Life According to William: Mom Is Big, He Has Somalia, and Our Old House is Better

One day after I had A W walked into my room while I was changing... His eyes widened and he froze: "Mom, you're big!" 

I cringed. He probably thought that I would have the baby and then just be normal again. So, I explained it took time. Then I explained that he shouldn't say those things to people because it can hurt feelings and it's complicated.  But I told him that I appreciated his honesty.

Just to never repeat anything like that to anyone again.

-

The other day B  and A had diarrhea. It was gross. Matt and I were openly talking about it, wondering what it was from... A touch of the flu? Some bad food?

A little while later I hear a little voice from the bathroom... "Mom, I had a big poop. Do I have Siberia?"

-

W constantly asks whether we can move back to our old house, but keep this one so he can still use the swing set. He insists that he doesn't care that it was small and there were three kids sharing limited space. It was tight. But none of that matters to a five year old.

This post was inspired by the novel Dad Is Fat by comedian Jim Gaffigan who riffs on his adventures co-parenting 5 kids in a two bedroom Manhattan apartment. I also wrote a post about a conversation that this book provoked on Chicago Parent.

Join From Left to Write on April 22 we discuss Dad Is Fat. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

Our word for 2014: LIVE

MAN, 2013 was a doozy. It started out pretty well. Lots of snuggling with a new baby. Matt started a new, much more demanding job. I went down to part-time at work. We decided to house hunt in March and then things got off course. We found a house, got into a bidding war, and then slowly entered the nightmare that would be the next six months of dealing with actually getting into the house. We spent weeks preparing our house to put on the market and it sold within days to lovely people. Moved in with my parents for four weeks, which turned into about four months. My sister had a baby. We finally moved. The Gala I work on came quickly after that and I was consumed with work. We raised $3.7 million. We hosted Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and then my sister's baby shower in the span of two weeks.

I'm sure I'm missing lots of things in there... A started walking. B started eating... sometimes. We decided to keep W in preschool because of his late birthday. We got new tires on our SUV and a new bed for our room. We spent time in Michigan and Wisconsin. B took a bad fall, that resulted in a concussion and stitches. W had a million cavities filled (poor thing has my teeth). B started preschool. We were gifted an awesome swing set and Matt took it apart and put it back together. My grandpa died. I started contributing to Chicago Parent.

What I'm trying to say is it was always something and we kind of just put our heads down and hunched our shoulders waiting for the next thing to fall on us. After March we didn't have any real time to just BE. We made a lot of quick decisions that resulted in major changes. Our family was in a domino effect... Things just started going and we were running from place to place, making decision after decision. Our life completely changed in 2013. Like COMPLETELY. We went through some very stressful times. A lot that I didn't share here... As I posted half of the number of times that I had in previous years.

So, in 2014... We're going to focus on the word: LIVE. We need to be in every moment, focus on the things that will just allow us to live our lives every day in the best way. It might sound silly, I'm sure. But, we're really trying to live our lives in 2014 and get out from the changes that were so consuming in 2013 when we spent a lot of time with our heads down, trying to run from one thing to the next or weighed down by the stress of our day to day lives. And piece by piece we'll bring our home renovations to light for all of you... And then you'll see what we were dealing with!

Do you have a word for 2014?

Creating Our New Home

We bought a new house, but we’re not living in it just yet… Why?

Because of rooms like this…

Nothing says move in ready like coral colored border.

 

And this….

Our foundation needed a little bit of help.

 

Oh, and this is the pile of carpet and draperies we pulled out of the house…

1964 called. It wants its drapes and carpet back.

And we continue to learn new things that keep us from moving in. They’re piling up and so is the cost. My contractor is probably tired of hearing me ask: “How much is that going to cost?!?!” And my parents are kind enough to let us stay with them and pretend it’s no big deal. 

It’s stressful in a way I can’t explain. These aren’t just little issues that keep popping up. We’re dealing with major problems, but luckily everything is fixable. My kids miss their house. W asks every day about his toys and when we’ll get to go home. We’ve avoided play dates with our neighbors because it would just be too hard for W. I drove by the old house the other day to pick some mail up from a neighbor, thinking I was safe with just B and A. And as I turned the corner, passing our old driveway B started yelling “Home. My house! Home!” Our home - the only house our kids have ever known - is no longer ours. The heated floor that made our winter days so cozy, the mural Matt labored over for weeks, the new kitchen that I finally finished all belong to another family now. And we have a house that we don't even live in.

