The Time Has Come

No, not to close down the blog. Although, as often as I do, one would think. But no, this is my spot to record (as often as I can these days) Emi's life. I am hoping it will help me remember all the 'little' things in her life so that if I can ever get off my duff and make her a scrapbook, all the details (or at least some of them) will be written down somewhere. 'Cause we all know my memory chips aren't what they used to be.

So, this weekend. We had a whole slew of things we wanted to get done. We got some knocked out on Saturday. Not as much as we had wanted, but some. Had a long list for Sunday, but that's okay. However, we forgot to check in with Emi (always a mistake). She rearranged our priorities. As usual.

I went to bed before Jeff, he followed about an hour later. We have a monitor to help Jeff hear Emi if she cries/calls out (IF??) in the night. I can't hear anything on it, as it's too far for me. {When he's gone we move it to my bedside table and turn it up full blast - then I can hear. But when he's home the static, etc. keeps him from sleeping, so he's on Emi duty for night time. Not a bad deal, for me. :) }

He checked on her before coming to bed, went to brush teeth and ... she must have called out. Needless to say, I never heard her and with the door closed, neither did he. All of a sudden I wake to her crying hysterically ... walking through our bedroom door! Now, some may wonder why that's a problem. Here's why:


Yes, the poor child, still in her crib. But she's never shown any interest in climbing out. We think moving and being without her crib for 2-3 months and then having it show up in her new house just thrilled her. She was SO excited to see it, so set it up we did (hey, we are no fools ... containment is a good thing!). This great and wonderful thing came to a screeching halt Saturday night.

To finish the story, we have no idea what happened. She couldn't tell us, still can't. When I asked her to try and crawl out of her crib the next day (I was standing right there), she couldn't. We are just thankful she didn't get hurt. Scared me to my bones! She's not a tall gal, the bed is pretty far off the ground.

So, Daddy (with "help" from Emi) took the foot board off the crib and turned it into a day bed. For now, it's what we are going to use. Seems silly to buy a toddler bed when we have this (although, the temptation - oh my!). When she's ready we will probably go with a twin but this should last her a good long while.

And now, the unveiling:

Yes, she's spolied ... your point?

After months of researching, looking and looking some more ... we bought the first one we looked at. Figures, sigh. But, this is a big investment for us and we wanted to do it right (and get the best price, heh). Finally, after all the waiting, Emi's new swing set/play equipment thing was delivered and set up this weekend. Oh the joy, oh the excitement, oh the ... "wait? I can't HELP??"

But, in the end, it was worth it.

Disney will have to wait a year or two, as will a couple of other things we were toying with (and yes, grass seed instead of sod for most of the back yard - that sweet face, is worth it!). This is right now. This is exercise (even though she doesn't know it). This is fun ... for longer than a four-day trip to see the Mouse ... that she probably wouldn't go near anyway. Oh, the Mouse trip is high on my wish list of things to do with Emi. Oh Jeff's, not so much. On Emi's - not even on her radar. So, it can wait. She is loving this thing, constant. She wakes up wanting to go out, she's dragged into the house at night wanting more. I am already getting a (mild) sunburn from sitting outside with her (next investment is an umbrella thing for mama!).

I sat out there this morning watching her run around, climb her rock wall (took her less than three tries to "do it Emi, Mama" - yeah, no helping this gal!), and just having the time of her life. It makes my heart smile to see her so happy.

Maybe she's not spoiled. Maybe we are. The love and joy she brings to Jeff and I - we are just so darned lucky.

Spoiled rotten lucky.

Project 365 - Drat

So I missed a few days and then got disheartened. It's not that I lost interest, I was just bummed that I couldn't keep it going more than what, eleven days? Gesh. That said, I still took the pictures most days - using a mix of my cell phone and cute little (new - thanks honey!) pocket camera. It is (one of many) of my goals tomorrow to get them off both and posted here. I am also going to attempt to restart it. We'll see. I may lift an idea from quite a few others: take a picture a day but post it once a week. Project 52, if you will. We shall see.

