it and leaves the room.
3. The people at Wilton have obviously never actually baked a cake in one of their own pans. They give you very dramatic instructions like "ONLY coat the pan with shortening, then dust with flour! DO NOT use butter, margarine or oil!!! NEEVVVEEERRRRRRR!" Then in little, tiny 3 point font, they write "Non-stick cooking spray may be substituted for flour and shortening." Gr. Also, they think that a half-round cake pan that is approximately 6 inches deep will bake a cake in one hour. They are obviously ON CRACK. My cake? Took 1 hour 52 minutes. That time may have been shortened had I not had to pause for a few minutes to clean the burned cake globs out of the bottom of my oven when THE PAN OVERFLOWED! They tell you to put waaaaaaaaaay too much batter in there, y'all. I trimmed enough off of that cake to feed everyone coming to this party tomorrow.
4. No matter how many times they visit, I always feel the need to "show off" my house to my parents. Look! A sparkly clean bathroom! Look! Freshly vacuumed floors! Look! All the labels in the fridge are pointing out! (Ok, maybe not that last one) I think deep down I know that they are really just coming to play with Dean, but I still don't want them to think my house isn't up to par.
5. Dean does not nap well with other people in the house. Because he might miss something. He also likes salsa.
In the next few days, I hope to post party pictures, including the insane monkey cake I baked and decorated. Unless the finishing touches don't work out and it turns out to be butt-ugly, in which case I'm throwing it in the leaf pile, burning it and going to Publix for a sheet cake.
Monday, December 8, 2008
We cleaned, we cooked, we partied
What a weekend! For years, Marcus and I have dreamt of hosting "The Lane Formal." It would be a fabulous holiday gathering for our co-workers and/or students, inspired by the Guinn Formal, a party one of our professors hosted each year while we were in college. We always looked forward to the Formal. It was a chance to ditch your backstage blacks or funky paint clothes and wear something dressy or quirky, show off your best dip recipe and spend some time with your fellow students and teachers outside the classroom. Once it was evident that Marcus and I were going to be a family forever, we started daydreaming about the day when one or both of us would land at a University and we could throw a lovely holiday bash of our own. And last night, it finally became a reality.
We decided to start out small this year. Until after the first of the year when Uncle Sam gives us money back for having a baby, buying a house and having lots of taxes deducted from our paychecks each month, the money tree is not in full bloom, so the house is still not quite where we'd want it to be to throw an all-out bash. Just for this year, Marcus and I only invited the 11 students from his advanced classes. All are upper-classmen and were allowed to bring one guest. What resulted was about 20 very well-behaved, dressed-up, delightful party guests! And they ate EVERY MORSEL of food we made! Yay for easy cleanup.
What's that? You want to see pictures? Well, ok!
Here is our Christmas tree. I LOVE our Christmas tree! Even though we left all those ornaments at my mom and dad's house, our tree ended up being pretty full! Auntie M made us some adorable ornaments that I was thrilled to add to our collection and we picked up some "filler" ornaments at the 50% off sale at Lowe's.
Please don't judge our ugly curtains. We bought them at Big Lots just to have something over the window before we figured out the color scheme of the room which, thankfully, does not include that shade of green (they are really much uglier in person. They have a paisley pattern, too.). See above comment about the money tree to find out why we haven't bought new ones yet!
Here is our fireplace, which hosted its first fire of the season last night. Marcus was in charge of the mantle and I think he did a fantastic job. The garland and wreath are new, the candles, Santa and snowman were my grandma's. She gave them to us when we were in Oxford for Thanksgiving, along with her cake plate.
Here's the buffet. I have no idea why the picture wants to lay on its side. Please tilt your head to the left to view it properly. Tiiiiiiilt. Ok, see? It's cute, right? There was a ton more food on our dining room table. Our menu included the Cheeseball of Happiness, crostini with pesto and sundried tomato (a HUGE hit), mulled cider (another hit), marinated cheese, Texas sheet cake, corn dip, artichoke dip and the usual drinks. Oh, and BBQ cocktail weenies served straight out of the crockpot. Because I'm southern and that is what we do.
Ok, ok, enough with the house. I know what you REALLY want to see.
Dean was rockin' the green velvet. And the knee socks. One of his shoes even stayed on ALL NIGHT! He was, needless to say, the life of the party.
The students came dressed in a variety of "theatre formalwear." We had an elf, a gingerbread man, lots of girls in cocktail dresses, a few young men in suits, and a group who dressed up like each member of the theatre faculty! (Made me glad I'm not officially on staff yet!) Here's Zach, who we refer to as our oldest son, as Marcus.
In case you can't fully see it, his shirt says "You sure do got a purty mouth."
Marcus teaches movement classes, so he has to wear sweatpants and t-shirts. To keep things fun, he wears goofy PJ pants and t-shirts with funny sayings a lot. And, naturally, his Alabama hat.
Marcus had planned to wear a suit, but decided to go the funny route instead. He wore chaps (yes, he owns chaps. Help me, Jesus. Notice they do not appear in the picture. I had to "free" him from said chaps about an hour into the party.), his cowboy shirt and some sneakers because his boots dry-rotted and I made him leave them in NYC. I bought a gorgeous purple dress, but got overly paranoid about showing too much cleavage and not being able to eat enough cocktail weenies and gave myself such buyer's remorse that I returned it. I'm glad, though, because it gave me the courage to "just see" if I could fit into the dress I wore to my 30th birthday party. And whaddya know? I haven't talked about it on here, but I've lost 17 pounds since we moved to Montevallo. HAPPY JEN. Just a few more pounds and the pesky pregnancy weight PLUS the pesky summer weight will be a thing of the past. I'm in my skinny jeans full-time now.
