Loving our new house

It's been a week since we moved in, and we are really enjoying our new home.  I love the hardwood floors (so much easier to keep clean than carpet!) and the skylights all over the place.  This house is so much brighter and more cheerful than our other home.  It seems positioned to catch the sunlight better, and I think that's doing wonders for everyone's moods.  The backyard is small, but the boys have had lots of fun playing ball and running around.  They seem to enjoy this backyard already more than the other one.  I think it's going to be a great spring and summer here.

We have had a rough start, health-wise.  Both David and I were sick with bad colds last weekend, and mine seemed to hang on and get even worse this week.  Thomas and Peter seem to have caught a milder version of what we had, but hopefully they'll be better in the next couple of days.  We're all pretty tired of being sick.  Aside from about a week and a half, someone in the house has been sick since right around Lent began, 5 weeks ago.  Fortunately, it hasn't been anything serious, but it has made us weary of the various sicknesses we've had, and much more appreciative of good health.

The boys are doing pretty well with the move, aside from a few attitude setbacks here and there.  Also, although the movers were very efficient and helpful, I'm discovering that they made some interesting choices in deciding what things to combine in the same box -- and then they were very vague in the labeling department, so I have to really unpack every paper-wrapped item in every box to find out where things are.  Normally, I would do this anyway, but this house comes with such a well-stocked kitchen that I won't need to take out most of the cooking pans, storage containers, etc. that I brought along the way.  It's not a big deal, but it's something I haven't felt like dealing with just yet.

One thing I've been working hard on this last week, and over the last several weeks, is to really enjoy the time I spend with the boys.  I do enjoy their company, their antics (well, not all of their antics), their jokes, etc., but sometimes I get so caught up in the things that need to get done -- make meals, make sure they get dressed, get teeth brushed, get school / preschool work done, not watch too many movies, etc. -- that I find the day is over and I haven't really enjoyed the kids, I've just survived the day, if that makes sense.  I know a lot of this comes out of the first 3 months of this year, when I was sick and exhausted with early pregnancy and it was all I could do just to get those bare minimums done.  So I've been making a conscious effort lately to enjoy the boys' quirks and to try to look at even their difficult times with a better sense of humor.

Last Thursday, on our crazy moving day, I had a great moment where I really had the presence of mind of enjoy Thomas being just what he should be -- a silly and totally non-self conscious 4-year old boy.  The movers had delivered our belongings to the new house, and the boys were rummaging around in the boxes while I tried to put a few things away and get ready for dinner.  The boys found their Halloween costumes and were so excited to put them on and run around pretending to be Iron Man and motorcycle drivers.  I realized that I needed a few things from the grocery store, and Thomas begged me to let him keep his Iron Man costume on (mask and all).  I hesitated for a second, and then thought "Well, why not?".  So he went in full Iron Man costume with his brothers and me, up and down the aisles at Giant, much to the amusement of the people we walked by.  He *loved* every second of it.  "Mom, did they think Iron Man was going shopping here today?!?" he asked excitedly.  It was such a great kid moment!  I treasured it, because who knows -- by next year, he might be too self-conscious or just not quite silly enough to want to do this.

Juxtaposition

Ramrod straight "For Rent" sign + crazily crooked mailbox

≠ curb appeal

But it does make us laugh a little every time we pull in to our driveway.

Annunciation Artwork

I freely admit that I am not a naturally crafty or artsy person.  When it comes to teaching Jack art for school, I'm often at a loss for new and interesting ideas.  I also don't like projects that are super messy or expensive to set up, since many times I end up doing 3 art projects since Thomas and Peter want to get in on the action.  Some of my easy, inexpensive, simple ideas have fallen flat on their faces ... like my "let's make new crayons by melting old crayon stubs" project that ended up looking like droppings from a crayonivore animal. 

