Monday, August 28, 2006
Friday was a sad day. As many of you know, we've had heavy hearts lately because poor Hayride could barely stand
and was so thin. Dear Dakota would often howl in pain because of a degenerating spine. Early Friday morning, in
the middle of the night, I laid awake with a pit in my stomach. Dakota was terribly uncomfortable, and Hayride was a
thin shadow laying on the floor before me. I needed to make a decision. I told myself to make some phone calls
after breakfast, and I tried to get a few more hours of sleep.
Morning came, and I told Russ, that the time had come. I needed to find a vet where a credit card could cover all
the costs, but we both agreed that we couldn't put off the inevitable any longer. Russ's mom made a good point too,
saying that it might be tough on them, taking them to the new house where everything would be unfamiliar.
Friday, mid morning, we let our dogs go in peace and dignity. We shed many tears, but found peace knowing that
neither of them were in pain anymore. Of course the decison was a difficult one to make, but we felt that it was the
right one, even if it wasn't the easy one.
Though it was a struggle to get ourselves going again after such a depressing start, we knew we had some afternoon tasks
ahead of us. While Liam and Jaxson were still at daycare, we took the opportunity to make some phone calls to some of
the utilities so that we could get our address changed etc.
Later in the afternoon, after we'd brought the boys home, we all took a bit of a nap. The stress of the day had
taken its toll, so we just let ourselves recooperate.
Saturday Russ treated us to breakfast at IHOP. We were out of milk anyway, so it was a good excuse.
It was a nice venture, and we ran into my old boss and his wife, as well as our good friends, The Hoffmans. It seemed
to be a popular watering hole. After breakfast, we headed to the grocery store.
Later that afternoon, I weeded out some old Teaching stuff from the boxes we'd removed from the attic. Russ took
down the dining room table, so we'd have a little more room to put boxes and such from the guest room.
Sunday, we finished up a few small tasks, and then the boys and I attended Tammy's Natural Family Boutique Open House.
Liam got to play with some fun toys, and I assisted some new mom's in trying on some of the baby carries that NFB sells.
I made a few purchases myself too. That evening we enjoyed dinner together and then began pulling items together for
the long work week ahead.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Getting closer to the BIG MOVE every day! Seems like the hours are dragging by though! Hate to wish our lives
away like that. Really, after September 9th, things can take their sweet time!
So, we didn't do a lot last weekend. Primarily because with my shortened paychecks for Maternity leave, combined
with all the "hidden" housing fees we've shucked out lately, there wasn't a lot left over for much more than a bit of Pizza
on Friday night! We'll recoup soon though. Just gotta hang in there.
I did manage to scare up a $20 though so I could go to the big yard sale at the Fairgrounds Saturday morning. It
was fun, and Jaxson and I ran into a couple of our Yard Saling friends too! For $18 I got a Fisher Price Farm set AND
a Fisher Price Garage for Liam, some clothes for Liam, and a nice set of shelves! Not bad! Plus, we were home
by 9:30 and we all had a nice breakfast together. Then, of course, we had a grand time sprawled out on the floor
playing with the new (well 1987) Farm set!
I found myself to be really tired that afternoon, so the tasks I'd planned didn't get done... other than a few loads
of laundry. I figured it was just a good time to catch up on some energy since I'd gone back to work the week before.
Now, Sunday, we banged out a few pre-moving tasks. We took down both the crib and the guest bed. Then, since
the guest room was pretty empty, we hauled EVERYTHING down from the attic and put it in the Guest room. Then, Russ nailed
down the remaining plywood up there, so what was left was a nice clean storage area for the new owner. AND.... there's
still space left in the Guest ROOM!!
Liam enjoyed some time playing in the dirt while I was doing laundry.
He got an early bath!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
NOTE: We've about run out of space here with verizon, so we deleted many older pictures. If there is an red
x in the picture spot, more than likely we've removed it. We'll try to remove all those empty spots soon.
Well, this was my LAST weekend of maternity leave. 6 weeks really flew by, but I really think that I've made the
most of it. A nice week with Russ and Mom & Dad, a nice couple of weeks with Noah, a trip to see Marcie, and a nice
couple of weeks of just Jaxson and myself. All along we've managed to get our house on the market, sell it, AND buy
another. I can't believe so much was done!
Friday, since we were all off from work, we did a few errands and got some groceries. We also had to go to Lowe's
to get supplies for a handrail - one of the requests of our buyer as per the home inspection. Fortunately, we've agreed
that we don't need to install it, just provide supplies. For once, it was nice to not have a lot to do, however we discovered
that we were all exhausted after coming home from getting groceries. Russ and I had to tag team just to get the goods
put away! Having two very tired boys didn't help the process much either.
Saturday we fullfilled the other of our home inspection tasks, replacing the seal on the refrigerator. Of course, this
wasn't as easy of a job as we imagined, but with both of us working to remove all the bolts (I'm guessing about 30) from the
door, it wasn't to lengthly of a job.
However, Jaxson was very fussy during the process, so Liam rocked him in his carseat while singing "Rock-a-bye Baby."
That helped, even if only for a few minutes. We have resorted to using a pacifier during these times when we just don't
have enough arms for holding, but the little guy isn't easily fooled, and often just spits it out. He still hasn't gotten
the hang of sucking his thumb. I know it sounds weird to be encouraging such a habit, but at least a thumb is always
at the ready. Unlike Liam, he has no interest in sucking his fingers either.