But, here’s the thing, we bought this house because of what it will be, not because of what it is today. We bought this house because I fell in love with it. I could see the house in five, ten years - not in 2013. And that’s why we bought our old house, the house we cried about leaving. I saw the same things in that house, the same potential that I see in this one.

I want my kids to remember this house fondly. I want it to be filled with laughter and fun and warmth (even without a heated floor). We bought it because it was a house that allowed us to put our mark on it. We will have to touch every inch of this house, whether with paint, refinished floors, new windows, appliances, tile… The list is endless. But, this allows us to create our own family home, not step into the choices of someone else.

I hope it all works out the way I envision it. I hope it is everything I feel like my family needs. And, most of all, I hope my kids always feel like this house is their home. I hope they'll come back and visit from whatever part of the country or world they're living and always feel that fullness inside of them.

This post was inspired by the novel This Is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a collection of short stories that shares a view of Hawaiians few tourists ever experience - one of Hawaii as home. Join From Left to Write on August 8 as we discuss This Is Paradise.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

We're Staying Put

When we first moved into our house it was a 3-5 year plan. We knew we would quickly grow out of our little ranch. We bought our house based on location. We knew it needed a lot of work. But, we had to move to a desirable, expensive area with incredibly low real estate inventory, so we didn't have a lot of choices. We also bought the house as a couple pregnant with a baby. We came from living in our condo and the space seemed totally fine. But, things have changed and four years later we're getting ready to bring home baby #3 and started to consider our options.

So, we had a neighborhood realtor come over and give us her honest opinion of whether selling now would be a good idea. She didn't say no, but she gave us a list of things we would have to do first. Most of the things we knew, like redoing the kitchen. So, we did them. We redid the kitchen, reorganized and fixed up our basement, replaced a few window treatments, and packed up some clutter. The changes made us happy. So happy that we decided we'd table moving and stay put for another year.

And then the phone rang. It was said realtor who had a client who was looking for a house in our area. Our house met her needs, but was a little out of her price range. Would you be interested in showing your house, she asked. We thought about it and discussed the pro's and con's and ultimately decided to agree to a showing. So, we de-cluttered more, rearranged some furniture, and bought fresh flowers. We set a price and walked out the door kind of hoping we wouldn't get an offer.

The buyer was interested, but ultimately didn't pursue it. It's a little out of her price range and doesn't have the master bathroom that she wants. It was a relief, honestly. But, then the realtor said: "Your house shows really well. There is very little like it on the market right now and a high demand. I know I can sell your house right now."

So, we considered it. We really did. This is not our dream house, nor is it the house we see ourselves in a few years down the road. But, we have no idea where we would go. We don't know what our next step should be. We're comfortable, so we're staying put. Check back in with us in a year. I'm hoping the "we're not sure" will be replaced with a plan.

We're Sleeping In Separate Rooms

It's been two weeks since Matt and I have slept in the same room. Normally that might be concerning for a married couple and - trust me - I'm concerned... Just not in that way. We've been staying with my parents while our kitchen is being renovated. I'm concerned we will never go home.
What we thought would be a four or five day stay has turned into WEEKS. Since the boys each have their own bed times and routines, they sleep in separate rooms while we're at my parents. Matt sleeps in the room with W and I sleep in the room with B. If you have ever had to share a bed with a three year old before you know it does not make for a restful night, so I feel like I'm actually getting a good deal here.

We see each other for an hour in the morning while we're running around to get ourselves and the boys ready. Matt goes directly to our house after work to refinish our cabinets and usually returns around midnight. I can't help with any of this because of the whole being pregnant thing, but I feel obligated to wait up for Matt and my mom (bless her for helping us!) who wearily walk in and update me on their progress. We talk for about 15 minutes and then say good night. We each go into a room where one of our boys already sleeps, close the door, and will wake up to start it again the next morning.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's been a long, exhausting, and somehow kind of lonely tunnel. I'm ready to get back to our routine of me complaining that he's too loud for me to sleep and him complaining that I move around too much.

Happy 4th of July!