So, what's been going on this last week? Not much. Unpacking, but not near as much as I should. Instead ... I've been stitching! Oh gosh, I've missed it so. When we first came home with Emi there just wasn't the time. I put it away, hoping to return to it soon. Then the big move, or rather the big wait to move. I did start a project last summer that was supposed to be a wedding gift and then we got our travel dates to South Carolina! Eeps. Yeah, that gift didn't get done. However, since Christmas I have been stitching up a storm on it and I am SO DARNED HAPPY! It's almost done, maybe another week or so at the rate I am currently stitching. As soon as it's mailed (ha - and received) I will post the picture. I am quite pleased with the way it's turning out. I have also found a new stitching shop (well, new to me) and they have twice monthly get togethers. I have already been once! They are a great group and I look forward to more stitching with them.

So, that's about it. Nothing earth shattering, but I am again finding my happy place. I can't believe how much I missed stitching. I just need to find a balance between that and unpacking (oh, and laundry, the house, cooking and groceries, and .... Jeff & Emi!).

Tree Corner

Testing again, I had somehow messed up the settings.

That said, here is my project for today. With hopes of getting the tree up this weekend.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The House Hunt

(Note: I started this post back on October 9th, and never got around to finishing it. I am going to post this now, but at some point, re-date it to the 9th so it can be in order.)



Yes, I know I haven't finished blogging about our trip East. But I've been busy ... house hunting! After many days (and two very patient Realtors), Emi and I found our house. Whew. I have to say, she's been a champ through all this. I wish I had more pictures of her seeing houses but well, I was busy looking - very carefully - at the houses too. She really got into it. Inspecting closets, bathrooms, the kitchens. She really inspected things like other children's toys! We went back and forth, older or brand spankin' new. I had it narrowed down to just two, finally, when I just needed to jump and make the decision. So, I hope it's the right one ......

Front of the house ~~ Emi running around in the backyard
Both still need sod, the backyard needs the fence

Now the real decisions begin. I need to pick out paint colors, carpeting, hardwoods, and (probably) many other things. I am excited about it, but a bit nervous too. I've never done something like this before. We are hoping to be in the house by Thanksgiving, but more realistically, we have been told that it will be more like the end of November. But, I am holding out for earlier, we need to get OUT of this rental apartment. It's just really tiny, and both Emi and Max need to be outside more than we can get them there.

P.S. Jeff did have a say in the houses. With the new job keeping him hopping he only looked at a couple, but he trusts me (yikes, no pressure!) and knows I will find the best house I can for our family. He also said "if you are happy with whatever you find, I will be too". Oh melt my heart. There's many reasons he's such a keeper, comments like that one are WAY up on the list.

The House

Thank you for all the kind comments and emails. We are pretty excited about this move, and the job Jeff will have will be a bit more interesting - which is always a good thing.

We placed the house on the market last Monday, had two showings on Tuesday, and first thing Wednesday morning had a call from our awesome Realtor ... there was a bid on our house!
Oh. My. Gosh.


Breathe, Kiy. Breathe.


Once I got myself together I quickly called Jeff and we decided to accept the offer. Just like that, we sold our house. In today's market that's not something to sneeze at.

And just like that I no longer have to worry about keeping a toddler home neat and polished. Wow. We were so worried that it wouldn't sell quickly (at all?) and we were leaving here regardless. We are so lucky, and have been quite lucky every time we've sold a house. But then, we aren't greedy and don't try to squeeze the last few dollars for our homes. We listen to our Realtors, price it as they suggest and sell pretty quickly.

Our departure date is set (September 13th) and for anyone (else) counting the days, that is 39 very short days away. We have lots to do in a very short time. We do not, however, have to pack! Sweet! We *think* the packers are coming Sept 8-9-10, leaving us the 11th and 12th for closing on the house, cleaning and general scurrying around. Should be fun, if a bit crazy.

Jeff already has our temporary quarters all lined up for Aiken, and our temp living arrangements here for that week are set so that two things off the to do list. So, that's the news so far on the house.

Getting excited about the drive! (Well, I am. Not so sure about Jeff, I know Max isn't, and Emi has no clue. She just knows there's lots going on and she's sure it's all about her!


