READING IS FUNDAMENTAL...

Beginning and ending the day with a good book...

...The rest of the day, I would just assume forget - yes, it was THAT kind of a day. Getting used to having to keep up with two is, as many of you know, one of the biggest adjustments you go through as you grow a family. For us, that translated into attempting to get out to our play group this morning - the key word being "attempting," as in we never actually made it there. A couple of snack breaks for the baby, two meltdowns from a toddler that led to two time-outs, a power struggle over who gets to brush said toddler's teeth, and a surprise visit from the company from which we're getting an estimate for a back-up generator for the house added up to not getting out the door. Sigh.

I found myself on the verge of tears on several occasions today. I know in my head that things will get much easier as Molly gets older and on more of a schedule, and that I need to cut myself some slack - I mean, we're only one month into this new little adventure. I want to do it all, be it all, but realistically this is not possible - at least for right now. In the meantime, I have to stop and enjoy some of the little moments I stumble across throughout the day - like Caroline pulling up to Molly's swing this morning and reading her "Thomas the Train," or snuggling up with my girls to read "Elmer" before putting Caroline to bed. Tomorrow's another day, right?

BACK TO SCHOOL... AND BACK FROM HIATUS!

So we've been more than a little MIA over the past few months! I am so sorry for that - it seems that being a blogger and dealing with a busy summer were a bit too much for me! Things are finally settling down though, and I am back and running - just gotta bite the bullet and not let any more time pass before writing in again. If I wait any longer, I might never be able to catch up! So here's what we've been up to this summer...



1) We've finally moved! Although we're still dealing with some construction (more on that in another post...), unpacking, and decorating, we've got the basic bones of what we need (mainly, an elevator... more on that in another post, too!), and that's what counts. I feel like our workers are going to move in with us and live here forever, but at least they are nice and really good with Caroline. :) BTW, if anyone in the DC Metro area is looking for a really good builder/renovator, we definitely reccommend Hemingway Homes in Bethesda - they have been beyond fabulous! I promise to post some pictures soon, especially of some of the before and after.



2) We sold our other house! We were lucky - even in this market, we got an offer after about 40 days. We went to settlement the Monday after we moved in to our new home. We felt good because it was going to a really nice older couple who could benefit from the one-floor living that the house provided us, and the fact that they had no plans to tear it down and build a McMansion (which is common in our old neighborhood) made me happy - I don't like change, so it's nice to imagine that our house is like the one in one of my favorite children's books, The Little House, where everything around the house changes but the house for the most part stays the same.



3) Steve finished his thesis and is officially finished with his MS in Engineering at Hopkins! It has been a REALLY long road for all of us (him, in particular!), and the past 8 months while he was writing what turned out to be an over-400-page document has been hard. I didn't realize how much I missed him until I had him back again! He even got an A - not that I'm surprised! I am so happy for him about that - it's nice to know that all your hard work and time away from work, family, and friends has paid off. We were really smart with our timing - he defended his thesis on a Friday afternoon, we moved on Saturday, and sold our house on Monday. Nothing like cramming in all the life changes into one weekend, which brings me to my next bit of news...



4) We're expecting our second baby! I'm a little over 16 weeks, or 4 months, along, and I'm due in February. I held back about posting the news when we first found out earlier this summer because I wanted to wait a bit, and then time just got away and life got crazy for me. I'm feeling good after a long first trimester - not sure if it was the baby or the move or both, but I'm glad it's better. We are really excited and although I'm a bit nervous about the whole two-kid thing, I'm sure we'll figure it out. Caroline taught me that. I'll keep you posted on how things are going in the upcoming weeks and months!



5) ...And finally, last but not least, our baby girl Caroline turned two in August and started pre-school last week! I can't believe how fast time has flown - she is such a little person now and totally not a baby. On the first day, after we got her out of the car, she bolted straight for the front door and didn't even notice us following her because she was so excited to get in there. While I have to admit part of me was hoping she'd at least realize that she and I would no longer be hanging out together every day like the wacky sidekicks we've become, I was also really proud of her for jumping right in and gearing up for her next adventure. Ultimately, that's the kind of kid that we are trying so hard to raise, and it was cool to see that spirit in her, even so early in her little life.



Aside from a few trips to the Bay here and there, that's what our summer has basically been all about - house, thesis, baby, getting ready for school. I can't wait until things are put together and we can all calm down - which will probably be just in time for Number 2's arrival. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be, though?!



Until next time - and I promise it won't be too long...

AT LONG LAST...

I have finally had a moment to get on here to post! What a week it has been since getting home from our trip to Fort Myers Beach for my cousin Brian's wedding to his new bride, Kara. I'll spare you most of the details, mainly because I'm finally a little less furious and don't really feel like getting myself all worked up again. Let's just say that the installation of the granite countertops, which our friend, who is our realtor, promised to supervise (and who decided that oversight, not to mention the promise he made to us, wasn't necessary and therefore wasn't in our home with these strangers for most of the day), didn't go so well.