So, a nice night with good times had by all. We look forward to this becoming an annual event, something the rest of the faculty joins in on, the alumni return for, the students get excited about and that we look forward to hosting each year.
We decided to start out small this year. Until after the first of the year when Uncle Sam gives us money back for having a baby, buying a house and having lots of taxes deducted from our paychecks each month, the money tree is not in full bloom, so the house is still not quite where we'd want it to be to throw an all-out bash. Just for this year, Marcus and I only invited the 11 students from his advanced classes. All are upper-classmen and were allowed to bring one guest. What resulted was about 20 very well-behaved, dressed-up, delightful party guests! And they ate EVERY MORSEL of food we made! Yay for easy cleanup.
What's that? You want to see pictures? Well, ok!
Here is our Christmas tree. I LOVE our Christmas tree! Even though we left all those ornaments at my mom and dad's house, our tree ended up being pretty full! Auntie M made us some adorable ornaments that I was thrilled to add to our collection and we picked up some "filler" ornaments at the 50% off sale at Lowe's.
Please don't judge our ugly curtains. We bought them at Big Lots just to have something over the window before we figured out the color scheme of the room which, thankfully, does not include that shade of green (they are really much uglier in person. They have a paisley pattern, too.). See above comment about the money tree to find out why we haven't bought new ones yet!
Here is our fireplace, which hosted its first fire of the season last night. Marcus was in charge of the mantle and I think he did a fantastic job. The garland and wreath are new, the candles, Santa and snowman were my grandma's. She gave them to us when we were in Oxford for Thanksgiving, along with her cake plate.
Here's the buffet. I have no idea why the picture wants to lay on its side. Please tilt your head to the left to view it properly. Tiiiiiiilt. Ok, see? It's cute, right? There was a ton more food on our dining room table. Our menu included the Cheeseball of Happiness, crostini with pesto and sundried tomato (a HUGE hit), mulled cider (another hit), marinated cheese, Texas sheet cake, corn dip, artichoke dip and the usual drinks. Oh, and BBQ cocktail weenies served straight out of the crockpot. Because I'm southern and that is what we do.
Ok, ok, enough with the house. I know what you REALLY want to see.
Dean was rockin' the green velvet. And the knee socks. One of his shoes even stayed on ALL NIGHT! He was, needless to say, the life of the party.
The students came dressed in a variety of "theatre formalwear." We had an elf, a gingerbread man, lots of girls in cocktail dresses, a few young men in suits, and a group who dressed up like each member of the theatre faculty! (Made me glad I'm not officially on staff yet!) Here's Zach, who we refer to as our oldest son, as Marcus.
In case you can't fully see it, his shirt says "You sure do got a purty mouth."
Marcus teaches movement classes, so he has to wear sweatpants and t-shirts. To keep things fun, he wears goofy PJ pants and t-shirts with funny sayings a lot. And, naturally, his Alabama hat.
Marcus had planned to wear a suit, but decided to go the funny route instead. He wore chaps (yes, he owns chaps. Help me, Jesus. Notice they do not appear in the picture. I had to "free" him from said chaps about an hour into the party.), his cowboy shirt and some sneakers because his boots dry-rotted and I made him leave them in NYC. I bought a gorgeous purple dress, but got overly paranoid about showing too much cleavage and not being able to eat enough cocktail weenies and gave myself such buyer's remorse that I returned it. I'm glad, though, because it gave me the courage to "just see" if I could fit into the dress I wore to my 30th birthday party. And whaddya know? I haven't talked about it on here, but I've lost 17 pounds since we moved to Montevallo. HAPPY JEN. Just a few more pounds and the pesky pregnancy weight PLUS the pesky summer weight will be a thing of the past. I'm in my skinny jeans full-time now.
So, a nice night with good times had by all. We look forward to this becoming an annual event, something the rest of the faculty joins in on, the alumni return for, the students get excited about and that we look forward to hosting each year.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Today I was a good mom
I think I'm a pretty good mom most days, but today seemed like a REALLY good day. We got up this morning, had breakfast and got Dean settled into "baby jail" to do his morning routine, which involves talking to every stuffed monkey we own, making sure all his musical toys still work, then reading every book in the house. (I should mention that I am usually in baby jail WITH him while he's doing this. Got a mental picture now? Good.) Our friend Alli left after her weekend stay with us and I got to work. By 11:30am, Dean had taken his morning nap and I had done 3 loads of laundry, 2 loads of dishes (in my dishwasher, which miraculously started working again when the power flashed off this weekend! Hallelujah!), swept and mopped the kitchen, switched out the hand towels in the bathroom (I am a bit obsessive compulsive about hand towels in the bathrooms) eaten lunch and sent two work-related emails! I'm on fire, I tell you! After lunch, Dean and I played for a while, then he showed me how well he can climb the stairs. We stood at the front door and looked out at the rain, then he somehow got dirt on his hands. I took him up to the bathroom sink to wash his hands and you would have thought we went to Disney World. He BELLY LAUGHED at the water and started trying to splash. So I pulled the stopper and let some water puddle in the sink so he could splash. Soon we were both soaked. He grabbed a hair elastic and was trying to play with it, so I decided, what the heck? Let's go swimming. I stripped him down and tossed him into the tub with his toys. He had a BLAST. He splashed and crawled around and explored parts of the tub that were new to him. At night, our bathtime is fairly routine. Daddy runs the water and washes the hair. I wash the body, Daddy helps rinse and keep baby from drowning and gives comfort when Mommy splashes baby in the face. Then Daddy stands baby up so Mommy can wash his bottom parts (and there's a song we sing), then out we go into the hooded towel and off to bedtime. I think Dean enjoyed his little swim party. I was proud of myself for being impromptu and not getting frustrated when he got us both soaking wet. I want to be that mom on the commercial who sprays her kid with the kitchen sink sprayer. (By the way, if you ever want to mess with a member of your family or your roommate, put a rubber band around the "trigger" on the kitchen sink sprayer. They will get HOSED the next time they turn on the sink. HILARIOUS! Learned it from my mom!)
