Life moves on

Today I registered the girl for kindergarten. It is hard to believe that she is already old enough. Sudsy is 6 weeks old today and he has seamlessly entered into our family. The older ones fight over who gets to hold him and they track how long to make sure it is equal. He slept through the night three times last week- twice for 7 hours and once for 8 hours. I went out with a friend Saturday night to see the comedian Brian Regan and my parents babysat all three without a hitch. I also went with a friend to the Astros last night and let daddy have a night alone with the kids. The calendar has been so full that I barely get any down time. I'm wondering how I fit work into this schedule!

Big sis always gets a smile


Baseball season has begun- opening day parade

School Carnivals

Word of caution about Jim Waller- do not use this builder!

I have been meaning to write this post for months as I hope it saves one person from the grief we have experienced over the past year in building our dream home. There is a saying that in any project you can have quality, schedule, or cost- pick two. Unfortunately, with our new home, we received none of the above. We were promised a 90 day construction, barring any weather delays. We finally moved into the unfinished home 8 months after the foundation was poured. The budget is currently 25% over and we are still finishing on our own to save money. I had to bring in two carpenters, painters, roofers, and plumbers to fix and finish what was not completed. The builder walked off our job last December and we have not heard from him since. We lived through multiple subs walking off the job and the ones who stayed, doing subpar work and complaining about the builder.

If you are considering using Jim Waller, who has several company names- MasterMark Enterprises as well as Calvert Christopher homes, I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.

Kids say

Hubby and the boy attended my last ob appointment before Sudsy was born. While in the waiting room, the boy picked up a magazine about pregnancy. Inside were sonogram pictures, one of a boy and the other of a girl. He brought it to me and said- this one is a girl and her name is Labia. I told him to go tell his father and we both were brought to tears we were laughing so hard. A little later he wanted to know why it was so funny and we explained 'labia' was a female body part.

Later that afternoon, we stopped by the store to get jeans for hubby. There was a shirt that said I don't give a with a picture of a rat and a donkey. Hubby and I chuckled when we saw it and the boy asked- why is 'I don't give a rat's horse' so funny? I explained that it was a picture of a donkey and another name for donkey is a curse word. Since he's such an expert on curse words with not only knowing how to use in context but also how to spell them on (read back to the 'f' word incident in 1st grade) he caught on quickly and then asked if he wore that shirt to school what would happen.

Arrival

Wednesday, March 12th was the big day- 'Sudsy Pumpkin Pie' so aptly named by the girl made his big debut. I was induced around 9 am and he was born at 4:21 in the afternoon. Not so fast for a 3rd baby, but he was turned sunny side up, so I had to work for it. Overall, it was as pleasant a delivery as I could have ever wanted- night and day different from the first two. It was quiet, peaceful, controlled and not the least bit stressful. Obviously medicated as well :)

He's doing very well and other than a little jaundice that will lead us to 3 doctor visits in one week, no issues. I am feeling much closer to normal than I would anticipate at this time. The siblings are adjusting well and want to be with him and hold him all the time.

Artist

This evening, hubby decides to draw a sketch of himself and the girl:

Then she asks for one of Mommy. I give him the evil eye and before he even begins, he knows he is in trouble and starts laughing so hard he's crying. Apparently, I have one really swollen leg and a tiny head.

Baby baby baby

I find out today whether next Tuesday or Wednesday is the big day. I am nervous, excited, anxious and almost ready. Physically, I'm ready. I still have work to finish up- writing a report, transferring information, setting everything up for the time I'll be out of the office. I've resigned myself to the fact that the house will not be finished in time for baby, but we have made lost of progress the past month. The grass is mostly down, the fence is part way up and the water heater issues are fixed. Most exciting are the gas lights that are finally installed on the front of the house.

Weekend before last we took the kids on the sibling tour at the hospital. They practiced holding and diapering a doll baby and were officially crowned the toy police to make sure baby doesn't play with dangerous toys or toys that are choking hazards.


Last weekend was a baby luncheon given by my mom and mother-in-law. It was mostly family with a few close friends and was wonderful to get to catch up. I really am lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people in my life and I do not take that for granted.

I survived the first two days of work this week which I had been dreading. A group of 10 from Canada were in town for tech assurance purposes on our project on Monday and Tuesday was a workshop to identify risks. They both went well and I'm glad to have that behind me. My project team also presented me with a very nice card and gift cards to Babies R Us, which was totally unexpected but much appreciated.

Kids

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. I'm trying to get the house organized and put together before baby comes, because it definitely matters to the baby. I have made quite a bit of progress with the nursery but still feel like I have miles to go on the rest of the house. Hubby is making quite good progress with putting down grass and if the rain would ever stop long enough for the ground to dry out, we might get a fence.
The kids are getting excited and also regressing a bit, especially the girl. She's been clingy and whiney and I have been tired and exhausted and lack any sort of patience these days, which makes it all worse.
Here are some pics that I finally downloaded.

