Moving week

Nana is still hanging around our house, cooking us dinner, packing up boxes, and has even gone to the new place to do some cleaning and replacing of the contact paper in the bathroom!  Can you believe it?  We really put her to work!  She is leaving on Thursday and we are going to be SOOO sad when she goes.  She saves Todd and I at least 30 minutes to an hour in the evenings by cooking dinner and cleaning up afterwards.  Meanwhile, Todd and I get the kids ready for bed.  Last night, we had them down and asleep by 7:30!  We were patting ourselves on the back... until I realized that we probably owed that to my mom!

Boxes are still being packed and we had an insanely busy weekend.  Todd bought us a washer and dryer off of craigslist from a poor guy who lost his house.  Todd didn't know this when he offered him less than the asking price of the washer and dryer, but felt really bad, especially when he said, "I think I'll miss the washer and dryer more than anything."  It was so sad, because he had two kids living in the house!  When Todd got there, the guy was still using the dryer (hey, at least we know it works!).  If we didn't buy it, someone else would have.  I just felt so bad for the guy. 

Meanwhile, I was spending money at IKEA.  I bought a LOT of new curtains, a lamp and a rug for Grant's room, a large rug (5 x 8 for only $40!) for the playroom, and a chalkboard/dry erase easel for the playroom.  I spent two hours there and really could have spent all day.  And all of my money!

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures.  We haven't taken very many since we've been so busy trying to pack up.  I'm a crazy fast typer so blogging doesn't take much time, but taking the pictures, getting the pictures off the camera, editing the pictures, and uploading them does take a lot of time!  PLUS... our computer is in our room, which is where Grant sleeps.  He's been going to bed in the 7 pm hour lately, which means we can't really go in there and make a lot of noise.  In the new house, our computer will be in the living room and Grant will be in his OWN room. 

Grant is getting so big and is doing some sort of noise that might be a laugh... I dunno.  He is SO smiley and cute, I can hardly stand it.  He likes to grab at things now (knowingly or not) and can really move all around when he's kicking his legs.  We're working on rolling over, but I think he'll be like his sister and be lazy.  Hopefully he'll be rolling over by 6 months, LOL!  He has his 4 month appointment (plus shots) on Monday, so we'll see how it goes.  I weighed him the other day and he was 13 pounds.  Whew!

Natalie is doing well too... one of her daycare friends is having a birthday this week so they are having cake (or cupcakes or cookies, or whatever they are having).  So she's been talking about that a lot.  I have to go out and buy her some new shoes, because she is finally needing a pair of size 7's!  She has the smallest feet!

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures later this weekend, after we've moved in to the new place! (Which happens Friday when the kids are at daycare).

A funny from Nana

I'm posting this blog on behalf of Nana.  Yesterday as the kids were in the car pulling out of the garage to go to daycare (Nana was driving, and I wasn't there because I was walking to the train station), Nana said, "And we're off!"  and Natalie added, "Like a herd of turtles!"  Nana thought she might pee her pants laughing! 

This is a saying from one of Mommy's friends (Megan Meadows).  I say it all the time, and Natalie has picked up on it.  Daddy even started saying it, and she always says, "No daddy, like the horses!"  I think she remembers this from last year's Kentucky Derby/Preakness/Belmont Stakes.  Funny how much longer she is remembering things these days!

Better swaddle

I swaddled him much better last night and he slept from about 9-3:30.  Then he ate, and slept from about 4-6:30.  I only got up once - and that was right around 5 am because he was grunting and it woke me up.  He never woke up, but he's just loud when he does it, and it wakes me up. 

By the end of the week, I might be a master of swaddling! 

Nap time funny

She didn't mean for this to be funny, but yesterday when I put Natalie down for a nap, I was rubbing her back (as daddy does, since he usually puts her down for her nap but he wasn't at home).  She sighs wistfully and says, "Mommy, your fingers are GREAT!" 

A week without Daddy...

Daddy has been gone less than 24 hours and WE MISS HIM!!!  He went down to DC for a conference this week.  At least it's only a 4 day work week and he'll be back on Friday.  Whew.  Good thing Nana came to help out!  She is the best... I really don't know what we'd do without her.  Even though I can manage on my own, it is so helpful to have a second person there to watch the kids when say, I need to go to the bathroom, or when I need to put the laundry in the dryer. 