P.S. For those that know me well, I am not usually big on n*ked baby pictures. However, the day our Realtors came by to put up the sign we had just come in from playing outside (in the icky, sticky hot) and I had just popped Emi out of the bath. We were watching out the window, but she HAD to be part of it. I was afraid they'd be done before I got some clothes on her. She was so cute with the sign, they had to take pictures - and here's the one they sent me. Too darned cute! (The second photo is the best one - even though there isn't a sweet little cherub in the photo. Under Contract .... whoooohooo!)

Goodbye, Hello

The time has, finally, come that I feel safe in sharing our news. I've alluded to this a couple of times when I thought the time was quite near, not meaning to dangle. I've had emails and comments asking (1) if I am pregnant (it would seriously take an act of God), (2) are we adopting again (nope, Emi was our first and last, and really ... how could perfection be duplicated -- no pressure Emi, lol!), and (3) well, there is no three - those were the guesses.

What actually is happening is that we are moving. To South Carolina (anyone out there in Aiken, SC or Augusta, GA area? if so, drop me a line?!).

We have lived here two years and while we love it, we've come to realize that this is the wrong side of the States for us. Everyone we love is on the other side. Just to visit a grandparent takes at least a day of flying, and visiting friends is an annual thing, at best. We decided last summer that we needed to make a move. Jeff sent off applications and in February he was offered a job. And then, things started to drag out. I won't bore with the back and forth, but last week he finally got the official paperwork he had been waiting on. We can list the house (yikes, oh joy) and start the process of moving.

Jeff is still with the federal government, so while it's a job change, to them it's not. The really nice thing about this is that they move you (oh yeah, baby!). There is absolutely no way we would have moved so often if we had had to pack and move ourselves. The packers are due the week of September 7th, and we will be hitting the road on September 13th.

Hitting the road? Why yes, we were told that we were going to be driving. From Washington to South Carolina.

Yep, you read that right ... driving. Jeff, me, Emi (who will be 31 months) and Max (14 years and six pounds of car-hating Yorkie) in a really small car. Yeah, trip of a lifetime. Funny enough, I am looking forward to the drive. I think it will be fun, as long as we keep a sense of humor and realize that there will be good days and not-so-good days. We have a plan in place, but also know that we will have to punt from time to time. Emi and Max both can only take so long in a car. That is actually a good thing, as it will force Jeff and I to get out and walk around every couple of hours - something we are not good about doing for ourselves.

More details as we have them, just wanted to share our exciting news with everyone!

BooMama Christmas Tour of Homes '08 - Our Home

Little Bit is happily watching Noggin so I have 15 seconds of uninterrupted time to try and finish this post. We shall see.


We didn't go crazy this year, but still wanted it special for Miss Emi. We did put up our tree, no real trees for this gal, we live in a desert and can you even begin to imagine how many times I'd have to water a tree in any given day?? I'd need one of these. Which, come to think of it, why hasn't something like that been invented for trees by now? All you inventor types, I gave you the idea, I expect my royalties check! Oh, and the vacuuming of the needles. Yeah, that's going to happen. NOT. So, fake trees are what happens in this house. And I'm okay with that. It will be noticed (sorta hard to miss) that the angel is a bit, well, tilted. No, she hasn't been drinking (although it might come to that, the poor gal). It seems Miss Emi cannot not touch the tree (the one finger thing? only when mama is watching it seems). Also, for some reason I have yet to figure out, the tree spins around in it's holder. Something that took Miss Emi 13 seconds to figure out. Of course, the cord tends to hamper things, but she's up to the challenge. The question is, are Jeff and I? But she is seriously enjoying the tree, which is the reason it's up. (Oh, and see the presents under the tree? No? That's because Miss Emi has figured them out, at 22 months. We don't think she realizes that there are goodies inside, she just wants the paper off. So, now they are up on the bar to the left of the tree. Safe, for now.)

We did make the decision to not put any breakables on the tree this year. There are wooden, felt/cloth and tin decorations. It's pretty in a not-over-the-top decorated way which tends to happen as I love buying Christmas ornaments. Every year I have to decide what to not put up. Actually, in years past I have had as many as four trees up scattered throughout the house. This year, just the two. The family tree and Miss Emi's in her room. She loves it and wants it plugged in every morning. Very sweet.

