and the next day it's chilly.
Before you know it, we'll be in the midst of winter.
Good thing we're prepared.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Weather
One day it's hot and sunny,
and the next day it's chilly.
Before you know it, we'll be in the midst of winter.
Good thing we're prepared.
and the next day it's chilly.
Before you know it, we'll be in the midst of winter.
Good thing we're prepared.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Back talk
Sadie (hysterically crying at the top of the stairs): Mom! Mom! Moooooooommmmmmm!
Me (frantic that she had hurt herself): Sadie, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Did you fall?
Sadie: No. I...I...I want my kitty!
Me: Where's your kitty?
Sadie: At...At...the bottom...of the stairs.
Me: Well, how did Kitty get there?
Sadie: I threw him down there. Waaaaaaa!
Me: Well, you've been going up and down the stairs for almost an hour. Why don't you go down and get him?
Sadie: But, I DON'T WANT to get him! I want YOU to get him for me!
Me: Sadie, you have two legs. You can walk down there and get him yourself.
Sadie (defiantly): Well, you have two legs too!
Geez, it's starting already.
Me (frantic that she had hurt herself): Sadie, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Did you fall?
Sadie: No. I...I...I want my kitty!
Me: Where's your kitty?
Sadie: At...At...the bottom...of the stairs.
Me: Well, how did Kitty get there?
Sadie: I threw him down there. Waaaaaaa!
Me: Well, you've been going up and down the stairs for almost an hour. Why don't you go down and get him?
Sadie: But, I DON'T WANT to get him! I want YOU to get him for me!
Me: Sadie, you have two legs. You can walk down there and get him yourself.
Sadie (defiantly): Well, you have two legs too!
Geez, it's starting already.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Adjusting
Huh.
I have no idea where the last couple of weeks has gone, but I just realized that I haven't posted in a long, long while. Sorry about that.
The kids have been adjusting really well to our new home. They still aren't sick of the stairs and manage to go up and down both flights no less than 50 times a day. Usually they call for me when they're on a different floor so I manage to go up and down stairs no less than 50 times a day myself. Hopefully this will tone my butt.
When we moved into this house, we knew the kids would have their own bedrooms. At one time I imagined them sharing a room until they are 12, but once the difficult bedtimes started (playing until 10pm, waking each other up in the middle of the night to dismantle the closet, Linus pile-driving Sadie while she's sleeping...) I couldn't wait to separate them. I needed some sleep!
I also knew they would be in big beds once we moved here. We never bought toddler beds and I couldn't justify the expense for such a short period of time. Also, since the kids will jump off of anything no matter what the height, we kept them on mattresses on the floor as long as possible. When they managed to stack them at various angles in order to reach the windows or to slide down them from the dresser, then we knew we had a problem. Actually one of the last incidents before we moved (and skip this if I've already told the story) happened at 2am when Brian walked in to a room of laughing kids who were standing on the dresser and jumping onto the mattresses below. Linus knew he was in trouble and quickly got off. Sadie's rationale:
"We didn't want to jump on the floor because it's too hard. We're being safe".
Thus, the separate rooms with tightly closed doors, and big beds with guard rails and comforters on the floor.
So far, so good. Sadie has fallen out of bed once, but mostly because that girl is the most active sleeper I've ever seen. My brothers and I used to sleepwalk and I'm pretty sure she is/will be that way too.
Let's see...what else.
My mom came to stay with us for over a week which was fantastic. I was able to unpack everything and mostly organize which was unbelievable. Who knew I could accomplish so much when I didn't have to run up and down the stairs 50 times?
Then my dad and brother stayed with us for a few days too. They helped us take care of almost everything on our very long list of small house projects.
What am I saying? They alone took care of almost everything on our very long list of small house projects. Sadie and Linus were paying careful attention too because I caught them this morning emptying the tool box so they could find a screwdriver to "fix" their trucks. Hopefully they didn't see my attempts at using a jigsaw or a band saw...
While everyone was here we celebrated the kids' 3rd birthday. I found the most awesome old-fashioned bakery in town that made us the best cake I've had in a long time. I tried to upload the video of them gorging themselves on cake while I was in the kitchen looking for a knife, but for some reason it won't work. I also did a horrendous job of taking pictures the last couple of weeks, but I did get a couple of them at the park right down the street:
showing off their new bathrobes (thanks Kelly!) after bath time:
and one of Ryan after a long day of working on the house:
All in all, everyone is doing really well adjusting to life in Chicago. Granted the kids have starting "going" to Legoland with their cars and trucks on a regular basis.
And the other day they were having a puppet show in the heating vent...not sure what that was about.
But, overall, they are happy just playing in the house and back yard. They still talk about our friends in San Diego, but life has been crazy enough for all of us with just getting settled that I don't think it has really sunk in yet. Luckily, they have each other because this transition might not be going so smoothly otherwise.
I have no idea where the last couple of weeks has gone, but I just realized that I haven't posted in a long, long while. Sorry about that.
The kids have been adjusting really well to our new home. They still aren't sick of the stairs and manage to go up and down both flights no less than 50 times a day. Usually they call for me when they're on a different floor so I manage to go up and down stairs no less than 50 times a day myself. Hopefully this will tone my butt.
When we moved into this house, we knew the kids would have their own bedrooms. At one time I imagined them sharing a room until they are 12, but once the difficult bedtimes started (playing until 10pm, waking each other up in the middle of the night to dismantle the closet, Linus pile-driving Sadie while she's sleeping...) I couldn't wait to separate them. I needed some sleep!