This year 4th of July was kind of a weird holiday. To begin with, it fell on a Wednesday, which was just wrong. We went to Wisconsin to spend time with Matt's family from Saturday until Wednesday, but came home on the 4th since both of us have to work on Thursday and Friday. Traveling coupled with our kitchen being torn apart (yes, we are finally redoing our kitchen!) and this crazy heat wave just made the 4th feel weird and not so festive. In fact, I was pretty much ready to scrap the whole thing and just call it a regular Wednesday.

But we decided to do something low key instead. My sister, bro-in-law, and adorable nephew met us at my parents' house who weren't home (the mature version of the kegger). We had dinner and then most of the party walked down the street to the local fireworks display. I willingly stayed back as B was sleeping and a little quiet time out of the heat sounded really good to me.

I know sometimes we run around like crazy, pile too much on our plates, and need to learn to relax more often. This just wasn't the day. After all, often when things don't sound great to mom and dad it means they're going to be really great for the kids and is worth the rally:

"I loved the red one because it made the whole sky turn red!"

W's first glow stick, which he insisted on bringing to bed.

My Dream Starts With Composting

For the From Left to Write Book Club we read Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which inspired this post.

When it comes to eating healthy, we make considerable attempts... I cook our meals from whole foods (the vast majority of which are organic). If I could make almost all of our food from scratch, I would happily. I'd love to bake our bread and pasta, can jams and tomato sauce and make our own salsas and pesto. But, right now, it just doesn't seem possible. We live in a small house with a tiny kitchen and I have about three square feet of usable counter top space. We also have an odd shaped yard with old, beautiful trees that don't allow for much direct sun.

I dream of a large kitchen with space to grow herbs in the windows all year and a large island I can use for rolling out scones ad chopping vegetables for soup. I imagine I would have room to use my Kitchenaid mixer (the wedding gift that's been sitting in the box for over six years) and maybe even have a faucet over the stove top. If I'm really laying it all out there, I'd like a cozy booth in the corner for the kids to hang out while I make dinner. Outside we'd have a sunny, large space where I could have a large vegetable garden and a couple of fruit trees and bushes. I'm not opposed to keeping a few chickens for fresh eggs. I'm not asking for much, right?

When we first bought our house more than three years ago (seriously, where does the time go?) I declared that we would start composting and I would have a vegetable garden. Our composting started during our first summer and we were diligent and determined to compost everything possible. We purchased a composter, tucked it next to the house, and started filling it every day. By the end of the summer Matt and my dad had built out my vegetable garden in the only usable space on our property.

Look at all those scraps ready to compost... Better in here, than in a garbage bag.

The following summer was crazy (remember I had shingles?) and we traveled a lot, so we settled for a few tomato plants that did alright, not spectacular. I figured it was because we planted them late and weren't always on top of watering with our busy travel schedule. We weren't great at plants, but we learned a lot about composting and started to enjoy it.

W getting excited about opening his pet worms to eat all that food.

By our third summer I was determined to grow my own vegetables. We checked the composter after its winter break, added some early spring additions, three containers of worms, and waited. A couple of weeks later we had the compost we were hoping for - It was awesome.

Look at that awesome compost! Took a year, but worth it.

We were ready to plant the garden and a week before Baby B was due, I bought seed packs and filled our garden with strawberries, green beans, shallots, zucchini, carrots, cucumber and three types of tomatoes. I had no plan. I over packed the hell out of my little garden (did I mention it's 6 feet by 3 feet?). But, I was nesting and starting to fear that it was now or never... So, I planted as quickly as I could. Matt wrapped wire around the garden to protect it from squirrels and we waited. And waited...

Strawberries are W's favorite food... This is the only one we grew.

Needless to say our garden did not thrive. All in all, I think we got 20 green beans, 1 cucumber, 10 tomatoes, 1 strawberry, and 1 half inch carrot out of the garden. Pitiful. I realized that my little garden spot only got partial sun and vegetables need SUN to grow. And the way I stuffed the garden full of seeds didn't help, I'm sure. We again had really good compost. But, no matter how great your compost, a garden needs sun.

One day I'll have my dream kitchen and garden. Until then I'll continue to compost and grow what little produce I can, because there is something real satisfying about making your own compost. Give it a try.