The other week, though, with the Annunication coming up, I really wanted to do a nice art project that had something to do with the feast day.  I researched ideas well ahead of time (which helps!), and I found instructions online for making simple triptychs -- three-sided displays that can be decorated/painted.  I used some cardboard we had lying around, cut out the triptych shapes, had the boys paint them gold, and then had them choose artwork that I've been saving from the Magnificat magazines we receive every month.  The Magnificats always have gorgeous cover art, but I've never figured out what to do with it.  I also made a space for a "stained glass" window -- which was colored tissue paper pieces that the boys sprinkled between sheets of clear contact paper.  Anyway, I was pleased with the results and the boys were pretty happy, too.  I also let them put white/sparkly glitter on top of it as a final touch, and they went a little crazy with that, but they loved it!



Jack's triptych




Peter's (note the liberal use of glitter on the left panel)




Thomas's




I like how the stained glass window effect looks when light shines in from behind.



Good news all around

My doctor's appointment went great yesterday and it was such a relief to hear the baby's heartbeat galloping away. I'm so grateful to God for this new little life, and for how well things are going so far.  I feel like I can take a big breath and enjoy this pregnancy a bit more. It also helps that I've come out of the green-gray haze of the first 3 months, so I actually feel more like myself again instead of a sick, tired blob.

The other good news is that we secured a great rental house! The lease paperwork finally came through the other night and we signed everything and we're all set now. Another big sigh of relief after a couple of weeks of frantic house searching. Also, the parade of prospective tenants seems to have slowed down a little bit. We did't have any lookers yesterday or today so far, and just one scheduled for tomorrow. It's been a nice break.

Next Thursday the 7th is moving day for us. I haven't really started doing any packing or organizing yet. After 3 moves in the past 18 months, all of them more complicated than this one, I'm not too worried about it. This week will be busy, but I think I might try and take it easy and enjoy this weekend and then dive in to the moving stuff on Monday.

I'll try and update again later this week. 

Cherry Blossoms

David was able to get a rare mid-week day off so we could see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.  It was a lovely trip!  Our only complaint was that it was cold (in the 40s with a chilly wind), but seeing as it was the warmest and driest day predicted this week (except for the weekend, which we really wanted to avoid since we know the crowds will be crazy), we went ahead and braved the cold.

The cherry blossoms were really beautiful.  We went to the Tidal Basin area near the Jefferson Memorial, and the walkways all around were lined with cherry trees in bloom.  There were a fair number of people out taking pictures, attempting chilly picnics, and enjoying the scenery.  They were also setting up tents and tables and bike racks for the main part of the Cherry Blossom Festival which I think is happening later this week.  The metro was pleasantly uncrowded, and we had a good trip.  The boys' legs, especially Thomas and Peter (we forgot his stroller!) tuckered out pretty quickly, so it was an effort to keep them walking and cheerful.  Thomas is a wanderer and dawdler on his best of days, but when his little legs get tired he really tends to trip on his own feet, not look where he's going, swerve into oncoming walkers/joggers, etc.  Peter needed to be carried for a good bit of the way, although he actually did better than I expected.  Walking on busy sidewalks next to cars whizzing by on even busier roads meant that David and I really had to work hard to herd the boys away from danger.  We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was definitely a good adventure and we got some beautiful photos.

On the house front, I am officially tired of the parade of realtors and prospective tenants coming through our home since Monday.  Fortunately, they all call ahead of time, but they just seem to pick inconvenient times.  Yesterday a few came right during dinner, and today some are coming during Peter's naptime (although I did tell them his bedroom is off-limits during the tour, and they respected that).  All the realtors and lookers have been very pleasant and even apologetic about interrupting our day, so that part has been OK, but honestly I just have a thing about strangers in my house.  I'm always a little uneasy when new handymen or repairmen have to come fix something.  I've never had a bad experience with one, but I just feel unsettled while they're here and so relieved when their work is done and the house is mine again.  So, day after day of strangers wandering around my house has been a little wearing.  Thankfully, we are moving out next Thursday or Friday at the latest, so I don't have to feel unsettled for too much longer.

Unfortunately, I really don't have any update about our next rental home.  We are moving forward on the lease, so that's good, but we haven't actually signed anything (we've been waiting and waiting for the owners to get the documents together), so we don't actually have the house yet.  We were supposed to sign the lease today, but it's nearly 3PM and I haven't received it or heard anything yet, so I'm guessing that probably won't happen.  I'm a little nervous that the owners will suddenly backout and we'll be in a tight spot in terms of finding a whole different house and signing a lease before we have to leave our current home.  On the upside, the worst case scenario is that we'll end up living in a hotel for a few days and put out stuff in storage (fortunately, not too much -- mostly toys and clothes, since we left our furniture back in CA).  David's company would pay for our hotel, and maybe we could even score a place that serves free hot breakfast :).  So, we certainly won't be homeless no matter what happens, but it sure would be nice if we get this home secured.  I'll update when we know more!