Deano's down for his second nap of the day and my kitchen has been scrubbed with Clorox. There is one glass in my sink and there are 2 garments in my laundry basket (they require gentle cycle with like colors, so they will likely be there a while) and there is not one board book on my floor. I'm going to stop writing now and breathe it all in while it lasts.
Deano's down for his second nap of the day and my kitchen has been scrubbed with Clorox. There is one glass in my sink and there are 2 garments in my laundry basket (they require gentle cycle with like colors, so they will likely be there a while) and there is not one board book on my floor. I'm going to stop writing now and breathe it all in while it lasts.
Monday, November 10, 2008
One's trash is another's treasure
This is the most unbelievable thing to happen to me since I was on THE VIEW last year and got hooked up with a million awesome baby prizes.
Last night our friend Jason called. He was so excited that he was out of breath. The conversation went a little like this:
JJ (his initials): JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! Our neighbors just threw away a bunch of baby stuff!
ME: Oh, cool!
JJ: No, you don't understand, it's a BUNCH of baby stuff!
ME: Oh?
JJ: We just brought up 6 bags for Kate (their daughter) and we aren't going to have to buy clothes for her for 2 years! We pulled out about 60 outfits for Dean. I'm bringing them over!
ME: Holy cow!
JJ: There are also 2 car seats, 2 swings, a diaper genie, a BRAND NEW Graco high chair and some toys!
ME: WHAT!!? They didn't want Salvation Army to come get them? They'll pick it up!
JJ: I KNOW! I asked and they were throwing it out with their trash! I'm coming over!
ME: Why aren't you here yet!??!
Well, it was better than he said. We have over 50 new outfits that Dean can either wear now or grow into. We have like-new stuff in newborn sizes that I can pass along to my friends TJ and Amy who are expecting a girl baby (eeeeek!) in May. We have a NEW GRACO HIGHCHAIR! I mean, look at this:
My bed is covered with baby clothes! (Please do not judge ugly bedspread---we are waiting for the really cool comforter we like to go on sale...)
And some of these have designer labels on them! I didn't know people bought designer clothes for their children! There is a Polo shirt for a 12 month old! Look!
It's the Polo horsey! (No idea why this picture will not be right-side up.)
There were also shoes:
Spit rags (and who couldn't use more of those, right?)
This cool swaddling blanket, which will go to TJ and Amy's baby (lotsa luck figuring out how to use this, y'all!)
And even 3 Halloween costumes of the Elmo, Pumpkin and Tigger variety.
(No idea why Elmo insists on only posting upside down. My pictures have a mind of their own today...espcially the ones of red items...)
But the best part? THE EXTENDER PACK FOR OUR PLAYARD! We had already planned on buying this next month when the money tree blooms again and were making-do with the playard as a hexagon. ("Playard" still looks misspelled, doesn't it?) We dreamed of a square playard and only needed the two-piece extender pack to make it happend. Jason walked in and said "Here's two weird looking baby gates." And I almost passed out. I screamed for Marcus, who was burning pancakes in the kitchen. He came down and went "Is that the extender pack?" Then we did a little happy dance and now Jason probably thinks we're nuts. (or did until we explained. Then he was totally excited, too. He didn't dance though.)
Behold square baby jail:
Dean is very excited about his new, expanded play space. Perhaps that is why he refused to go down for his nap until 11:19. ELEVEN NINETEEN, PEOPLE! He better sleep for 3 hours...
Anyway, yesterday was certainly an unexpected blessing. It was like Christmas around here. I spent the morning washing all the new baby duds, so the house smells like Dreft. (not a bad thing...better than burned pancakes.)
Hope everyone's having a good Monday!
Last night our friend Jason called. He was so excited that he was out of breath. The conversation went a little like this:
JJ (his initials): JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! Our neighbors just threw away a bunch of baby stuff!
ME: Oh, cool!
JJ: No, you don't understand, it's a BUNCH of baby stuff!
ME: Oh?
JJ: We just brought up 6 bags for Kate (their daughter) and we aren't going to have to buy clothes for her for 2 years! We pulled out about 60 outfits for Dean. I'm bringing them over!
ME: Holy cow!
JJ: There are also 2 car seats, 2 swings, a diaper genie, a BRAND NEW Graco high chair and some toys!
ME: WHAT!!? They didn't want Salvation Army to come get them? They'll pick it up!
JJ: I KNOW! I asked and they were throwing it out with their trash! I'm coming over!
ME: Why aren't you here yet!??!
Well, it was better than he said. We have over 50 new outfits that Dean can either wear now or grow into. We have like-new stuff in newborn sizes that I can pass along to my friends TJ and Amy who are expecting a girl baby (eeeeek!) in May. We have a NEW GRACO HIGHCHAIR! I mean, look at this:
My bed is covered with baby clothes! (Please do not judge ugly bedspread---we are waiting for the really cool comforter we like to go on sale...)
And some of these have designer labels on them! I didn't know people bought designer clothes for their children! There is a Polo shirt for a 12 month old! Look!
It's the Polo horsey! (No idea why this picture will not be right-side up.)
There were also shoes:
Spit rags (and who couldn't use more of those, right?)
This cool swaddling blanket, which will go to TJ and Amy's baby (lotsa luck figuring out how to use this, y'all!)
And even 3 Halloween costumes of the Elmo, Pumpkin and Tigger variety.
(No idea why Elmo insists on only posting upside down. My pictures have a mind of their own today...espcially the ones of red items...)