Could you live an entire year eating locally or the food from your garden? Barbara Kingsolver transplanted her family from the deserts of Arizona to the mountains of Virginia for their endeavor. Join From Left to Write on February 21 as we discuss Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. As a member of From Left to Write, I received a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

We Have Fat, Psycho Squirrels

I've been hearing a lot of talk about how fat the squirrels are this year and that fat squirrels serve as a warning for a difficult, cold winter (grrreeeeaattttt). Our squirrels are no different. They're crazy fat.

In case you forgot, I don't exactly get along with the squirrels in our yard. They antagonize Howie, which results in incessant barking. They treat our bird feeder like a squirrel buffet. They dig up flowers and mess with my vegetable garden. And they snatch the Halloween spider web decorations that I carefully stretch over our bushes. They're total jerks and I'm pretty sure they know I don't like them.

So, I should probably watch my back, right?

Is this not one of the scariest things you've ever seen?

Note: This pumpkin is long gone, but the photo still freaks me out and these fat squirrels made me think of it.

Problems in Suburbia

I took this picture earlier this summer while on a walk with the boys. Maybe a phone call
on some jerky kids could have kept this fence from being vandalized. Just saying.

Tonight I called the police... On teenagers walking by, drinking, and yelling the F-word at the top of their lungs.

Matt and I were sitting in the living room when we heard crazy screaming in front of our house. I thought it was a fist fight. Matt thought that one of our neighbors was robbed and was chasing down the guy who did it. We both jumped up, ran to the window and saw four boys acting like fools, screaming profanities, and drinking something. So, I called the police.

I don't know why I called the police. It was a reflex, really. I told Matt I didn't want them stomping on our flowers or doing something to our car. Granted, both were possibilities, but I was also pissed that kids were screaming like that 20 feet from the windows of my sleeping kids.

So, here is the question: Does living in the suburbs mean you shouldn't have to deal with that kind of stuff? When we lived in the city people walking down the street screaming was a constant annoyance, but it was never police call worthy. Do I feel entitled simply by living in this zip code? Possibly.

So, what's a mom to do?  How would this situation have been best handled? I figure these were our options:

1. Open the door and confront the kids, which could have resulted in our house/car getting egged or us being told to f-off by some teens
2. Ignore it and let the jerky kids carry on and possibly wake up our kids, vandalize something, etc.
3. Call the police to figure it out for us

Given those options, I'll stick with #3. They don't call me Alderman Hanneman for nothing.

Update on the Mouse Situation

So, back to the mouse situation... I feel like I dangled a potentially interesting story line, but then didn't close the loop. And, honestly, I'm still not positive that there is a loop to close.

After having the entry point sealed, I was kind of living in fear that the mouse (or mice) left behind would find their way into the house from the hiding place under the sink. But, there has been no trace of them outside of under the sink. We replenished the traps and noticed that peanut butter would get swiped, so something was still lurking under there and that something was getting too smart for our traps. What to do?

Luckily my in-laws have good experience in this area (not lucky for them, I guess) since they live in the middle of the woods in Wisconsin. Their advice? Tie down something really good on the trap with dental floss. (Have I mentioned that Papa Don is a dentist?) How didn't we think of that?

So, Matt rigged the two left over traps with some delicious cheese tied securely with dental floss. And guess what we caught? Yup, another mouse. Only one. But, we're confident he was the last mouse hiding out down there. The other trap has been sitting there for days just waiting... But, we can say we're 99.9999% sure we've taken care of the mouse situation.

With the high drama of the situation, I'm waiting on my Lifetime Original Movie offer to come in any day now.

Critter Control

In the middle of the night on Thursday Howie jumped off the bed, barking ferociously, and ran into the kitchen like a rabid beast. Then he stalked our mouse zone. Something was clearly in there, yet the traps were mouse free. I woke up every hour for the rest of the night.

First thing Friday morning I called Critter Control. Matt left for his ski trip Thursday after work and, seriously, the thought of chasing a mouse around the house with Howie, W, and my sixth month pregnant self all weekend was well worth the cost.

I had no other option if I wanted to sleep while Matt was away for the weekend. They were here within a few hours. The guy was friendly, found the point of entry, and verified there was not a nest or colony.