So we managed to get the seal on the door, just as it should go... except now it doesn't seal as well. Ironic,
huh? Well, Russ looked up the process online and discovered that this was normal, and that in a couple of days, it should conform
to the door. Well, as I type this, it is Thursday, and the seal is only a little bit better. We think we'll
take the added suggestion from online, and work it into shape with a hairdryer this weekend... cross your fingers that
this works. The seal was about $70, so we don't want it to fail. It was an unusual request, and I'm not sure
it was worth it, but there could have been worse requests to fix, so we'll do the best we can, short of buying a new
refrigerator.
Later on Saturday Liam enjoyed playing in the dirt in the backyard. The weather has been cooler lately (80s
instead of 90s) so it was quite enjoyable. Then my friend, Jodi, visited with her two kids, Caleb and Abigail.
Liam just LOVES Caleb. It's too bad that they are soon moving to Norfolk, but we've sworn to keep in touch regularly. Soon,
Caleb and Liam were having a dandy time frolicing in the hose and getting boyishly muddy in the process. Abigail
delighted in shuffling her feet in the grass, and Jaxson (as well as the rest of us) just smiled at the entertainment.
Jodi and the kids planned to spend the night, so we could all attend the early playgroup the following morning.
Jodi has been staying with her mom near Annapolis for a few weeks, while her husband, Carl attended some job-related training
in FL, and is now in Norfolk getting things set up for thier move.
We got the kids scrubbed up, and made a nice dinner together. Then, once the kids were all in bed and/or quiet
we started watching the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha. Jodi and I chatted until Midnight. Russ joined us for the movie,
but then relished some alone time on the computer before we all went to bed.
Jaxson had me up fairly early on Sunday, so I used the time to whip up some biscuits and get some bacon frying.
Playgroup was at 9:00 at the Leonardtown Playground, so we really needed to leave aound 8:30. Gathering up four young
children at such an early time is no small feat, but we made it.
The kids had fun playing together, and all of us adults had fun catching up on the latest milestones. There's about
half a dozen of us who regularly get together once a month. The web forum I set up keeps us tuned in on a daily basis,
and it's really nice to have a secure group of like minded folks. I've grown to really cherish the friendships.
After the playgroup (Jodi and the kids headed back North), we stopped by Sears on the way home. We knew we needed
to purchase a new washer and dryer for the new house, so we wanted to see what deals were offered. We found a nice pair
and set up a delivery time. The washer is a large capacity although is still energy efficient. The dryer too,
has the energy star rating. That will be a big plus for us, since I'll still be washing diapers for another couple of
years. After diapers, I'm sure I'll have my share of mud and boy grime to wash on a regular basis, so we really wanted
to get something hardy.
Sunday afternoon we just tried to enjoy every minute. I knew I had to go back to work the next day, so I began
the process of getting things around for two little boys to go to daycare. I was ready though. I will miss being
home, howeve, I must admit that it will be nice to get back into a daily routine... and with all our expensed forthcoming,
it will be good to get back to earning full pay again too. I took a little longer at bathtime, a little longer at story
time, and a little longer with a few more hugs and kisses that night knowing that my maternity days were now officially over.
On to the next stage!
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Bottom line... we spent too much money this weekend!
Well, Russ came home early on Friday afternoon so it was nice just to have some relaxing time together. We've spent
so much time on the housing situation AND the baby prep, that we've been cherishing these times of normalcy before we get
into the swing of moving soon.
Saturday morning we ran a few errands. We went to Target looking for a kitchen table, but didn't see any.
We did, however, stumble across a "CARS" toddler bed, that Liam loved. So, we took one of the gift cards that we received
for Jaxson, and went ahead and purchased it. We figure Jaxson will get to use it eventually! ;) It's just
a little bed that uses his crib mattress (we'll need to get another for Jaxson) and works as a transition.
Once home we decided - at Russ's prompting - to travel to the IKEA store in College Park, MD. It was about a hour
and a half drive, but Russ really wanted to see if we could get the kitchen table that we saw at the IKEA store in PA.
I was reluctant to go, but checked my finances, and figured we could use a bit of an outing.
The IKEA store is huge. It's even a bit overwhelming and works much like your standard warehouse store like BJ's
or Sam's Club. The method is primarily self serve. However, unlike the grocery store warehouse clubs, IKEA has
full sized furniture.
Now, since we didn't really plan to get much more than a small table, we figured our adventure would be fairly simple...
that is, untill we saw a fabulous deal on a sofa!!
So, to keep the details of the adventure short, we ended up with three carts full of furniture (including the sofa) as
we made our way through the checkout lane and to the delivery center. We found a cheaper kitchen table, a couple of
living room chairs, a storage cubby and an office chair too. Our experience wasn't all that enjoyable especially in a warm
warehouse with unfriendly staff while slinging an infant and finding the best way to keep track of a todder! Still,
we were pleased with our purchases, and figured the $79 fee for delivery was well worth it even though we did half the work
of retrieving the merchandise!
Needless to say we arrived home quite tired. However, Russ had promised Liam he'd put together his "race car bed."
So, while I got the boys bathed and ready for bed, Russ worked on the task. Liam was thrilled to crawl in it without
any fuss, and slept soundly all night with his new IKEA dragon by his side too! We were very surprised at how easily
he transitioned from crib to the bed!!
We made no plans for Sunday at all. It was nice just to lounge around and play. In the afternoon we spent
a bit of time out in the backyard. Liam delighted in playing in the hose, and Jaxson was amused by the shadows coming
through the oak leaves. Occasionally there was a pang of nostalgia as Russ and I viewed our little townhouse with fondness.
We've spent a happy decade in this little (very little) neck of the Southern MD woods, but we'll be happy to settle in a new
neck soon!