But the best part? THE EXTENDER PACK FOR OUR PLAYARD! We had already planned on buying this next month when the money tree blooms again and were making-do with the playard as a hexagon. ("Playard" still looks misspelled, doesn't it?) We dreamed of a square playard and only needed the two-piece extender pack to make it happend. Jason walked in and said "Here's two weird looking baby gates." And I almost passed out. I screamed for Marcus, who was burning pancakes in the kitchen. He came down and went "Is that the extender pack?" Then we did a little happy dance and now Jason probably thinks we're nuts. (or did until we explained. Then he was totally excited, too. He didn't dance though.)
Behold square baby jail:
Dean is very excited about his new, expanded play space. Perhaps that is why he refused to go down for his nap until 11:19. ELEVEN NINETEEN, PEOPLE! He better sleep for 3 hours...
Anyway, yesterday was certainly an unexpected blessing. It was like Christmas around here. I spent the morning washing all the new baby duds, so the house smells like Dreft. (not a bad thing...better than burned pancakes.)
Hope everyone's having a good Monday!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Yes, but it's MY rut...
What I have had to eat in the past 2 days:
Yesterday:
Coffee
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
V8 Fusion
3 meatballs in a bowl with marinara sauce and cheese
Coke Zero
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Pibb Zero (like Coke Zero, only Pibb! Who knew? It's so good! And on sale even! ! )
Water
Today
Coffee
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
V8 Fusion
Water
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Coke Zero
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Pibb Zero
We see a pattern, yes? I was going to make a pizza for dinner (I'm a dang GOURMET, I tell ya), but Marcus and I got caught up digging through still-packed boxes trying to find the Netflix movies we brought with us from NYC and still have not watched. (Still haven't found them, by the way) As we did this, we decided to eat sandwiches (again) in shifts so someone could entertain Dean while the other dug through boxes. We only stopped for a minute to put a Band-aid on Dean's finger when he somehow managed to tear his little cuticle. He didn't even tell us, he just started bleeding on everything. Ever put a Band-aid on a 9 month old? Well, DON'T. They try to EAT them. Should have known that one...
My plans for tomorrow include getting an estimate to repair our car, dusting and eating something that's NOT turkey and lacey swiss. I'm out of sourdough bread anyway.
PS: For those who are interested (and some of you are! You are goobers like me!) the Publix penny item this week was Chex Mix. A whole bag of Chex Mix for a penny! Woo hoo!
Yesterday:
Coffee
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
V8 Fusion
3 meatballs in a bowl with marinara sauce and cheese
Coke Zero
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Pibb Zero (like Coke Zero, only Pibb! Who knew? It's so good! And on sale even! ! )
Water
Today
Coffee
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
V8 Fusion
Water
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Coke Zero
Turkey sandwich on sourdough with lacey swiss, honey mustard and lettuce
a few Ruffles chips
Pibb Zero
We see a pattern, yes? I was going to make a pizza for dinner (I'm a dang GOURMET, I tell ya), but Marcus and I got caught up digging through still-packed boxes trying to find the Netflix movies we brought with us from NYC and still have not watched. (Still haven't found them, by the way) As we did this, we decided to eat sandwiches (again) in shifts so someone could entertain Dean while the other dug through boxes. We only stopped for a minute to put a Band-aid on Dean's finger when he somehow managed to tear his little cuticle. He didn't even tell us, he just started bleeding on everything. Ever put a Band-aid on a 9 month old? Well, DON'T. They try to EAT them. Should have known that one...
My plans for tomorrow include getting an estimate to repair our car, dusting and eating something that's NOT turkey and lacey swiss. I'm out of sourdough bread anyway.
PS: For those who are interested (and some of you are! You are goobers like me!) the Publix penny item this week was Chex Mix. A whole bag of Chex Mix for a penny! Woo hoo!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Well, baby
Dean had his 9-month well baby visit today. Here are his stats:
Weight: 20 lbs. 11 oz.
Height: 27 3/4 inches
Head: 18 1/4 inches
He is a healthy, happy little guy. He got a flu shot, so the happy may wear off later tonight, but so far, he's ok.
On the way home (hold onto your hats) we got rear-ended. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while may remember the last time I got rear-ended in July. That time, I was in the middle, crunched between a Stratus and a Mini-van. (The guy who hit me fled the scene and we've heard nothing ever since.) Today, I was sitting still on the highway, waiting to turn ONTO MY OWN STREET. There was a lot of traffic coming from the other direction, so we were sitting there for a while, Dean starting to fuss because he was hungry. Suddenly, I heard it. SLAM, SLAM, and felt it SLAM. Compared to last time, the bump was nothing, but the sheer horror was much worse because this time I had a passenger. Fortunately, Dean started crying immediately, so I knew he was ok enough to yell. I pulled over and jumped out of the car to get to him. When I opened the door to the backseat, he saw me and giggled. Then he started trying to climb out of his carseat. I got him out, which I wasn't sure was the right thing to do or not, but I NEEDED to hold my baby. The guy from the third car had it worse. He came toward us, worried about Dean, but I noticed he had a big red mark on his head. I told him not to move, remembering my bout with whiplash. By the time the EMTs and police got there, he had to be put in a neck stabilizer and strapped to a gurney. The man behind me also had to go to the hospital. Four different EMTs checked Dean out and he's just fine, Thank God. I called Marcus, who was in class at the time, and he got to us quite quickly (yay, small towns, and thank you Zach for driving him!). Anyway, we're both fine. Our car isn't so fine. The bumper had to be completely taken off and the car looks even worse than before. (Our car's 11 years old and has kind of been through the ringer lately.)
Needless to say, this is not how we wanted to spend our day. Or our money, since we'll almost certainly be needing a new car. Ugh. I'm looking forward to getting the accident report (in 3-6 days) to see if the guy who started it all was drunk. I have a bad feeling he was. At 9:45am.