I specifically told him I wanted to know how many eyes were staring back at him when he climbed under there. He saw none. Good sign, right?

Then he sealed the entry point and mentioned that if there were any others still inside, they won't be able to make it back outside and may barge their way out another way. As in through the house.

That's when I mentioned that my husband was out of town for the weekend and I wasn't down with chasing a loose mouse around the house. And then I realized I just told a complete stranger, who had done a review of the entire exterior of my house that I would be alone with a 2 year old. My mind flashed to every Dateline episode I've ever watched.

I followed it up with mention of how crazy my dog is, so crazy that I had to send him to my parents knowing Critter Control was coming over. (This is true, Howie is not good when people come to our house for work of any kind, he just barks and jumps all over them.) I neglected to mention that he's a cuddly, long-haired, adorable 25 pounder, but he didn't need to know that. And to make matters even better, I continued to talk myself into a hole and said that I might make my dad stay over just in case anything happens... with the mice.

He seemed genuine, totally nice, but the idea of a random guy knowing I was home alone just didn't sit well. Deep down I knew I was fine, but I did check all the windows and doors a little obsessively. And my dad came over to reset the traps for me. I'm sure the poor Critter Control guy left thinking "That pregnant lady is delusional if she thinks I'll be coming back to attack her and steal her dumb laptop."

How To Catch a Mouse

Last week I woke up to Matt whisper/shouting my name, telling me he needed help. I assumed it was W waking up with another bout of stomach flu, but instead Howie had cornered a mouse behind the couch. That's right: Mouse in the house.

I *might* have raised my voice and scared Howie off to the bedroom (not good, considering he was our best chance of actually catching it). This only resulted in our scampering around, coming up with a plan, shrieking (me, not Matt), and then focusing on the plan: Matt would use a broom to usher mouse into the empty shoe box I was holding, then release outside. It was an intense couple of minutes.

But, then we got him, and as Matt steadily came down with the broom, the mouse stopped moving and there may have been some blood. And our little mouse friend was done for. The shoe box would be his final resting place.

I came up with some very logical reasons for how the mouse got in: An open door, the drier vent hose-thingy broke that was broken earlier that week, maybe he crawled down the chimney. All seemed like logical answers for the fact that there was only one mouse seeking warmth and we took care of him. I went to bed feeling good that night, confident it was a done deal.

And then Matt decided to investigate further and found traces of a mouse in the uninsulated area way under the kitchen sink, a corner of the house you can barely reach. We set a trap with a little cheese to see if our deceased mouse had left behind a friend. Nothing. Trap went unsprung for days. Then one morning the cheese had been snatched, but no mouse was left behind. Apparently our mouse had an accomplice.

Matt took to the web and -- after some insightful research -- learned that the best thing to put on a mouse trap is peanut butter. So, he put peanut butter on two traps, positioned them in the scary area, and wouldn't you know... I woke up this morning and was informed that we had caught not one, but two mice. Now our mouse issue is a mice issue. (I know, insane, right?)

I worked from home today and BRAVELY encouraged Matt to reset the traps. I listened carefully for any snap noise, kept checking them, totally freaking about what I might find... And nothing all day. It's like a horror movie.

A horror movie that gets worse... Because Matt is going skiing this weekend. What if a mouse gets loose? Seriously! What the heck would I do? I shudder to think of it. Ugh.

I know, I know... It's ridiculous for me to freak out. We have no signs of mouse activity outside of this one area, no chewed open bread bags or cereal boxes or those other gross signs. They're contained. And we have a 50+ year old house and it's been about 50 degrees below zero. Of course a mouse found a way in! What are the chances that we got the three free loaders or that taking a few down will lead any others to retreat and kindly exit stage left?

Let's hope we've won the war.

NOTE AFTER ORIGINAL POSTING: This morning the traps were mouse-free, but some of the peanut butter seemed to be missing. To play it safe, Matt tightened the spring. This could be a good sign.

Crossing Things Off My 2011 List and Frozen Dinners

Remember the little New Year's post I wrote with a couple of things I wanted to do in 2011. Well, consider one crossed of the list. New refrigerator and stove = done.

Wow, you had no idea I was such a go-getter, did you?