The tree skirt on the family tree is one my mom cross-stitched for us a few years ago. It's one of my most favorite Christmas decorations and prized possessions. Also every year since the first year Jeff and I were married (1993, wow, a looooong time!) she has given us (and Drew when he was little) a special ornament. Usually she would find them in little shops or at an arts and crafts fair, usually handmade and always with our names and the year. I love decorating our tree each year as unwrapping each year's ornament and hanging it on the tree brings back memories. It's a wonderful tradition that I hope she never ends. This year, my mom out did herself (not something that's easy to do!). See those little stockings pictured below on the right? She stitched those! Complete with gold thread, something that I flat out refuse to use as it's such a bear to work with. And she did it THREE times. She even made them into stockings. I so love them and had to call her the moment I opened the box to thank her.

(Hmmm, maybe I should have broke out the iron for that skirt. Ah well, next year.)

We have started that with Emi, so she gets two new ones each year, one from us and one from Grandma. By the time she is ready to move out (when she's 35!), she will have many ornaments for her own tree. This year has been the year of the penguin for Miss Emi, so I have been searching and searching for just the right one. Finally, I found one but because it's so glossy/shiny I just could not get a good picture so, use your imagination!

My love of all things autumn has been well documented but I also love and adore Christmas decorations too. I didn't put up a quarter of what I have, but mainly as I didn't want the stress of trying to keep things in one piece as Curious Girl (Danger Girl's alter-ego) loves to touch and hold, and ultimately drop. But I love the pieces I put up. I am not done with the mantle. I decided I need some red and gold balls to nestle into the greenery, but for now it works. The stockings I made one year when Drew was small (yes, Emi is getting Drew's hand-me-down stocking, that and a stuffed animal he selected to pass down are her only hand-me-downs, poor kid!). They are HUGE and no, we don't fill them. :)

Mom also stitched more ornaments for the little wooden tree (remember the birthday post?). They turned out so pretty and cute, and Emi was so excited to see them. She really gets a kick out of this little tree. I wonder what mom has planned for January, February and March (no pressure Mom!). Also here is the window over the kitchen sink. I used to collect angels and Santa's (some of them are pictured above on the mantle). I also used to collect snowmen (some are on the kitchen windowsill, pictured below). Now, I don't collect anything, unless it seriously catches my eye. I have six boxes of decorations, a bit over the top? Jeff seems to think so. :)

And, that's all the decorating we did this year. We did do a bit on the front door, but that is waiting for Barbara's Front Door Decor - Christmas Edition carnival. Which, a little bird told me, is happening next week. Make sure you come back for a visit!

Last, but certainly not least, someone must have told Mother Nature that BooMama's fun and games were happening this week. She arrived sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning. So much for living in a desert. We had snow last year too. I think we were lead down the path in regards to "it rarely snows here" and last year's "this is a fluke, it so rarely ever snows here". Yeah, sure.

The sandbox, the (covered) back patio.


The evergreen pretty with snow.

Make sure you check out all the other spectacular displays, starting with BooMama herself. So far, there are already 445! Wow.

P.S. In all the decorating and snow shoveling (okay, I didn't but I was out there in spirit with Jeff!), I neglected to make any goodies to share while you all are here visiting. Darn. I would have made some yummy Christmas cookies like we made for the firemen, had I remembered. But I am sure, like Santa, by now you are all so full of yummy goodness that you are wishing you had reindeer to share the treats with.

More Brownie Points!

Jeff is on a major roll these days. Remember this post? (Scroll to end for Jeff's goodie). He made this possible, and he did the dishes this past weekend. But he's topped all that. If that is possible, and I guess it is!

He also did THIS!

Old yucky should have been replaced before we moved in shower head:

The new and wonderful and awesome and spectacular shower head:

Not the greatest pictures, the flash would bounce off so had to take them without.

The new shower head is like standing under a waterfall. If I close my eyes, I am sure I am in Hawaii. All I need are large stickers of hibiscus flowers all over my shower, maybe some candles, and a Mai Tai in one hand with a Strawberry Daiquiri in the other. Hmmm, this may have potential.

Seriously though, this shower head rocks. I love it, and now want to take two, three, even four showers a day.

And it's official. I am addicted to blogging when my first thought was 'must take a picture so I can blog about it'.

Projects

I am very much a project-driven goal-oriented person. So much, it tends to drive me a bit nuts now and again.