Add on top of this the fact that we are moving next Friday!  Ugh.  Nana is sending the kids to daycare this week and packing boxes while I'm at work.  I mean really, we don't pay her enough!  Okay, we don't pay her at all, but maybe we should!  All of the things she does for us, and Grant repays her by letting some seriously stinky toots (worse than Pop Pop, according to her!), and Natalie throws a fit this morning because Nana has to drive her to daycare, and not Mommy (out of our routine).  She may never come back after this week!!!!!

Meanwhile, I also have a new appreciation for my husband's nightly duties.  Grant still sleeps in our room because he still wakes up once at night to feed.  Because his bedroom is on the second floor, and ours is on the third floor, we don't feel like making the trek up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, so he's still in the pack-n-play in our room.  Last night, Grant kept wiggling out of his swaddle (I just swaddled him in a waffle blanket) and grunts and snorts as he's doing so.  He's a strong little dude.  He went to bed at around 8, and I went to bed at around 11:30.  He wiggled out of the swaddle at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and then was stirring again at about 4:00.  I don't know if he does this every night, because I usually sleep with ear plugs in due to Todd's (and lately Grant's too) snoring.  I think I need to take some swaddle lessons, because I certainly don't do it very well. Todd is the master of the swaddle, and of giving Grant a pacifier without actually waking himself up while doing it.  Anyway, I'm hoping he sleeps a little better tonight because I did not sleep very well last night! 

Good news from Nana... she packed THREE boxes today!  Hooray!

Some pictures, some scallops, and other ramblings

Sorry that I haven't posted any pictures.  Todd put some new photo editing software in our new computer and I don't really like it.  For some reason, it won't rotate my photos.  It rotates them when the software program is open, but it won't save the rotated pictures to my hard drive.  It saves all of the edits I make - like eliminating red eye, fixing the contrast and brightness, etc.  But it won't save the rotation!  So if you go and look at the pictures on smugmug (link to the right), I apologize for the unrotated pictures.  I'll have to figure out how to fix that later...

ANYWAY... the kids seem to be getting over their colds.  We had a really fun weekend.  Natalie was really behaved Saturday.  I point this out, because she's two and a half.  Not a day goes by where we don't have some kind of tantrum or spaz out.  We went to the Natick winter farmer's market in the morning.  We picked up some lemon honey cheese (sounds weird, but is delicious!), some homemade black bean salsa, and some fresh scallops.  First... Todd and I differ on the way we pronounce the word scallops.  My parents and whole family is/are from the midwest.  So I pronounce them "SKAL-UPS."  Todd is a New Englander, and he pronounces them "SCOLL-UPS."  So everytime I say skal-ups, he corrects me and says, "You mean scoll-ups?"  Same with coupon- KOO-PON is the way I pronounce it.  He pronounces it wrong, like, "Cue-pon."  SO WRONG.  But I digress...

The skal-ups were DELISH!  Oh my... my husband can cook.  Whew!  He sauteed them with butter, olive oil, and a boat load of garlic.  He also added some red pepper flakes and parsley.  He put them on a bed of spaghetti and linguini.  It was amazing.  Unbelievable.  One of my new favorite meals! 

Then... the kids slept until 7:45 (Natalie) and 8:15 (Grant) this morning!  Natalie is just really content to hang out in her crib and sing and talk to herself.  It's really cute.  And really great because we can catch a few extra minutes of shut eye.  Then I went out for a brunch with some new friends.  I met Tiffany through my friend Heather Yori Ingold (I've mentioned this before) and about 8 of us had brunch in Somerville.  Funny story... I ordered biscuits and gravy.  But I was leery of ordering them because they are a very southern food and here I am ordering them in the north.... so these biscuits and gravy could go horribly, horribly wrong.  So I discussed this with the waiter, who told me, "Oh they're totally authentic southern food.  Our head chef is from the south."  To which I perk up... they can't be bad if the chef is from the south!  "Yeah, he's from West Virginia!"  Um... not really buddy, but okay, I'll try them anyway!  (They were good, if a bit heavy on the sausage, and not enough pepper.  I added my own). 

It was a good time hanging out and talking girl stuff- shopping, babies, husbands.  SO FUN.  Apparently these girls get together once a month, so I'm excited about seeing them again in March! 

I've also gotten some packing done this weekend.  Not a lot, but some. 