But the bottom line is that Dean's ok and that is truly all that matters.
Weight: 20 lbs. 11 oz.
Height: 27 3/4 inches
Head: 18 1/4 inches
He is a healthy, happy little guy. He got a flu shot, so the happy may wear off later tonight, but so far, he's ok.
On the way home (hold onto your hats) we got rear-ended. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while may remember the last time I got rear-ended in July. That time, I was in the middle, crunched between a Stratus and a Mini-van. (The guy who hit me fled the scene and we've heard nothing ever since.) Today, I was sitting still on the highway, waiting to turn ONTO MY OWN STREET. There was a lot of traffic coming from the other direction, so we were sitting there for a while, Dean starting to fuss because he was hungry. Suddenly, I heard it. SLAM, SLAM, and felt it SLAM. Compared to last time, the bump was nothing, but the sheer horror was much worse because this time I had a passenger. Fortunately, Dean started crying immediately, so I knew he was ok enough to yell. I pulled over and jumped out of the car to get to him. When I opened the door to the backseat, he saw me and giggled. Then he started trying to climb out of his carseat. I got him out, which I wasn't sure was the right thing to do or not, but I NEEDED to hold my baby. The guy from the third car had it worse. He came toward us, worried about Dean, but I noticed he had a big red mark on his head. I told him not to move, remembering my bout with whiplash. By the time the EMTs and police got there, he had to be put in a neck stabilizer and strapped to a gurney. The man behind me also had to go to the hospital. Four different EMTs checked Dean out and he's just fine, Thank God. I called Marcus, who was in class at the time, and he got to us quite quickly (yay, small towns, and thank you Zach for driving him!). Anyway, we're both fine. Our car isn't so fine. The bumper had to be completely taken off and the car looks even worse than before. (Our car's 11 years old and has kind of been through the ringer lately.)
Needless to say, this is not how we wanted to spend our day. Or our money, since we'll almost certainly be needing a new car. Ugh. I'm looking forward to getting the accident report (in 3-6 days) to see if the guy who started it all was drunk. I have a bad feeling he was. At 9:45am.
But the bottom line is that Dean's ok and that is truly all that matters.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
My morning thus far
It is 8:42 am. I woke up around 7:45 (wow, we slept late) to the sweet sounds of Dean cooing in his room, then the knocking of his binky as he banged it against the headboard. I went in, lifted him up, got a great hug, then changed his diaper, which involved BIG POOP. This is the second time this week he's woken up with poopy pants. I'm hoping he does it after he wakes up and that he's not sleeping with it for hours. Anyway, enough about poop. We went downstairs, made coffee and started breakfast. I'd bought a jar of "stage 3" oatmeal w/pears. The jar is really big, but his appetite is increasing, so I figured he could handle it. Well, he LOVED it. He ate the entire jar. About halfway through feeding him, Marcus came down and started making our breakfast. Rewind for a moment to last night when I went to make Dean a bedtime bottle and, out of the corner of my eye, saw a lizard run across our kitchen. I squealed, but Marcus assured me this was a good thing...they eat bugs. Ok. The lizard may stay, but it had better not touch me. Back to breakfast today. Dean and I are singing and making faces at each other between bites, when all of a sudden I see the lizard out of the orner of my eye again, except it's tail's awfully skinny to be a lizard and that is fur and OH MY GAWD THAT IS A MOUSE! Marcus had to jump over the thing as it disappeared into a hole under our cabinet. (Nice.) So we added mousetraps to our shopping list. (Just what I want to deal with.) Dean finished his breakfast and I clapped for him, telling him what a big boy he was for finishing that WHOLE JAR of oatmeal! I picked him up, started telling him about our plans to go downstairs and play, when all of a sudden I heard it. And felt it. Baby vomit. SPLAT on my floor. BLECH on my sleeve, pants leg and ARM. All I could do was scream for help and wait for Marcus to come and take him so I could get cleaned up. Fortunately, I didn't vomit. I thought about it though.
How's YOUR morning going!?!?
How's YOUR morning going!?!?
Friday, September 19, 2008
I've obviously inhaled too many Clorox fumes today..and why rose-colored glasses should be taken off the shelves
Look at this hilarious website I found: www.yearbookyourself.com. You put in a picture of yourself and it turns you into a yearbook photo for every even-numbered year from 1950-2000! This was my favorite, from 1988. 
The ones of Marcus from the 80s were surprisingly accurate, according to his REAL yearbook photos!
And we learned that Dean would look hot with an afro!
Ok, enough goofiness.
We have spent today cleaning like mad people and putting a few finishing touches on the house. It's nowhere near finished, but we do have towel bars now. (How did I not notice in our walk-through that there were no towel bars or toilet paper holders!?!? My word, that would've been a deal breaker! Ok, that's not true.) Anyway, we're pooped now. Dean had to go to the doctor yesterday for an ear infection and is now taking amoxil, which makes him sleepy, so we got a lot done while he napped today. Poor guy.