I also knew they would be in big beds once we moved here. We never bought toddler beds and I couldn't justify the expense for such a short period of time. Also, since the kids will jump off of anything no matter what the height, we kept them on mattresses on the floor as long as possible. When they managed to stack them at various angles in order to reach the windows or to slide down them from the dresser, then we knew we had a problem. Actually one of the last incidents before we moved (and skip this if I've already told the story) happened at 2am when Brian walked in to a room of laughing kids who were standing on the dresser and jumping onto the mattresses below. Linus knew he was in trouble and quickly got off. Sadie's rationale:
"We didn't want to jump on the floor because it's too hard. We're being safe".
Thus, the separate rooms with tightly closed doors, and big beds with guard rails and comforters on the floor.
So far, so good. Sadie has fallen out of bed once, but mostly because that girl is the most active sleeper I've ever seen. My brothers and I used to sleepwalk and I'm pretty sure she is/will be that way too.
Let's see...what else.
My mom came to stay with us for over a week which was fantastic. I was able to unpack everything and mostly organize which was unbelievable. Who knew I could accomplish so much when I didn't have to run up and down the stairs 50 times?
Then my dad and brother stayed with us for a few days too. They helped us take care of almost everything on our very long list of small house projects.
What am I saying? They alone took care of almost everything on our very long list of small house projects. Sadie and Linus were paying careful attention too because I caught them this morning emptying the tool box so they could find a screwdriver to "fix" their trucks. Hopefully they didn't see my attempts at using a jigsaw or a band saw...
While everyone was here we celebrated the kids' 3rd birthday. I found the most awesome old-fashioned bakery in town that made us the best cake I've had in a long time. I tried to upload the video of them gorging themselves on cake while I was in the kitchen looking for a knife, but for some reason it won't work. I also did a horrendous job of taking pictures the last couple of weeks, but I did get a couple of them at the park right down the street:
showing off their new bathrobes (thanks Kelly!) after bath time:
and one of Ryan after a long day of working on the house:
All in all, everyone is doing really well adjusting to life in Chicago. Granted the kids have starting "going" to Legoland with their cars and trucks on a regular basis.
And the other day they were having a puppet show in the heating vent...not sure what that was about.
But, overall, they are happy just playing in the house and back yard. They still talk about our friends in San Diego, but life has been crazy enough for all of us with just getting settled that I don't think it has really sunk in yet. Luckily, they have each other because this transition might not be going so smoothly otherwise.
Monday, September 8, 2008
It's all about the stairs
Well, we have arrived in Chicago. For the most part everyone did really, really well on the ride here - much better than I expected. (Nothing like setting your expectations so low that there's always the possibility of being pleasantly surprised).
When we pulled into our neighborhood, I knew we were home. I absolutely LOVE where we live. Everything is just so...green. It reminds me of growing up in North Carolina where you can't see your neighbors because of all of the trees. The first 4 years Brian lived in NC he found it claustrophobic, but since I grew up there I absolutely love it.
Hey - now we're having a thunderstorm - something else to remind me of home.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love San Diego, but I always felt like I was on vacation. Part of it was probably the climate, but mostly because we knew Brian's job there was temporary. If only we could convince our friends to move near us...but somehow I think it would be hard to convince southern Californians to move to Chicago in the winter...or even tonight since it's supposed to get down to 42 degrees...
Anyways, when we got here we had two nights of sleeping on the floor until our stuff arrived.
No one seemed to mind too much.
The biggest hit by far is the fact that this house has stairs.
A lot of stairs.
As you can tell, Sadie and Linus think this is about the coolest thing ever. After a sharp learning curve and the realization that you have to hold on to the railing whether you think you are a big boy/girl or not, I think they are starting to get the hang of it.
The other big hit is the backyard.
Luckily we have really nice neighbors who are tolerant of the dogs, and have already handed over a bag of local apples across our fence. We're also asking them for gardening advice because their yard is gorgeous and we have yet to prove that our thumbs are any color other than black.
And so far, our only casualty has been the screen door.
About 20 minutes after we arrived.
We're still unpacking and getting settled in, but now that we finally have internet I feel like I am back with the land of the living. Hurray for Google! I mean, how else are you supposed to find out where Target is? The Yellow Pages?
Puh-Leeeze.
When we pulled into our neighborhood, I knew we were home. I absolutely LOVE where we live. Everything is just so...green. It reminds me of growing up in North Carolina where you can't see your neighbors because of all of the trees. The first 4 years Brian lived in NC he found it claustrophobic, but since I grew up there I absolutely love it.
Hey - now we're having a thunderstorm - something else to remind me of home.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love San Diego, but I always felt like I was on vacation. Part of it was probably the climate, but mostly because we knew Brian's job there was temporary. If only we could convince our friends to move near us...but somehow I think it would be hard to convince southern Californians to move to Chicago in the winter...or even tonight since it's supposed to get down to 42 degrees...
Anyways, when we got here we had two nights of sleeping on the floor until our stuff arrived.
No one seemed to mind too much.
The biggest hit by far is the fact that this house has stairs.
A lot of stairs.
As you can tell, Sadie and Linus think this is about the coolest thing ever. After a sharp learning curve and the realization that you have to hold on to the railing whether you think you are a big boy/girl or not, I think they are starting to get the hang of it.
The other big hit is the backyard.
Luckily we have really nice neighbors who are tolerant of the dogs, and have already handed over a bag of local apples across our fence. We're also asking them for gardening advice because their yard is gorgeous and we have yet to prove that our thumbs are any color other than black.
And so far, our only casualty has been the screen door.
About 20 minutes after we arrived.
We're still unpacking and getting settled in, but now that we finally have internet I feel like I am back with the land of the living. Hurray for Google! I mean, how else are you supposed to find out where Target is? The Yellow Pages?
Puh-Leeeze.
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