New Addition

The news is officially public wide and far; we're expecting an addition to the family on or around March 22, 2013! We're thrilled (and a little nervous)!

It's been kind of a whirlwind since July. We got the offer on the condo on July 8 and found out I'm pregnant on July 18. If we'd gotten that offer a few days earlier, we may have held off on expanding the family. But, at the end of June we had no expectation that we'd sell any time soon and our plan was always to start trying once Lainey turned one...just turned out we didn't have to try so long this time. : ) Great timing or ridiculous timing, I'm not sure, but I'm going to say great--this assumes we are able to find a house and get move before March.

The house hunting pressure is ON! And that pressure comes just as we move into fall and the market starts slowing. But, I have faith. That perfect gem is out there and we're gonna' find it! We rented a three bedroom apartment, just in case, but I really--I mean REALLY, REALLY, REALLY--do not want to bring my newborn bundle back to this place. Obviously, it's a more than acceptable environment or else we'd never have moved Lainey there, but it's not home and it's never going to be. And I want to bring my baby HOME after the hospital. 

In brighter news, it seems I've made it over the first trimester hurdles of nausea and excessive fatigue. Mark has been absolutely incredible and taking on way more than his share of the domestic duties these past months. I've felt kind of lazy and useless, but on the other hand, I am growing our child inside me, so....  During my sickest days, Lainey seemed to sense my need for quiet time and let me read books to her instead of chasing her wildly about the condo. I had to haul her into the bathroom a few times when I was getting sick, and she would stand next to me and rub my back and then hug me when it was over. Such a sweet girl, my little one.

It's going to be another wild ride, but we are ready for the rollercoaster!
Without further ado, here are the first images of our little butter bean...

Pool, Parks, and the Beach!

I'm finally getting around to recapping the fun adventures of last weekend (just in time to head into the chaos of this weekend).

I was able to slip out of work early last Friday and get home in time to hit the Holstein Pool for our second (and sadly last) dip of the season. When I first got home, I was so tired from the work week, I really was not into the idea of rushing back out. But, thankfully my awesome husband intervened and gave me a push to get going. So glad we went! Lainey loved it even more than last time. We also ran into our good friends Lezlie and Whistler, so that was a fun surprise!

Saturday we headed out to buy a new car seat for Lainey. Instead of going to the Babie R Us near us, we decided to venture a little further out hoping for a better selection. We arrived about 15 minutes before the store opened, but there is a huge park across the street. We headed over and let Lainey chase the squirrels--her new favorite past time. She is such an active little girl these days. She adores being outside (we had multiple tantrums over the weekend when we had to go inside) and loves to run, run, run. Her little legs can't always keep up with her momentum, however, so she had quite a few topples resulting in various scrapes and bruises. By Saturday night, she looked liked she'd been in a bar fight. But, she doesn't let a little bloody knee keep her down. She gets right back up and keeps going!

Sunday night we accepted a last-minute invite from our friends the O'Grady's and headed up to Evanston for a block party. Elaine was on FIRE! She did not sit still from the moment we arrived until the moment we strapped her in her car seat to head home. (It was quite the battle to get some sort of dinner into her belly.) The entire evening she ran up and down the street with a huge smile on her face, waving to everyone and talking non-stop. (It appears she's over her stranger danger). She had the time of her life!

The final adventure on Monday was to head to Montrose Beach--Lainey's first beach visit. We weren't sure how she'd take to the sand and assumed the water would be too cold for her, so we really thought we'd mostly end up in the grassy park area. We were wrong--and slightly underprepared (no swimsuits). Our little bug LOVED the sand and LOVED being in the water. She truly is a water baby. As with the pool, it's sad that we only just made it there on the last weekend of the season. We can still go back if the weather holds, you're just not supposed to swim, because there are no lifeguards.

In between all the big events, we took lots of walks, visited the farmer's market, and just enjoyed being together as a family. It was an awesome weekend and I don't regret for one second not doing any chores and skipping out on several errands (remind me of this Sunday night when I'm exhausted from fitting all those into THIS weekend)!

Below are some pictures from the park and here's a link to our pictures from the beach: Beach Time. They aren't that great. We couldn't get Lainey to look at the camera at all. She was too interested in what was going on around her!

She's got such a great smile!