I've started an entry for today about 11 times and deleted it each time. I know what I want to say, but am not sure how to A. make it brief enough for my blog and B. start writing on this topic. So, I'll just dive right in. A little backstory first, so you know where this is coming from. I read a lot of blogs. By a lot, I mean that I religiously follow about 6 and I have 3 or 4 others that I check pretty regularly. If folks leave me a comment on my blog, I visit theirs and try to reciprocate, especially if their blog is about something that interests me. I enjoy reading about other folks with kids. I also often visit the blogs of folks who leave interesting comments on the other blogs I read. (Here I go again, saying BLOG a lot...) ANYWHO, just this week on three of the blogs I follow closely, the authors have felt as though they needed to apologize for something they were saying or were scolded by readers for their content. One of the blogs I like a lot on Parents.com, "Not That You Asked," is written by a woman named Emily who has a toddler and one on the way. What I like about her writing is that she is a REAL person talking about REAL things that happen in the life of a parent. A reader left the first comment on a post of hers recently scolding her for "complaining" so much in her blog and telling her she should suck it up and stop taking her life for granted. This led to her loyal readers sounding off about why they like her blog (for the reasons I explained above) and telling her not to change a thing. On my very favorite blog, Parental Discretion Advised, Bree, the author, revealed that she's having a little boy. We were all thrilled, but one reader felt the need to immediately hop on the soapbox about "genital integrity" while another made a snarky comment about her grammar. Amalah, whose son struggles with some social issues, felt like she needed to preface her blog about her son's breakthrough at school with an apology. These women are all strong, independent, hard-working moms who should not have to apologize for what they write ON THEIR BLOGS. Who would want to read about your wonderful life with your precious, perfect, clean children who frolic in meadows and never throw sweet potatoes in your hair and your immaculate house and wonderful husband every single day!?!? Life is sticky and stinky and downright funky sometimes, folks, and what I like about blogs like these is that they remind me I'm not the only one out there spending half her day helping an 8 month old blow his nose.
Wow, it felt really good to say all that, and I hope you followed at least some of it! If you know me, you know I'm an over-achiever and I try to be the best all the time. I will now admit that there are days when motherhood is kicking my tail. I love it so much, even more than I could have ever imagined, but y'all, some days I would give anything to be able to take a shower whenever the desire hit me. I adore my little family and am extremely thankful that Marcus and I were able to have a baby so quickly and that he's so amazing, but I don't ever want to sugar-coat my life for my blog.
I'll give you the good and the bad, because sometimes at the end of MY day, reading about YOUR kid throwing a tantrum in McDonald's makes me feel just a little more normal.
So write on, fellow bloggers, and have a great weekend!
The ones of Marcus from the 80s were surprisingly accurate, according to his REAL yearbook photos!
And we learned that Dean would look hot with an afro!
Ok, enough goofiness.
We have spent today cleaning like mad people and putting a few finishing touches on the house. It's nowhere near finished, but we do have towel bars now. (How did I not notice in our walk-through that there were no towel bars or toilet paper holders!?!? My word, that would've been a deal breaker! Ok, that's not true.) Anyway, we're pooped now. Dean had to go to the doctor yesterday for an ear infection and is now taking amoxil, which makes him sleepy, so we got a lot done while he napped today. Poor guy.
I've started an entry for today about 11 times and deleted it each time. I know what I want to say, but am not sure how to A. make it brief enough for my blog and B. start writing on this topic. So, I'll just dive right in. A little backstory first, so you know where this is coming from. I read a lot of blogs. By a lot, I mean that I religiously follow about 6 and I have 3 or 4 others that I check pretty regularly. If folks leave me a comment on my blog, I visit theirs and try to reciprocate, especially if their blog is about something that interests me. I enjoy reading about other folks with kids. I also often visit the blogs of folks who leave interesting comments on the other blogs I read. (Here I go again, saying BLOG a lot...) ANYWHO, just this week on three of the blogs I follow closely, the authors have felt as though they needed to apologize for something they were saying or were scolded by readers for their content. One of the blogs I like a lot on Parents.com, "Not That You Asked," is written by a woman named Emily who has a toddler and one on the way. What I like about her writing is that she is a REAL person talking about REAL things that happen in the life of a parent. A reader left the first comment on a post of hers recently scolding her for "complaining" so much in her blog and telling her she should suck it up and stop taking her life for granted. This led to her loyal readers sounding off about why they like her blog (for the reasons I explained above) and telling her not to change a thing. On my very favorite blog, Parental Discretion Advised, Bree, the author, revealed that she's having a little boy. We were all thrilled, but one reader felt the need to immediately hop on the soapbox about "genital integrity" while another made a snarky comment about her grammar. Amalah, whose son struggles with some social issues, felt like she needed to preface her blog about her son's breakthrough at school with an apology. These women are all strong, independent, hard-working moms who should not have to apologize for what they write ON THEIR BLOGS. Who would want to read about your wonderful life with your precious, perfect, clean children who frolic in meadows and never throw sweet potatoes in your hair and your immaculate house and wonderful husband every single day!?!? Life is sticky and stinky and downright funky sometimes, folks, and what I like about blogs like these is that they remind me I'm not the only one out there spending half her day helping an 8 month old blow his nose.
Wow, it felt really good to say all that, and I hope you followed at least some of it! If you know me, you know I'm an over-achiever and I try to be the best all the time. I will now admit that there are days when motherhood is kicking my tail. I love it so much, even more than I could have ever imagined, but y'all, some days I would give anything to be able to take a shower whenever the desire hit me. I adore my little family and am extremely thankful that Marcus and I were able to have a baby so quickly and that he's so amazing, but I don't ever want to sugar-coat my life for my blog.
I'll give you the good and the bad, because sometimes at the end of MY day, reading about YOUR kid throwing a tantrum in McDonald's makes me feel just a little more normal.
So write on, fellow bloggers, and have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The grand tour...well, kinda
Ok, ok! I hear you! You want to see pictures of the house! Well, these will have to do for now. The house is still kind of an unorganized disaster, and is likely to stay that way until Grammy and Papa come next weekend and can take care of Dean for a couple of hours while Marcus and I make sense of the clutter. But here are some pictures to tide you over. As I write this, by the way, Dean is snoozing on the big bed between 2 pillows. He would NOT sleep in his crib or his pack and play. He really wanted to sleep on ME, but I needed to do laundry, so I just kind of slid him off of me and onto the bed. Poor guy. He's still got the cold and has all but lost his voice. Ever hear a hoarse baby? It's pretty pitiful. :(
Ok, here we go. I'm gonna try to get Blogger to help a sister out and drag the pictures where I want them to be. Yeah.