Here are some semi-recent pics of Grant.  To be honest, I haven't taken ANY of the kids lately.  We keep forgetting the camera when we go out.

Weekend update

Natalie and I are still recovering from our colds, and now Grant has come down with it.  Poor guy.  It makes me so sad to see him sick.  He had a fever this weekend as high as 101.1.  Last night, it was "down" to 100.5, but he seemed warm this morning again.  He's also really congested and has a terrible cough. On a good note, he took his bottle at 10 last night and although he was fussing around 2 am, Todd gave him his pacifier and he fell back asleep and didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 5:15!  I took him to the doctor on Sunday and his ears and chest sounded fine, so that is good news too.  Hopefully he won't get any worse. I just keep waiting for this fever to break!

Meanwhile, Natalie is still coughing, but her runny nose seems to be getting better.  I am off and on... some moments I feel great, then an hour later, I feel crummy again.  I hate winter!

On Saturday, we took the kids for lunch at Rise-n-Shine in downtown Natick.  It's our "cheat" day from our diets, so I enjoyed the chicken fingers and onion rings.  I mean, if you're going to cheat, go big, right???? It was good, and reminded me of college, except without the hangover.

After lunch, we swung by the new house.  We went inside to check out the rooms again, to see where we can fit our furniture, and what to use the rooms on the first floor for (we've decided adult living room, playroom, and guest room!).  We also wanted to check the layout of the bedrooms, to see which room would fit our furniture.  I think we have it all figured out.  But Natalie was SO excited to be at the new house.  I've never seen her so excited over something.  She was running around, spinning in circles, hopping and doing little jumps... it was really funny.  Although now that I think about it... maybe she inherited the gypsy gene from Todd and me?  Uh oh!  Later when we were back at home, she was still talking about it.  She even said, "We will take all of our toys to the new house!"  The good news is, we will have ROOM for all of our toys! 

More good news... I just heard from Todd and Grant's temperature is back to 98.6!  Hooray!

PS:  The computer is almost totally set up.  We have a *NEW* photo and video editing software, so pictures are forthcoming!

New Computer

Sorry I've been out of commission.  Our old computer was on it's last leg (really?  Do computers have legs?) so we bought a new one.  Now we are going through the process (read: hassle) of transferring files and software from the old computer to the new one.  This includes my photo editing software and video conversion to MP4 software.  So whenever we get those moved over, I will be back in business!

In other news, Natalie and I have both been sick.  We are both recovering though, so that is good.  Nana came for a visit last weekend when we went out to look for new rental homes.  We found one, but it had a half fee (which came out to almost $900 which we would never get back).  We weren't too thrilled with that, but it was 1800 square feet located on Speen Street, not including a full, unfinished basement.  Plus it had two bathrooms (always nice when there are 4 people in the house).  It didn't have the 4th bedroom we wanted, but it did have a big "dining room" with a fireplace.  I think we will put a pull out sofa in there (a nice one) and consider it a guest room/office.  In the end, Todd worked his wicked negotiation skillz and got them to waive the half fee.  We signed a 14 month lease (at their request which was okay with us), and they gave us the last weekend in February for free to move in.  So now we have to pack up the current place (insert expletives here) and move in about a month.  With two babies.  YIKES. 

Next weekend, I am going to a brunch with some local mommies in Sommerville.  I met a nice girl named Tiffany through my friend Heather Yori Ingold (who I've been friends with since middle school!!!).  Tiffany is her friend, and she oddly enough, lives in Natick!  She has twin babies (a boy and a girl) and there is a group of girls that get together about once a month or so.  So that sounds like fun! 

Then the next weekend, we will be going to dear baby Jonathan's first birthday party.  It's hard to believe he's already one year old!  Jonathan and Natalie/Grant are second cousins.  It's a swimming party (don't panic, it's indoors).  Of course, Natalie got tubes in September, so we have to figure out what to do with that!  I'm on the hunt for a bathing cap and some cotton! 

So we have a couple of busy weekends ahead and we have to find time to pack.

Sorry there are no new pics.  Hopefully I can get some posted this weekend once the editing software gets installed!

Sally's visit to Massachusetts

Sally Russell, my maid of honor, came up from Atlanta to visit us this past weekend. Grant loved her because she would pat his bum while holding him and he would fall asleep in her arms every time. Natalie loved her because hey, let's face it... she's a fun gal. In fact, twice now she said to me, "We are sad because Sally left." Yes Natalie, we are.

