Am I There, Yet?

Last week was a good week.  Some friends of ours heard about our housing woes.  They were going on vacation and offered us their house for 10 days.  It was really nice living in a house with no mold and mildew issues.  It felt like a vacation for us, too.

We’re now back.  So are the allergies.  Titus woke up with asthma and I woke up with a sore throat and headache.  The construction on our bathroom remodel hasn’t begun, yet.  We just found out this morning that they’re coming in on Thursday to rip out our shower and replace it.  No mention about ripping out the moldy drywall or carpet.  On top of that, we got a notice in the mail that our chimney is being ripped out and replaced beginning today.  I have to remove anything hanging on the walls and secure anything that’s not secure.  That means I have to empty out my bookshelves and move them as soon as I’m done with this.

I’ll be glad when this week is over.

You know you watch too much Food Network when your 7-year-old daughter starts to use words like “fantastic”, “amazing” and “brilliant” to describe some of her favorite meals.  Last week I was making Lilly a ham sandwich and she asked for mustard because “it increases the flavor of the sandwich.”

You know your husband watches too much CNBC when your 5-year-old son spots Jim Cramer out in public.  O.K.  Maybe it wasn’t the real Jim Cramer…but it sure did look like him.  We were driving in Princeton yesterday and Titus spotted a bald man driving a BMW and said, “Hey!  Jim Cramer is behind us!”  Josh looked back, and sure enough…there was a Jim Cramer look-alike driving behind us. 

Friday was a big day for us.  No…I’m not superstition and nothing weird happened.  However, it was a big day for everybody in my family.

• Lydia turned 5 weeks and had her one month doctor’s appointment.  She weighs 10 lbs., 8 oz.  The doctor was surprised and calculated that she’s gaining about one ounce per day.  She’s getting big!
• Titus’ last day of school was Friday and came home with a diploma.  I was kind of sad about that.  It feels like the end of an era.  He’s growing up so quickly!
• Lilly came home from school and let us know she was given the Citizenship Award.  She won this award last year and it’s a big deal.
• Josh also had his last day of school on Friday.  He finished up his last assignment and completed his Master’s Degree from Fuller Seminary.  We’re very excited about that.  He told me I have to call him “Master” now.  (He thinks he’s so funny!)
• My brother’s birthday was Friday.  Happy Birthday, little bro!
• Me:  Uh…nothing.  I didn’t complete anything or win anything.  I didn’t get any certificates or accomplish anything.  Josh gave me a nice little none-of-this-could’ve-happened-without-you speech…but, whatever.

 

We celebrated everybody’s big day by going to Dunkin’ Donuts after school.  I got an iced coffee.  How lame are we?  LOL!!!

 

I’ve been having some difficulty keeping Lydia cool in this heat wave.  When we go outside I’ve been taking her out of her carrier and I carry her in my arms.  I keep her in a bodysuit or a T-shirt and shorts most of the time.  I keep socks off her and walk around with a wet wash cloth to cool her head, feet and arms when I sense she’s getting too hot.  It has cooled down a bit these past couple of days…it’s been in the high 80’s to low 90’s.  The temps are supposed to go up this weekend again.

Tonight we were in a store (which shall remain nameless) and Josh was carrying Lydia without the carrier.  The store manager checked us out.  She took one look at Lydia and said, “I know it’s really hot out, but the next time you shop here you need to have socks and shoes on your baby.”  We both must’ve given her a confused look because she continued to tell us that it’s a health and safety violation.  She told us that the bulbs could fall from the ceiling and we needed to protect our feet. 

By this point I’m thinking that if the bulbs could fall from the ceiling, maybe I shouldn’t shop there anymore.  I’m also thinking how amazing it would be for our one-month-old baby to climb out of our arms and start walking around in bare feet and step on some glass from some bulbs that fell from the ceiling.  At this point I’m thinking that her feet are my last concern.  What about her head?  If she happens to be under a bulb that falls from the ceiling I would imagine it would do more damage to her head than her feet.  Maybe we should put a helmet on her the next time we go shopping.  Maybe we should all wear helmets while shopping.  Maybe I should stop wearing flip-flops…those won’t protect my feet from shattering glass of falling bulbs.

If I were the store manager, I’d be more concerned with making sure the bulbs were properly installed than I would be about lecturing parents about putting socks and shoes on their infants in the scorching heat. 

 

I don’t have time to gather my thoughts together and blog…so here are some “snapshots” of what’s going on with us.

• Nothing to do with us…but, schools nearby are closing early because of heat.  I’ve never heard of that happening.