Here's one of the family in front of the new abode. (Don't look at my hair. That's what happens when I dont use the straightener.) Our plans for the future include staining this deck, then knocking it down to build a cool porch.
This is the new sofa. We had wanted it to be chocolate brown, but this was all they had and they promised that the micro-fiber was easy to clean for when little fingers start getting stickier. Or when little mouths spit entire doses of Tylenol on it. They call the color "Cafe" and we actually like it a lot. And it's REAAAAALLLLY comfy!
Marcus is so happy he can't stand it.
About our giant new flat-screen tv, that is. Which we totally didn't need. But totally love. Epsecially the HD channels. And the football package. ( People are often surprised to find out I'm as big a football fan as Marcus. I grew up around SEC schools adn my dad is a die-hard Ole Miss fan, so it's in my blood. Alabama is my team now, since I graduated from there. Roll Tide!)
Here's the dinette set. It's smaller than we'd planned to get, but we loved the details and the leather chairs. It fills the space in our Eat-In kitchen nicely. And to answer the next question, Dean's booster seat lives on one of our folding chairs that goes with our card table, NOT one of these babies!
And now a brief pause in our tour of the Marjen house to show you the tackiest yard I've seen so far! We were out exploring the other day and came across this. The picture doesn't really do the yard justice. This is about 1/4 of the yard, but was my favorite as far as decorations go. I'm definitely swinging back by at Christmas. Can you even imagine? Ok, back to the tour!
This is the snazzy new bed we got for our room. It's super cozy and sooooo pretty! Note matching end tables. There is also a dresser, but the one they brought is dinged, so we're getting a new one Tuesday.
That'll have to do for now. Next post...big boy bed! The big boy is giving me a hoarse little whine right now, so I've gotta run!
Ok, here we go. I'm gonna try to get Blogger to help a sister out and drag the pictures where I want them to be. Yeah.
Here's one of the family in front of the new abode. (Don't look at my hair. That's what happens when I dont use the straightener.) Our plans for the future include staining this deck, then knocking it down to build a cool porch.
This is the new sofa. We had wanted it to be chocolate brown, but this was all they had and they promised that the micro-fiber was easy to clean for when little fingers start getting stickier. Or when little mouths spit entire doses of Tylenol on it. They call the color "Cafe" and we actually like it a lot. And it's REAAAAALLLLY comfy!
Marcus is so happy he can't stand it.
About our giant new flat-screen tv, that is. Which we totally didn't need. But totally love. Epsecially the HD channels. And the football package. ( People are often surprised to find out I'm as big a football fan as Marcus. I grew up around SEC schools adn my dad is a die-hard Ole Miss fan, so it's in my blood. Alabama is my team now, since I graduated from there. Roll Tide!)
Here's the dinette set. It's smaller than we'd planned to get, but we loved the details and the leather chairs. It fills the space in our Eat-In kitchen nicely. And to answer the next question, Dean's booster seat lives on one of our folding chairs that goes with our card table, NOT one of these babies!
And now a brief pause in our tour of the Marjen house to show you the tackiest yard I've seen so far! We were out exploring the other day and came across this. The picture doesn't really do the yard justice. This is about 1/4 of the yard, but was my favorite as far as decorations go. I'm definitely swinging back by at Christmas. Can you even imagine? Ok, back to the tour!
This is the snazzy new bed we got for our room. It's super cozy and sooooo pretty! Note matching end tables. There is also a dresser, but the one they brought is dinged, so we're getting a new one Tuesday.
That'll have to do for now. Next post...big boy bed! The big boy is giving me a hoarse little whine right now, so I've gotta run!
Monday, September 1, 2008
He does actually eat things that aren't green, too.
Check me out. I just made baby food. Yep. It's true. I got a new Cuisinart food processor at the Linens N Things closeout sale and I made baby food! The green goo in the pink bowl is avacado (Dean loves it!) and the green goo in the Gerber jar (may as well recycle while I'm at it!) is peas. I'm so excited. I'm going to do fruit later. JEEZ this will save money AND get rid of leftovers! Thanks to Eva, another blogger who posted a link to a cool site with baby food recipes, and to Frema, whose husband makes food for their daughter, for inspiring me to do this. There are 4 of those little plastic Gerber containers in my freezer full of love and green foods. Yee haw.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Bring on the grass stains!
I, my friends, am the new owner of a Whirlpool Stackable Front-Loading Energy Efficient washer and dryer!!!!!!!!!!!! My darling husband, who said we could neeeeeeeever afford these units, went out and bought them yesterday and they were delivered to our new home this morning. WOO HOO! Between those two babies and the brand-spankin' new dishwasher, stove, microwave and fridge, I will be in domestic bliss for weeks to come.
Marcus made it to Montevallo safely on Saturday. He starts work today with a faculty meeting, then goes through 3 days of new-faculty orientation. Dean and I are (obviously) sitting out the company white-water rafting trip today, but will be meeting up with the company tonight at Pies and Pints for some tasty pizza.
Dean is REALLY into the Olympics. He seems to favor the Chinese team. We're pretty sure it's because they wear red uniforms. I dressed him in his 4th of July outfit today hoping to inspire a little patriotism for the good ol' USA. He's had a big week--he's learned to sit up (from lying down) all on his own, has learned to wave (at himself--it's kinda adorable), and has started giving fabulously wet open-mouthed kisses. He also learned to take off his diaper. I could do without that one. We're looking forward to our last week in WV and finally getting home next Monday.
Marcus made it to Montevallo safely on Saturday. He starts work today with a faculty meeting, then goes through 3 days of new-faculty orientation. Dean and I are (obviously) sitting out the company white-water rafting trip today, but will be meeting up with the company tonight at Pies and Pints for some tasty pizza.