Honestly, it's just gotten to the point that we can't handle it any longer. The freezer burn and broken shelves of the fridge drive us insane and the random way the stove cooks and two non-working burners have taken a toll on my psyche. I've dealt with it for two years, but as of Friday they will be distant memories. 'Cuz I bought new ones!

We went to Abt yesterday to "look around" and decided to move forward. With both of us working full-time, we just don't have the time to go from store to store and honestly Abt is the only place I ever want to shop for appliances (or anything) with a two year old. The aquarium, fountain, chocolate chip cookies, games, cleanliness, friendly staff, etc. more than pay for any difference we might find elsewhere. Yes, we have even gone there on a cold Saturday when the kiddo needs something to look at and we can take turns looking at cameras and computers. (It's amazing the things you'll do to occupy your kid.)

This recent development is huge in a way I can hardly explain. Since I work from home on Fridays, I set up delivery for between 7 am and 9 am when I'll be skipping around the house in my pj's, (not so) patiently waiting for their arrival.

But, here's the deal: Our fridge and freezer have plenty of food in them, so I'm determined to make our way through what's on hand this week and did not go grocery shopping. Instead, I've looked through what we have and found plenty of frozen soup that has been in there since last year, chicken, tilapia, brocoli, soy nuggets, peas, and some other random impulse buys from Trader Joe's. A little thawing and creativity and I'm going to work our way through it. When really looking through our cabinets I realized we could live for a few weeks on what we've got in stock. I think we'll make it through this week just fine... Especially knowing there's a prize at the end!

Man, I love a good challenge.

You Know You Have Good Friends When You Have Bad Plumbing

Our living room is full of 13 adults and a few kiddos. A rare moment of silence and Matt jumps on the opportunity to announce: “So, we’re having some plumbing issues. If you all could help by keeping toilet paper use and flushing to a minimum, that would be great.”

"Ok, ok, you can flush the toilet. Just be a little careful with using too much toilet paper." I tried to save face a little, but seriously, our friends didn't seem to care, made plenty of jokes about "if it's yellow..." and carried on with the party. It didn't even seem to make a difference in the amount of beer consumed.

Matt was just being honest. We are having plumbing issues due to tree roots infesting some pipes. It's been going on for four months, but has now gotten to the point that we have to repair the pipe, which means there is currently a 12 foot hole outside of our door. This also means that all the cash we were hanging onto for a sunny trip to Florida is going to pay for repairs. Apparently, our insurance company considers this to be "maintenance" since we had no interior damage. Does this look like maintenance to you?

This is the view from right outside of our kitchen door. There is a 12 foot hole under those pieces of plywood and cones. Lovely, no?

Anyway, the old, tall, big trees that we were one of the things that made us purchase this house in the first place are not good for old pipes, it seems. So, we're repairing some big problems that the roots have created.

We learned a lot about our water use last weekend. We had to be *very* careful, which meant no laundry or dishwasher, quick showers, careful bath draining, and limited toilet flushing. We were a really good example of water conservation. We tried to minimize the number of utensils each day, yet still cooked and carried on normally. But that's not the point of this story.

There are two points:
1. Once again, an old house can come up with some unexpected (and really expensive) curve balls. Like plumbing.
2. We have really great friends who aren't going to let a few plumbing issues get in the way of a good time.

The 2011 Post

I'm not a huge fan of making New Year's resolutions. Too much pressure. But, I am a big fan of looking around, taking stock, and making mental notes of how I would like to better my life in the coming months and year. I've broken it into categories this year and created tangible goals within each. So, here ya go:

1. Enter Super Mom Mode: Get myself and W ready for the arrival of Baby #2 in May. This will have to include potty training and a move to his big boy room before May, and not putting a ton of pressure on myself when Baby #2 gets here (which is what I did with #1).

2. Grocery Overhaul: We got away from any sort of meal planning and lunch packing this year. As a result, we throw away food weekly and don't efficiently use the stuff we have on hand. We also waste a ton of money on buying lunches and I figure if I make dinners that would cover the next day's lunch, we'll be in better shape. So, I'll do weekly meal lists and buy new tupperware.

3. Work it out: Matt is joining a P90X challenge on January 7th. Obviously, that is not recommended for someone who is 20 weeks pregnant, but we do have a treadmill gathering a ton of dust and I'm really hoping to find a new yoga studio. Bikram stopped when pregnancy started and my bikram partner and BFF Britt sailed off (literally). Three work outs a week will make me feel better and help ensure I don't gain the impressive 45 pounds I did with my first pregnancy.