She is fascinated with the spinning of the washing machine.

I wonder what she's dreaming about? Pinewood Derby- Judge's Favorite!
TV issue still not resolved, so right now, it's just a dream...
Yes, I am this huge and bloated!! And my friends are too good to me.

Shower

I finally finished the book Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka and it was an ephiphany. It has completely changed the way I view my son and and I am slowly working on changing my reactions to include less anger and more empathy. One of the messages in the book is to try to understand why they are acting the way they do and it is not because of defiance or because they are out to get you.

One of the big struggles we had was getting the boy out of bed and moving in the morning. When I looked at it from an angle of understanding, I realized that it takes quite a bit for his father and I to get out of bed and get moving in the morning as well. My routine includes a warm bath and a cup of coffee while hubby prefers a long, hot shower. As a trial, we replaced the boy's evening bath with a morning shower and the results are amazing. He still doesn't bounce out of bed, but 30 minutes of begging, pleading and yelling have been replaced by a five minute warning that the window to take a shower is closing. He is then a happy, agreeable child after the shower. The more subdued morning has spilled into his school day and he goes off to school happy and is now having more good days than bad. All because of a shower!

True colors

I knew that my mom leaned towards the right on her thoughts and ideas, but I had no idea just how closed minded she was until the other morning. We had a conversation about politics, which I always tried to avoid. I tried to ignore the fact that she called all the candidates by their last name, except for Hillary, which I do find a bit demeaning. Her hatrid for Clinton has long been clear. Not that she's my choice for president and nationalized medicine for all scares the wits out of me after learning about how well Canada's system works, but I do think she deserves the same amount of respect as the others. How much respect politicians deserve is a whole other conversation, but I digress.

I made mention that I was so glad it did not look to be another right wing extremist in the running on the republican side. I stated that I could not take another 8 years of it in office. She mentioned that she liked Bush and that she thinks he did make our country safer. I couldn't disagree more on that point, but when she added that she's terrified because of all the Muslins moving into our country, I nearly flipped my lid. I tried to remain calm as I explained that it is actually a peaceful religion and that radicals exist in every society. I also mentioned the very fact that our country is 'the melting pot' is what made us great. Then she proceeded into a tirade on how difficult it is to work with this nationality or this other nationality. I think she needs some serious diversity and inclusiveness training. Like maybe making friends with some people outside her tiny world. I'm still irritated by it all. Certainly not to say that I don't have my biases and prejudices, we all do, but I do at least try to understand where people come from and understand how cultural differences can affect our interactions.

Monkey

One monkey off my back this weekend. Well, actually two. I went through the 6+ months of boxes stuffed with the 'to be filed' papers and sorted and filed and organized. I hate filing. The even bigger monkey was finishing up the books for both businesses and incorporating all the comments from the bookkeeper and organizing all the data and dropping it off with the tax guy. Whew! I hate tax time.

The next major task at hand I've nicknamed Operation Baby. We need to prepare the nursery, stock up on baby supplies, buy and install infant car seats, pack the bag for the hospital, take the kids on a sibling tour at the hospital and probably the most challenging is to agree on a name.

I've already warned hubby that completing Operation Baby just means that I'll next be on him about finishing up all the little projects around the house. Aren't hormones fun?

The windows

Hubby and I have been trying to reframe the way we look at the house. It is difficult because each and every day we find more flaws. Speaking of which, we finally hired a real plumber to come out and assess the damage. If anyone is interested in installing tankless water heaters, I've become quite the educated resource. Where was I? Oh yes, positive reframing. It really is quite amazing that we are now living and breathing in a space that we envisioned and created. We are more than pleasantly surprised with how easy and nice it is to live in this house and how well it really does work for us.

Three windows that we had the architect add on the east side of the living room frame nature perfectly. I can lay on my couch and watch the sky change colors and trees blow in the wind. It is a picture frame that changes throughout the day. There is a similar window in the master shower on the second floor that I equally enjoy.

I finally made the phone call I have been dreading and brooding over for months. I called the architect to give feedback on his recommendation, our builder. He was more than appreciative for the feedback and immediately stated he will never be recommended again. I had a brief twinge of guilt, although I don't wish our experience on our worst enemy.

In other news, hubby had the luxury of taking both kids to the doctor to get a strep diagnosis- the boy on Tuesday and the girl today. Luckily we got it early and they are up and playing like nothing is wrong.