We came home from our lovely family vacation to find bottles of Drano and Windex - which had been under the sink - out on the kitchen floor where Caroline made a beeline for them, chunks of drywall missing behind the backsplash that needed to be spackled and repainted, our plumbing disconnected so that when we turned the water on we had floods in not only the crawlspace under the kitchen but also under our sink, and our pantry, and every shelf in the pantry cabinet - which is adjacent to the counters - collapsed and in need of clean-up. We also found the old backsplash out on our deck and the old sink in our garage, apparently left for us to dispose of. Needless to say, it was not a happy scene at our house that night and in the days after.

People often talk about feeling violated when they have had a break-in or after being pick-pocketed or something. That's exactly how I felt upon seeing my kitchen. We had not contracted this work - our realtor had done this on our behalf. People I didn't know were in my home while I was not, and took something that I have loved for almost 5 years - our very first house, the place we brought our daughter home to for the first time - and tore it apart. While our realtor thought he could trust these people - as he had done business with them many times before, and whose children his children often play with - they clearly didn't hold as much value in this place as we do. The realtor has since apologized, and knows that his relationship with the contractor, as well as us, will never be the same.

Fortunately, my father is quite adept at lots of things related to home maintanence, and he helped us to put our little house back together again. He and Steve spackled and painted, cleared out and cleaned up the debris, and things are back to normal again. My Mom and Aunt Karen helped me to reconstruct the pantry while I chased Caroline and worked on packing the other parts of our house. We got everything fixed and ready for the dual baby shower I hosted this past Friday for my good friends Kristy and Michelle, who are due next month - just a week apart! While my trust in some people is still somewhat broken, my home is not, and should be ready to put on the market this week. I'll be posting next about our trip, but I wanted to share why I've been so out of the loop for the past few days...

WE'RE OFFICIALLY REAL ESTATE MOGULS!

Our current house, prior to the landscaping done this weekend, and another shot of our new house, with plants in bloom (yay!)

Hee hee... Just kidding. That's what Steve and I have been calling ourselves to help distract ourselves from the fact that we now own two homes (one of which will be sold soon, hopefully!). Our closing this past Friday was uneventful, thank goodness, and we took ownership around 4:00. We have spent this past weekend packing up and moving some stuff to empty out our current house so that it will show better when we put it on the market in the next week.

Fabulous weather made this weekend just perfect. Our current house is looking great, thanks to some contractors who have been making some of the minor cosmetic repairs we needed to make, as well as Steve's best friend Marc, who not only helped him move 2 large U-Haul loads to the new house starting at 8:30 this morning, but also helped us to update landscape the front of the house to give it a bit more curb appeal - all after he spent all day drinking at a wedding in Annapolis yesterday. Tomorrow, the contractors will be back to tinker, and the granite guy will be here to put in new counter tops (the one part of the kitchen that hasn't been updated). Hopefully all this hard work will help us to sell quickly so that Steve and I can breathe a sigh of relief (and I can start thinking about furniture for the new house!).

On the elevator front, we met with a great builder last Wednesday who not only had great ideas for the shaft and elevator, but also helped us think about things we could incorporate into the design so that we could make our new house even more user-friendly in the future. It was really nice to hear the architect ask questions about what my needs were before I even had the chance to bring them up. Hopefully, their estimate will come in at a reasonable enough level that we can work with them!

All in all, it's been a busy but productive weekend! I think the fact that we are heading forward has helped both Steve and me to feel more confident in our decision to move. As I get a chance to take more pictures, I'll put them up! I hope everyone had a great weekend...

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL...

So we are moving. I haven't posted about this yet, as my husband is completely superstitious about it and didn't want me to jinx it or something by writing about it before we went to closing. Something about things going smoothly or whatever.

We found our new house almost by accident. One of our good friends emailed us about a sale that popped up on her neighborhood's listserve, and if I hadn't looked in my spam folder I would have missed it. It was being sold because the couple who lived there were relocating for work and family. It's adorable - a large cape cod that has much more space than it seems from the outside, has 4/5 bedrooms and 4 full baths, has been mainly renovated or updated (and what hasn't been updated is in good shape). The yard is so much bigger than our current house's, with flat land that will be easy on kids and my chair. I can get to all parts of the house, including storage, after we install an elevator (which I am THRILLED about!!!). Steve fell in love with it after we went to see it, and so we were sold. An offer was made, a contract was signed, and that was that! I breathed a huge sigh of relief about not having to live through a renovation here...

Well, as we approach Friday (closing day!!!), things are not as placid as they were when we started this process almost 3 months ago. Living though the stress of waiting for final mortgage approval, changes in the cost of the elevator (one potential contractor seemingly "forgot" to include the reconstruction of an outside stairwell in his initial estimate which is oh, just a piddly little 11-grand more...), packing with a toddler unpacking everything that you put into a box, trying to get this house ready to put on the market, and doing all of the above while Steve is writing his thesis and I'm getting us ready for a trip to Florida for a wedding... Oh, sigh. It's exhausting just thinking about it. Cocktails help. My mom and aunt help. I just can't wait until it's all done and settled and put away. Meanwhile, I am going to go pour myself a glass of wine. I'll keep you posted...