We had so much fun. Saturday, the five of us went to the New England Aquarium. Natalie said her favorite part was the penguins. They were SO cute. It was feeding time when we were there, so that was really fun to watch. I really like the big tank in the middle of the aquarium with various sea life swimming around. Big sharks, giant sea turtles, rays, big fish, small fish, and we even got to see a few humans floating around in there, strategically placing lettuce here and there for the fish to nibble on. There was also a great little tidepool touch tank for kids to touch sea stars, hermit crabs, snails, and horseshoe crabs, among other things. And, in typical 2 and a half year old fashion, she also liked to run up and down the ramp that surrounds the exhibits. She just wanted to run. She wasn't running to see anything. Just wanted to run. ("Ready, set, GO!")

Saturday evening, Sally and I went out to the Chateau at Dudley Pond. This place is hysterical. It's kind of a dump, but this bar serves the most AWESOME burgers and other pub fare. It was an old speakeasy long ago, and is set at the edge of Dudley Pond, right in the middle of a neighborhood. It's very random. I don't know who's in charge of zoning for the Town of Natick, but it definitely seems weird to have a bar/restaurant in the middle of a neighborhood! Every time Todd and I have been there, we have pretty much been the only people in there. Well, it gets packed with townies on a Saturday night! So after we ate and had a drink, we went to Cheesecake Factory for some dessert (red velvet for me, and PB Fudge for Sal!) and another drink before heading home around 10:30. We are SO old.

Actually, we came home because I'm nursing Grant and needed to "pump and dump." My left boob was really hurting, and I thought I would get some relief after I pumped. But it still really hurt afterwards. I was shivering when I crawled into bed... but an hour later, under a down comforter, I was still shivering! Something wasn't right... my left boob was warm to the touch and it felt rock hard. Because of the shivering, I knew I must have a fever or something. I also wound up throwing up in the middle of the night! So it turns out I had a nice little case of mastitis. I've got my antibiotics now, and I'm doing much better! Very strange. I felt better by Sunday afternoon and I took Sally to Friendly's. If you're in New England, you have to eat at Friendly's at least once. It's pretty similar to Frish's Big Boy (if you're from the midwest, you'll know what this is). They also have kick butt ice cream, which we also enjoyed! Todd stayed at home with the kids... and he did NOT enjoy the Pat's loss to Baltimore!

Sunday evening, Sally and I went out to see The Blind Side. Sally went to Alabama, who just won the National Championship in football... boo... War Eagle! We really liked this movie. I think 90% of New Englanders just wouldn't understand some parts of this movie... like how Sandra Bullock's character HATED Tennessee. It was fun to see cameo's (and some more than cameo's!) from Tommy Tuberville (wearing Auburn gear of course... not Texas Tech), as well as Nick Saban. Even though Nick was wearing LSU gear... Sally still had to cheer because he's Bama's coach now. It was a GREAT movie. Highly recommended.

On Monday, Sally and I went to Cambridge to eat at Bartley's Burgers across from Harvard Yard. DEELISH! (And they score mega points with me for having yummy Diet Coke!) Here is a pic of Sally and Grant in Harvard Yard after lunch. Sally and I kept joking that we felt very dumb compared to all of the smart Harvard kids! We didn't spend much time outside because it was REALLY cold out (highs only in the 20s) so we went back to Natick and went to the mall. I picked up a few pieces of yellow jewelry (a nice bracelet and some earrings) for Cory and Brianna's wedding. (I'm a bridesmaid!). Sally got a nice new sweater and some earrings herself!

Sadly, Sally went home on Tuesday. We are hoping to win the lottery so she can move into our house and become our nanny. Although I think she might have to fight Todd's sister Kathleen for the position, ha ha ha!!!

Something funny about my kids

I have noticed over the last week that Grant gets really upset whenever we are driving and the car stops (like at a red light or in traffic). It's funny because Natalie was the EXACT same way as a baby. She eventually grew out of it, but I think it's just funny that both of them need to be moving at all times in the car to be happy! I wonder if it has anything to do with being in a canopied car seat, facing backwards, or if it's just because they like the hum/vibration of the engine. It definitely lulls Grant to sleep if we are in the car long enough (and Natalie was the same way... she hasn't slept in the car in months though!) Isn't that funny??? I wonder if all babies are like this, or just mine?