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Things have been pretty hectic here at our house. W is one month into his deployment so I'm running the show solo here. We're doing fine, but it means that I generally don't have much free time to keep the blog up. However I did want to pass along the news to any far flung family and friends that keep up with us this way, that we are expecting baby #2! I am due April 13th which is about 2 weeks after W is scheduled to be home. Baby J came 2 weeks early so I'm hoping that isn't a trend. I have faith that it'll work out but I'll have a contingency plan in place. And I'll be accepting applications for back up labor coach :)

In other news, I've been remiss in posting pictures of the last project that W completed before he left. He built a beautiful window seat in the dining room with big pull out drawer that we keep J's toys in. He loves playing up there as you can see!

And one final shot of one of J's latest antics.

Hope you're all doing well out there...

Baby J update

I seem to have fallen out of the habit of posting to this blog, but tonight I had the itch to write one of my letters to J, so I'll share it with you, to give you an update on him as well.

Dear J,
Oh you are so sweet these days. Tonight, and most nights this summer, as normal, you insisted on your evening Ice Pop (by hanging on the freezer door). I gave it to you, and boy, you chomp down on that thing. But despite your obvious love of them, you always offer me a bite. And you really want me to have some. It is the sweetest thing.

We're in the process of weaning you off bottles to sippy cups. It's a rough process. And of course I worry all the time that you're not getting enough to eat. But I think you're getting the hang of it.

Another of your favorite things these days is identifying body parts. You know where your head, ears, tongue, belly, toes and now, nose are. But the funny part is that you like to find these parts on me. And when you find my belly, lifting up my shirt to actually see and touch it, you give me a big hug around my waist. It melts me.

You say several words now- light, bottle, belly, shoes, ball, bat, dog, Dada (still not Mama consistently). And you really understand those words. I can ask you to get your shoes, and you get them and lift your feet for me to put them on.

One of your newest tricks is climbing into your high chair, even if the tray is on. Obviously I am there to spot you and prevent you from doing this when necessary, but your climbing skills are pretty impressive.

As you can tell, I'm absolutely in love with you. I think you're the most charming, smart, adorable little boy in the world. And I think that's a pretty unbiased opinion

I love you,
Mama

New Front Door!

Almost 2 years in, and we finally have a proper door. It has glass everywhere its supposed to (no more cardboard wrapped in "Have a Nice Day" Chinese take-out bags or plywood for missing glass). Like most projects on this house, we did it right, which means it took awhile and it went backwards for much longer than most could tolerate. I started to describe the full process, but we basically tore the whole thing apart and rebuilt it. Now its solid, sound, and pretty. It's nice to have a door that opens and closes smoothly, quietly, and firmly. I used to take such for granted!

First, a nod to the novice help. Safety and cookies are the priorities.



You can see a "before" photo in the sidewalks posting below. The door was flimsy, the glass thin, and it had about 18 coats of paint on it. Here's the after. I think the only exterior issue left out front is a proper mailbox. All the mail carriers reading this probably cringe to see the box sitting on the steps.



And here's a close-up on the door. The color is "hot peppers" from Behr.




Here's the door as it looked when we bought it off the shelf!

Walking and Talking

Sweet Baby J,
You’re really walking now!! Of course it seems that you took your first independent steps when I went out of town for the one night, my first night away from you. But you’re really doing it now. You walk about 8 steps alone, although if you’re in a hurry you revert to crawling. You started off by just lunging or running between Dad and me. But now you take deliberate steps on your own. And you look so pleased with yourself. As I expected, you didn’t start walking until you were totally capable of it. You didn’t want to mess around with falling.

And the other milestone- you’re talking! Oddly enough, your first distinguishable word was “light”. It sounds more like “schmy” but you point to the light and say it over and over. It’s really funny. You also say “dog” while pointing to Scout and Ruby. I have to laugh that you’re saying these 2 words before Mommy and Daddy but that’s ok.

You’re sleeping great these days, for the most part. 10 beautiful hours of consecutive sleep. Last night was an exception- you were ready to go at 5am.

You made the transition to whole milk without missing a beat. You slurp it down as fast as I serve it up. So you’re fully weaned now. After a full year of nursing you, it’s over. It was sad for me, but you were ready. I’m proud that we made it without ever needing formula, and nursing you was really wonderful, despite the hassle of pumping at work.

I haven't been able to capture your new feats on camera yet, but we'll post some as soon as possible.
Love, Momma

Damaged Goods

I don't have a fancy car by any means. It's a cloth seated station wagon- no frills. But it's a good car, and I like to drive it. But it appears that I will only be able to drive it and park it with the windows down for the foreseeable future. This is because today my son projectile vomited in the back seat. As you might expect with a 13 month old, it was mostly milk. So despite my best cleaning efforts, (involving the hose all the way down to q-tips) my car smells like curdled milk. It is awful. sigh...

Sidewalks

After months of deliberation, we hired a contractor to install brick pavers around the house. The sidewalks were in terrible shape, where we had them. W toyed with the idea of doing it himself for a long time, mostly because I think he enjoyed the idea of renting really big machines. But these guys did a great job! Check out the before and after shots. I tried to match up the pair of before and after shots... hopefully that's not confusing.

It is so nice to be able to walk around the house without jumping over cracked concrete. I can now push the stroller from the garage to the front of the house without going through mud puddles. And it's a joy to walk up the back steps, and not have a wood pallet as a door mat.

Things I learned today...

1. Blood meal fertilizer is made from porcine (pork) blood.
2. Dogs love it.
3. Blood meal is non-toxic (thank goodness).
4. When it comes out the other end on my rugs, it's the most disgusting thing I've ever encountered.
5. Of the 5 different cleaners I used to clean the rugs for 3 hours, baking soda works the best at getting rid of the odor.
6. Waking up to the smell of dog poop is possibly the worst alarm clock ever.