Like now.

I *should* be doing other things. Cleaning house, washing our bed lines, moping floors (yeah, right), working on more of the packing, doing more laundry, sorting stuff for the trip, etc.

What I am doing however, is this ....

Changing Table (before) ~ ~ ~ Changing Table (after)

I was not expecting the table to arrive with particle board shelves, so I knew I wanted to do something about that. I took the curtain (to the nursery set) to the fabric store and found this! It's not what I was looking for (thought I wanted quilting cotton material, thicker than crafting cotton) but I like it much better! It's what you would make an outdoor table cloth out of. It's flannel backed and the print (in this case, red and white checked) has a coating on it so it can be wiped clean. In a nursery. Hmmm, good plan, I'm thinking! I like the checks, they go with the theme quite well and this can be changed out when we want to try and use it for a bookshelf (if we do). I have to say, considering how much time it took me to do this (cutting it to size, laying it flat), it worked out great!

I am also hanging cross-stitch and such, but until I have everything up and the way I want it, I will hold off on posting photos. It won't all be done before we leave but it's finally starting to pull together. Probably the best decision I made was deciding NOT to paint the mural before we left. I still want to do it, and maybe someday I will, but adding a project like that, right now ... not a good idea.

In taking photos in Emi's room (I *love* saying that!), I realized I had never posted the photos of the crib with the nursery set. Here is it, along with the really cool lamp with dragonflies I found. Also on the table is a stitch project I did back in 2005 for Emi. My mom has this really great lady that does a lot of our sewing finishing, she made a couple of things into pillows for me ... I think this one turned out great!

Oh, and the doll? Emi's first doll ... from my mom. I really wanted to take it with us to China but we have SO much stuff that I don't want to overwhelm her. So this cute little doll will be here, waiting for Emi. (The bear is a matching one to the elephant we are taking with us, it is sooooo soft and cuddly.) BTW, the walls really are painted that grey/sage color. It doesn't look like anything great at all in the photos.

A new hard drive

Funny, what makes me happy. My computer up and running this morning made Kiy a VERY happy gal. The swap-out, fighting with the new hard drive over the fact that we didn't want (the evil) Vista and finding my saved files on the dead hard drive took quite a few evenings and two full days of Jeff's time. Time he was supposed to be putting baby stuff together. So, while he was working on my computer, I put together (or attempted) baby goodies. Actually, I am pretty darned impressed with myself that I was able to put this stuff together, with NO cuss words. Women really should run the world (smile).

The exersaucer thing my mom got for Emi is now put together. Wow, that thing had a gazillion parts. It's really cool though, and we can put just a few toys on it right now (or rather, when Emi gets home and is interested in it) and add them as we go. She won't be overwhelmed, which is a good thing. Also, you can get more of the doo-dads and swap them out. Mom is already on the hunt for the cell phone. (BTW, if anyone has a lead on one, please let me know, she hasn't been able to find one yet, and I can't find one either. So much for, "and you can easily order more toys for this wonderful exersaucer!")

Also put together the stroller. I love and adore this stroller. It is everything I wanted, and more. It is a full size-stroller, which was very important to me (especially as we will most likely get an umbrella stroller in China, and I am not a huge fan of those to begin with). It isn't as light as I was hoping, but it isn't as heavy as some. It folds up very easily (and I practiced to make sure BEFORE we bought it) and I love the color. I know, that shouldn't be a big deal but some of the colors these things come in! This particular color, we were told, is only available on-line. We played with the orange (yes, orange) one in the store. I loved it, but I couldn't get past the color. So, home I ran to see if I could find the same thing in a color that wouldn't make my eyes bleed. It must just be me ... Jeff thought the orange was great (yeah, I don't get it either). This thing also had more parts than I imagined, and the directions ... let's say the directions-writing-person at Chicco should maybe look at the product he/she was writing about. But, I persevered and ... TA DA ... we have a stroller sitting in our family room. Waiting for a certain baby. I can't wait to use it. I hope November and December are as mild here as everyone says. I look forward to bundling her up and taking walks down by the gorgeous rivers here! (Miles and miles of very pretty walk-ways with river on one side and park on the other, with kid play areas scattered all over. Very cool.)