4. Blog face lift: My blog needs a face lift. And I need to reacquaint myself with updating it continuously, participate with the groups I've agreed to be a part of, and comment on at least one blog a day. Comments make the blogging world go 'round, right?

5. Replace refrigerator and stove. This has been on our to-do list since we bought the house over two years ago. The entire kitchen will have to be renovated at some point and I thought it would have happened by now, but we don't have the cash yet. For now, the stove (with two working burners & a broken broiler) and the refrigerator (freezer burn and a missing in-door shelf) need to be replaced. So, it's time to look for sales.

None of these are too original, but I think it's enough to keep me busy for a couple of months or so. Hope you all made some good plans for the New Year!

Mama's Little Helper

Lots of yard work this weekend. Matt did a ton and I managed to fill a few planters with flowers.... at 8:00 tonight, which was the first chance I had. (It all looked pretty good in the dark, but we'll see what I think in day light.) I guess the rest of the flowers I bought will have to wait until next weekend.

It's been impossible to keep the little guy in the house with all this gorgeous weather. So, we let him "work on the flowers to get them ready for planting" (read: scoop dirt out of a pot and scatter in various places) while I pulled all of our pots out of the garage and tried to make sense of all the plants I bought. When will I learn to go flower shopping with a plan? Probably never.

Once landscaping is in a better place, I'll put up some photos of the house. Can you see that color in the background of the photo? Consider that a bit of a sneak preview... On a side note: I can't tell you how many neighbors have come over to comment on how much better the place looks, which is kind, but also lets us know that we were "that" house.

Megatouch: Our House

Lots of changes are going on over here. We've decided to reinvest our tax return into our house and are knocking off some big items on the "To Do" list we've been keeping since we bought the place. It's slow going, but little by little it will end up being something pretty major when we're all done.

Thought it might be fun to play a little game. Kinda like Megatouch, that video touch screen game at bars. (Yeah, I didn't remember what they were called until I googled it.)

Here is our place as it previously appeared. Pretty sweet, huh?

And here it is today:

Can you see the difference between the two photos? Do you?

I wish I had a great prize for guessing the correct answer, but I have a feeling we'd have a ton of winners. (Note: There's a clue in the picture.)

Paralyzed By Our To Do List

I just sat down and wrote a quick to do list off the top of my head. I'd been feeling as if I was carrying a weight around and it was just starting to get too heavy. Turns out, the weight was a pile of stuff to do with no direction and no clear idea of what exactly has to be done.

So, here I am with a double-sided list. It's insane, but the good news is a couple of the items were contingent on the delivery of our tax return and we have it. This week we'll be able to start work on some outstanding home improvement issues. First on the list is painting the house (the barn red is starting to take on a more purple hue). If only we can agree on a color... (Item #22: Choose paint color for the house.)

If I owe you something, like a phone call, an email, a thank you note, a piece of writing, some money... You're on the list. And I'll get there, I just have a ton of things to cross off before I do.

Hoarders: The Lost Hannemaniacs Episode

Do you ever watch Hoarders and get a little nervous?

How about when your husband piles all the stuff that needs to be put away on the dinner table and you tell him that you can't get to it, so just move it aside to make room for him to have his sandwich?

Is this his cry for help?

Our Current House Dilemma

I just wrote a new post for Chicago Moms Blog, which can be found here.

There can be a short delay between writing these posts and them being put up the editorial team. Things have changed since I wrote this post.

Here is the big one: Yesterday Aunt Danielle came over to see the little guy (which is the main objective of her visits home these days) and somehow with three adults in the house the gate to the basement stairs came down and did not go back up.

We were chatting as William rounded the corner, luckily the quick-on-her-feet Aunt Danielle scooped him up before disaster. Dammit! This is the first time we've been that careless. We've worried about the "what if's?" but now that we've experienced it, I feel like we just have to put up a door. It's not worth a tumble down those crazy stairs, right?

If you have seen our basement stairs I'm sure you know what I'm saying or may have even thought to yourself: "I'm not letting my kid run around these crazy people's house."

Any other ideas?