• Mom left…Lilly cried.  Actually…Lilly sobbed.  She misses her grandma already and was upset that she had to go back home.  I now have to do my own laundry.  I got spoiled last week.  Maybe I can hire a grandma this summer…

• The kids had their first karate tournament a week ago.  Grappling:  Titus lost his first match.  Lilly won her first two matches and lost her third.  She had to get right back in the ring and fight again for third place.  She was mentally unprepared for that and lost.  She got 4^th place.  Kickboxing:  Lilly lost her first match.  Titus won his first match and tied his second.  He lost the rematch, but got to fight again for 3^rd place.  He lost and got 4^th place.  We didn’t bring any trophies home, much to the kids’ disappointment…but, they’re talking about the next tournament.  They still had a good time.

• Our house:  UGH!  It’s a wreck.  I feel badly for our landlord.  He’s a nice guy and all of this isn’t his fault.  But, there’s been one issue after another.  First it was the kitchen cabinet doors and shelves falling off.  We’ve taken care of that.  That’s not worth a call to the landlord.  Next it was our shower leaking.  When I say leaking I don’t mean drip drop…I mean there was constant a steady stream of water pouring down.  Then it was the termites and ants.  I’m still jumpy around bugs after that fiasco.  Next the dryer broke and we had to spend two weeks hanging our wet clothes all over the house until a new one was delivered.  After that the fan in our bathroom burned out.  It’s connected to the light switch…so every time we turned on the light we would hear a horrendous noise.  It sounded a lot like ice cubes being crushed in a blender.  Needless to say…we showered in the dark for a couple of weeks until that got fixed.  The last issue is a biggie.  We discovered mold on the carpet in our closet.  The closet backs up to the shower and so we figured it was coming from there.  Sure enough…after three professional opinions our landlord has decided to remodel our bathroom.  The shower needs to be ripped out and the walls replaced.  The carpet in our closet also needs to be replaced.  We’re told this won’t take longer than two days.  But…we’ll see.  I’m always skeptical about predictions like that.  Two days is two days too long.  I really don’t want construction workers coming in and disrupting me life for two (or more) days.  But…whaddyagonnado?

• Lydia’s one month birthday is today.  She’s growing soooooooo fast.  We’ve been getting a few smiles out of her.  She’s captured our hearts.

O.K.  Here are some real snapshots…just had to share!

I LOVE baby parts..

Here’s the entire baby… 

And here’s all three of my cuties…

 

And it’s supposed to get warmer tomorrow…Yeehaw!!!

O.K.  It’s purely coincidental that I’m quoting that.  It’s not a sentimental goodbye tribute for Hillary as she drops out of her presidential campaign today.  I’m quoting it because I believe it does take a village to raise a child.  This week has been a case study in this topic for me.

My mom is here.  She got here Monday evening and endured over an hour of non-stop talking from the kids the moment she got off the plane.  They told her everything from where they went on their birthdays to what’s happening at school to their recent karate tournament.  The only reason they finally quit talking her ear off is because I (the evil party-pooper mommy) made them go to bed…waaaayyy past their bedtime.  Mom enjoyed every word out of their mouths.

This week has been really great.  It’s nice to have another person around to help out.  The crazy thing is that she enjoys it.  My mom loves sitting down and playing cards with the kids and taking them on walks and playing with them in the park.  She loves cuddling with the baby…even when she’s fussy.  She even seems to enjoy doing my laundry and dishes.  I even caught her with a vacuum cleaner in hand. 

This morning we all overslept.  Lydia woke us up at 8:00.  That gave us a half hour to wake Lilly up, get her showered, fed, dressed and out the door to school while reviewing spelling words.  Lydia also needed to be changed and fed.  Titus was a lower priority since he’s not going to school until the afternoon…but, he still needed to be prompted to get off the computer and into clean clothes and get some food in his tummy.  So…with a little bit of teamwork, Josh, my mom and I managed to get it all done.  Lilly got to school on time with a fresh review of her spelling words in mind.  She was clean and fed and dressed.  Lydia got a full tummy, a clean diaper and clean clothes on.  Titus also got a full tummy and clean clothes on.  This is not something I could’ve accomplished on my own. 

I talked to my dad on the phone this morning and told him that we need to keep Mom here for awhile.  He told me that he needs her more than we do.  I guess the only solution is for them to come and move in with us.  I’m spoiled now and don’t know how I’ll manage when she’s gone.

(O.K.  I’m being a teensy bit melodramatic.) 

Back to the village thing…I want my kids to be surrounded by people who love them and who partner with us to instill the same values in our children that we’re trying to exhibit in our own lives.  I am grateful everyday for the schools my children attend.  They have excellent teachers and wonderful friends.  I also love the influence their sensei has on them.  They go to karate and learn respect, discipline and focus.

So…we’re trying to figure out how to move my parents across the country.  Once they’re here then we’ll figure out how to move my brother and sister-in-law here.

Don’t they look happy together?