Hopefully moving up in the world

It's hard to put into words how busy the past few months have been and how fast they've flown by!  Next week we are scheduled to move for David's final rotation in his program.  Fortunately, he'll be working just about 20 minutes away from his current office, so it's not a big move.  David and I did decide to change houses, though, because we haven't been all that happy with our current rental home.  We rented it sight unseen in a last-minute housing scramble from Colorado, and when we arrived we realized that the home and the property managers had lots of quirks that we would rather avoid for the next 6 months.  Part of me thinks we're a little picky -- the house is perfectly livable and we would be fine here.  But, on the other hand, David works very hard and his company is paying our rental expenses, so if we're not really satisfied or if we feel like we would feel more "at home" somewhere else, then we really shouldn't have to settle for a place we don't like.

So, we took the plunge about 3 weeks ago and gave out notice to vacate our current home.  We didn't have a new home lined up yet, but we were hopeful that we would be able to find something quickly.  Well, it's been a lot harder than we thought.  We did find a home that we loved, but they backpedaled a little bit because we need a short-term lease.  After David's rotation ends in October, we might be headed to CA, CO, or who knows where.  We were disappointed, because the new home is gorgeous, and just feels so much more comfortable than this one.  Then, this morning they told us the short-term lease would be fine, so we're back on track (we hope!).  We move on April 8th, so we really don't have much time left in case things go wrong again.  We hope to have the lease finalized today or tomorrow, which will be a huge relief!

In the meantime, our current house has been put back on the rental market.  They put the "For Rent" sign in our yard, and the lockbox on our door, and today the listing was posted online.  Already we've had 4 calls from realtors who want to show the home!  The first ones are supposed to come by this afternoon.  It's a really weird feeling.  I don't have any stake in what prospective tenants think about this home, so it's not like I have to keep it "show quality" as if we were selling it.  But at the same time, I feel obligated to keep it somewhat neat and tidy.  It just seems like the decent thing to do.  Also, if the house looks better, maybe it will get rented faster, which will mean a quicker end to the parade of people wanting to look at it.

Also, I'm anticipating that the prospective tenants might want to ask what we thought of the home, the property managers, why we're moving, etc.  I haven't really figured out how to answer these questions if I'm asked.  If I'm totally honest, it might impact whether people decide to rent this home or not, because we really didn't have the best experience here.  I don't want to come off as badmouthing the property.  But of course I'm not going to lie and tell them we loved everything about this home!  We'll see.  Maybe I can balance some good points and low points that we found with this home and let people make up their own minds.

In addition to all the house stuff, we're scheduled to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC this week.  I can't wait!  We've all been sick for the past 2 weeks and mostly housebound, and we're so ready for spring and all the new beginnings and good weather that it brings. 

In other news that I haven't posted about on this blog yet, I'm 13 weeks pregnant!  Everything seems to be going well so far, and we got to see a healthy, active little peanut about 4 weeks ago on ultrasound.  The next milestone will be my appointment this Friday where I should be able to hear the heartbeat on Doppler.  I'm nervous but hopeful that this appointment will go well.  It doesn't make much sense, but I have in my mind that if I can make it to this appointment and have everything go well, I can finally take a breath and relax about this pregnancy.

When I get a chance, I'll update about our home and my appointment on Friday and hopefully have some pictures of us at the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Snow Day!

I haven't been keeping up with this blog as much as I'd like, but it seems there's never enough time!  We had a good snow here last week, and the boys really enjoyed going out and playing it in for several days in a row.  The snow is still here this week, but so far the boys aren't too interested in going out.  That's OK -- I'm not the biggest fan of cold weather, either.  We've been having fun with the Wii to help the boys burn off their energy when we're indoors, and it's such a relief to not have neighbors under us to worry about!