Boom box

Yesterday evening as I walked the boy home in the cold drizzle (seriously people- enough of the cold and the rain- this is Houston- we're not supposed to have winter here), we ran across the neighbor boy down the street and his friend. The boy shouts out- Brian! Brian! Hey Brian! Is that a radio? They nod and then the older kid turns to me and says- this is an old timey radio- like what you used to have? It's a circa 1980's something boom box with a tape player and I solemnly nod yes. The kid responds with our stuff sounds a lot better.

When did I get old? How did this happen? And since when is a boom box considered an old timey radio? Isn't that a phonograph or something?

Actual Door

Not the best picture and the trim has to be painted before it can be installed, but you get the idea...

Door

We finally received our long anticipated, very hard to find, custom craftsman front door last week. This is what we ordered, although ours is stained ebony. I'll have to update with a picture of ours this evening. The locksmith came and rekeyed all my locks Friday, the carpenter installed the door on Saturday, and we had people out yesterday to stain it. The carpenter still has to install the trim around the door, but has to cut the stone first to make more room.

In other news, we are heading to arbitration with Conn's over the tv issue. We filed a small claims lawsuit and they denied any responsibility for selling us a smashed plasma. Unfortunately, the courts are backed up and it could be March before we get a date for arbitration. Looks like we won't be having the SuperBowl party at our house. I'm really not up to it either, I am still terribly exhausted and now it hurts to sit, to move, to walk. I don't remember this from the first two, but I'm sure its part of the blocking bad memories so our species will survive.

My in-laws brought us a housewarming present yesterday....a Keurig single cup brewing machine. We've decided to put it in the master bathroom as our bedroom is upstairs and the kitchen is downstairs. We have something similar at work, so I'm already spoiled, but having a coffee bar in our master suite has me all a flutter.

Still much, much, much work to do on the house, but we're very slowly getting it punched out. The builder has dropped off the radar, which is ok with us because now it is all in our control and nagging him to get things finished wasn't working very well. Hubby is insisting on laying sod himself and I've tried to convince him of the folly of his idea. I replayed the story of him insisting to move our possessions into storage and the many treatments required by the chiropractor to fix him. He insists laying sod will not screw up his back. I insist he's not 16 anymore as he was when he worked as a landscaper and that I need his help more inside to prepare for the baby!!!! Approximately 9 more weeks until our life is completely turned upside down again.

Crossing

School started back today. The kids really had a hard time getting up and going, which is understandable since the last two weeks have been late nights followed by late and lazy mornings. I'm fairly certain I didn't get out of my pajamas before noon (sometimes 5 pm) except one or two days. Today is also the first day the boy has been a walker. The girl and I walked him the 2 houses down and across the street the school. Also had a quick chat with the crossing guard. This is what we've spent the last nearly two years dreaming about!

Nano

Moving stinks. Boxes seem to multiply when placed in the house. And none will magically empty themselves.

I've been more tired than usual. Doctor's office just called to tell me that I am anemic.

We still don't have grass. This is especially fun with a dog.

I received an IPod Nano for my present from hubby. My seven year old is teaching me how to use it. This could take awhile.

A Christmas poem

Twas the night before Christmas, when my son finally asked.
Mom, there is a secret I really need to know.
Some kids at school say it is their mom and their dad
who leave all the gifts, it's all just a show.
Others say Santa is true and they just don't know.
I am really confused and don't know what to believe.

I answer with a question, surprised it has taken this long-
Are you sure you want to know?
A quick nod of the head from the boy and I answer, yes it is me.
I knew it he says with a cheer.
So soon you will leave to buy gifts for sister and me?

No honey, I will not leave, all the gifts are already here.
Now that you know, from your sister this secret we'll keep
and we'll all still believe in the magic in this time of year.

Wednesday, December 19, 2008

The official move in. The kids were so excited it was nearly 10 pm before they fell asleep. The dog didn't know quite what to think and was pacing nervously around the house. Hubby and I spent the majority of the evening unpacking to make sure we knew where all the essentials were for the morning- towels, soap, shampoo, coffee maker, filters and mugs.... When my head first hit the pillow in my long anticipated wait for my pillow top king sized mattress, I had to let out a sigh of relief. Home sweet home.

CO

I didn't want to post anything until it was official, lest I ask for additional problems. Now I can safely say that we passed the electrical and plumbing final on Friday, and the mechanical and building final today. Which means.....the city will issue us the certificate of occupancy!!!!

Cursed

Yep, I'm fairly certain our new house is cursed. Another day, another two failed inspections. We finally unwrapped the 50" plasma and it looks like it was shattered by a baseball. Over half of our brand new appliances have dents or scratches. And of course, no one wants to take responsibility. Sure, why not us? Although none of this is our fault, we keep paying through the nose. Fair? Who cares! Screw the little guy.