I also put together the changing table. Yes, the changing table I wasn't going to get. It ended up being harder than I thought to find a long dresser that I could put a changing pad on, that I liked and that I was willing to spend the money on. Not that I am cheap (well, okay, I am) but $800 for a dresser?! Pffft, so not happening. I loved the one that matches the crib, and the store where we bought the crib had the lowest price I could find in the area but it was still $544, plus delivery. Plus 8-12 weeks for it to arrive. We don't have 8-12 weeks! So, off to eBay I went. I found that I could get a tall dresser (four drawers) and a changing table for far less than anything local. That's including shipping. The changing table arrived and that was the next thing I put together. Because the printer is still not hooked up to the computer (Jeff still has some odds-n-ends to do on my computer) I grabbed the photos from the auctions for your viewing pleasure. :)

My current plan is to use it for a changing table now, and then once that part of our lives is over change it to a book/toy shelf using baskets. Considering what I paid for it, if it lasts through the changing table period of our lives, it will have served it's function. But, it is surprisingly sturdy and very pretty. It also matches the cherry wood on the crib almost exactly, and since it's on the other end of the room it isn't at all noticeable that it's not 'perfect'. I have to admit to being an eBay gal from waaaay back (actually, both Jeff and I eBay quite a bit), so I was surprised that I didn't think of this sooner. But I guess I was thinking the shipping charges would be huge. Once I factored in the higher cost of the item and the delivery of 'local' there wasn't that much difference.

Sadly, the dresser is still in pieces. That is one of the risks you take with eBay. Most of the sellers of this kind of thing are moving mass quantities and 'seconds' or overstock. Not sure exactly which category the dresser falls into, probably both. Seems that (so far) eight of the holes for the dresser were miss-drilled. Since I don't use the drill (I could, I just don't), I have left that project to Jeff. I did find all the parts, label them, put all the screws and tiny parts in their own (labeled) dishes, etc. so he is good to go. But it may be next weekend before he can get to it. If he does. Because we had a few problems with this item that I won't bore you with here, the seller refunded us half, including shipping (which never ever ever happens, I was floored!). But that is something you need to keep in mind when eBaying. Things don't always go smoothly, and you need to be able to work with your seller. Sure, if they are jerks you can blast them in the feedback area, but really, try to work it out before it gets to that. Both Jeff and I have run into great people there, and not-so-great, but it is fun. If done carefully. I read pages and pages of feedback, especially on this kind of thing. He had good feedback and I now see why. He is *determined* to make it right. My kind of seller. (Back to the 'if he puts it together' ... with what the seller credited us back, we can still do something else if Jeff can't get this together. We won't lose that much money, some, but not an outrageous amount. We shall see what happens when he starts working on it. Details to follow.)

I don't think I ever posted a picture of the crib. So I will wait to post that until I can download photos from my camera (using the mostly useless printer sitting on my desk - it has a handy card slot which is only handy when the printer is hooked up to my computer). When my mom was here we made up the crib with the VERY PRETTY crib set that she got for us and I love the way it looks with the cherry wood. So, that photo will be posted later.

The room is starting to come together. I still don't have window treatments up. Mainly as the blinds were never that great to start with so I tore them down for the painting dude. I need to decide on, purchase and install new ones. Guess I better get hopping on that. Then we can hang the valance that matches the crib set. Once that is done and the dresser is up we can hang all the stitching/art work stuff. That all may or may not happen before we leave for China. But I have let it go. I was starting to stress out about the fact that the nursery wasn't finished but really, what's important? She has a bed to sleep in, and safe, warm, loving arms to snuggle in. We have all that. There are two sets of arms SO ready to snuggle this little girl with, and love ... we have that in spades. The other stuff, just details. And when it comes right down to it, not very important ones. There are three pictures sitting on my desk of a tiny little girl half a world away. I talk to her, all the time, still only half believing she is ours and we are hers. I am going to enjoy every moment of this time getting ready for her and put aside the (self-made) stress and worry. Because, in the end, all I want is Emi in my arms.


P.S. Housekeeping: I didn't lose all my emails, but I have a sinking feeling that I am missing some. Please, if I owe you an email and you haven't heard back from me, resend it.