Dean is REALLY into the Olympics. He seems to favor the Chinese team. We're pretty sure it's because they wear red uniforms. I dressed him in his 4th of July outfit today hoping to inspire a little patriotism for the good ol' USA. He's had a big week--he's learned to sit up (from lying down) all on his own, has learned to wave (at himself--it's kinda adorable), and has started giving fabulously wet open-mouthed kisses. He also learned to take off his diaper. I could do without that one. We're looking forward to our last week in WV and finally getting home next Monday.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Look what we got
We researched. We looked. We narrowed it down. We offered. They countered.
We accepted.
Check out our new pad. :)
Friday, April 4, 2008
Now that the beans are spilled...
I can tell you what life in our house has been like over the past few weeks!
*We watch HGTV religiously, hoping to find inspiration for our future house in every episode of Design on a Dime, Curb Appeal and Designed to Sell. Moving from a teeeeeeeeny NYC apartment to a full-sized house with actual square footage and a kitchen we can both stand in at the same time will be quite the adjustment for us!
*I daydream about things like dishwashers and laundry rooms. As I've said before, the dish fairy must not be able to find our house, because MAN do those things pile up fast in that sink! (and since we can't fit in the kitchen together, I end up washing them all by my lonesome most of the time. Poor Jen.) I am living for the day when I don't have to bundle up myself and my baby and pull out the granny cart to tote the laundry bag, detergent, fabric softener and quarters across the street to the laundromat. Oh, the domestic bliss that shall ensue when I have modern appliances at my disposal!
*We applied (and were approved for) a mortgage loan. That has to be the most terrifying thing we have ever done as a couple, and that's saying something, considering one of us had a baby cut out of her 3 months ago! The night before sending in the final packet of paperwork, we sat on our Ikea sofa holding our entire financial history in our hands. There were bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, credit reports...and if you know us, you know that money stresses Marcus out and math stresses me out. Needless to say, we were a mess. But it all worked out and the kind people at our credit union are giving us what seems like an ungodly amount of money to buy a home. We keep reminding ourselves that we don't have to spend every dime of what they've approved us for.
*I continue to purge drawers. This is happening for 2 reasons.
1. We're moving, so I need to get rid of as much stuff as possible.
2. I'm coming to terms with what I will and will not ever fit into again. Size 4 pants? Who am I kidding. Size 6 skirt? Well, maybe, considering it has an elastic waistband.
*We have to start the process of saying goodbye to NYC. That means working in time to see as many friends as possible and trying like crazy to blow through our list of "Must Do's" while we're still here. We have not been to the Cloisters. We haven't been to the Statue of Liberty. (I'm kind of ok with that one, since I would probably vomit on the boat you have to take to get there.) There is still some time to do some of these things, but others may have to wait until we come back to visit. Man, that'll be weird.
The hardest part of this move is the fact that it's a two-parter. We go to WV in May, and that's when we're giving up our NY apartment. All our stuff (except what we need for the summer) is living in Marcus's parents' basement until we are ready to go to Montevallo in August. It's going to be interesting, kids. If anyone has any nuggets of wisdom or would just like to make fun of us a little for the insane process we are about to enter into, please feel free to do so in the form of comments. :)
*We watch HGTV religiously, hoping to find inspiration for our future house in every episode of Design on a Dime, Curb Appeal and Designed to Sell. Moving from a teeeeeeeeny NYC apartment to a full-sized house with actual square footage and a kitchen we can both stand in at the same time will be quite the adjustment for us!
*I daydream about things like dishwashers and laundry rooms. As I've said before, the dish fairy must not be able to find our house, because MAN do those things pile up fast in that sink! (and since we can't fit in the kitchen together, I end up washing them all by my lonesome most of the time. Poor Jen.) I am living for the day when I don't have to bundle up myself and my baby and pull out the granny cart to tote the laundry bag, detergent, fabric softener and quarters across the street to the laundromat. Oh, the domestic bliss that shall ensue when I have modern appliances at my disposal!
*We applied (and were approved for) a mortgage loan. That has to be the most terrifying thing we have ever done as a couple, and that's saying something, considering one of us had a baby cut out of her 3 months ago! The night before sending in the final packet of paperwork, we sat on our Ikea sofa holding our entire financial history in our hands. There were bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, credit reports...and if you know us, you know that money stresses Marcus out and math stresses me out. Needless to say, we were a mess. But it all worked out and the kind people at our credit union are giving us what seems like an ungodly amount of money to buy a home. We keep reminding ourselves that we don't have to spend every dime of what they've approved us for.
*I continue to purge drawers. This is happening for 2 reasons.
1. We're moving, so I need to get rid of as much stuff as possible.
2. I'm coming to terms with what I will and will not ever fit into again. Size 4 pants? Who am I kidding. Size 6 skirt? Well, maybe, considering it has an elastic waistband.
*We have to start the process of saying goodbye to NYC. That means working in time to see as many friends as possible and trying like crazy to blow through our list of "Must Do's" while we're still here. We have not been to the Cloisters. We haven't been to the Statue of Liberty. (I'm kind of ok with that one, since I would probably vomit on the boat you have to take to get there.) There is still some time to do some of these things, but others may have to wait until we come back to visit. Man, that'll be weird.
The hardest part of this move is the fact that it's a two-parter. We go to WV in May, and that's when we're giving up our NY apartment. All our stuff (except what we need for the summer) is living in Marcus's parents' basement until we are ready to go to Montevallo in August. It's going to be interesting, kids. If anyone has any nuggets of wisdom or would just like to make fun of us a little for the insane process we are about to enter into, please feel free to do so in the form of comments. :)
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