Beach Baby

The New (Temporary) Place

The move went as well as moves go. Everything got from one place to the other and as far as we know nothing broke (although there is a substantial about of stuff still in boxes). The unpacking was a little more difficult with a busy bee buzzing about the apartment...we'll definitely do the next move on a weekday when Lainey can be safely away at daycare. Adding my mega work week on top of things, the unpacking and organization of the place is still behind where I'd like to be at this point. But, we're settled in enough and chose family fun this weekend over working on the final, lingering boxes. A very good choice indeed! (I'll do another post on some of our adventures once I get around to uploading the pictures...hopefully before the end of the week).

The apartment is fine. It has enough room, so we don't feel cramped. But, it's definitely not home and we're really missing some of the conveniences of our old place...ice maker/water dispenser in the fridge door, garbage disposal, A/C. I honestly think I miss the garbage disposal more than the A/C. Also, the microwave doesn't work, but our landlord was very responsive and brought us a small one to use while he orders a part for the other.

Of course having mild discomfort will just help us keep our eyes on the prize. And now that things should slow down just a bit, we can refocus on househunting and find that perfect place!

So long, 2023...

Our first home...

I'm getting surprisingly emotional about leaving the condo tomorrow. I really didn't think I would. I'm not that sentimental and the plan was always to stay here five years and move on, and anyone who knows me well, knows how I love sticking to a plan. But, as the boxes pile higher and the dust bunnies scurry from closets and under beds, I find myself tearing up.

Part of it is we aren't moving on to a new, better home. We're moving to an apartment, that while nice for what it is, isn't something to jump up and down over (um, we seemed to have missed the small detail that there are no bedroom closets). But the real reason for the tight throat and the quickened pulse is this is where Mark and I started our lives together. This is where we brought our daughter home and have raised her for the past 14 months. And, while I don't regret selling and I know we're doing the right thing, I also know the tears are gonna' flow tomorrow when the condo is empty and we drive that great distance of six blocks to enter our new (temporary, please let it be very temporary) place.

Maybe I'm a little sentimental after all... .

Time to move on...

...in more ways than one. The movers will be at our condo bright and early next Saturday to whisk us away to our temporary digs (hopefully very temporary). The following Monday, Miss Elaine will begin her transition from her beloved Koala room at daycare to the Chimp room down the hall. Time to leave the babies and start mingling with the toddlers!

We met with her new head teacher today and checked out the classroom. It's a bit on the snug side, but it does have windows that face the street. Lainey loves her people watching! Instead of a high chair, she'll sit on a tiny chair at a group table for meals; and instead of a crib, she'll sleep on a cot. I would love to be a fly on the wall to see this all transpire that first week (we'll be sticking to the high chair/crib situation at home). We're happy that one of Lainey's Koala teachers just switched to the Chimp room and  hoping this makes the move easier. Our girl has a bit of "stranger danger" these days. When the new teacher started in her classroom it took her four days to not scream and cry and cling to the other teachers when Ms. Tracy came in the room.

And I do hope the transition does go smoothly, because it's going to be a stressful week. On top of the move, I'll be working from 7:30am-8pm Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (plus a commute to the 'burbs on two of those days.) So, Mark will basically be playing single parent for the week.

All-in-all we're happy she's making the move. She's bored with the babies and needs new stimulation. She's growing up and becoming her own little person, full of personality! But, the time is going too fast. It seems like just yesterday I was taking her little three-month-old self to CLP for the first time. Before I know it, she'll be getting on that school bus. Sniff, sniff!



Look out Chimps...there's a new boss in town!



The Family Dinner...Urban Myth?

Okay, help me out people. Give me some tips. How do I make a family dinner happen during the week? 'Cause it ain't happening around these parts.

At the very earliest, I get home with the Laineybug at 5:45pm, but usually closer to 6pm. If I really stretch her and she's in a particularly good mood, I can hold off feeding her until 6:30pm. Maybe, just maybe, that will be the one night of the week Mark makes it home before 7pm. So, you might be thinking, "hey, 30 minutes is enough to toss a quick meal together." And I agree. Except Lainey has mommy static cling in the evenings and that makes it hard to get much cooking accomplished. I know I could ignore her whines and tugs at my legs and force her to play on her own, but I don't want to. I'm gone from her all day, so if she wants to hang out and play or cuddle with her mom, then that's what we're gonna' do!

Of course play time means sacrifice at meal time. I'm thankful she gets a hot, balanced meal at daycare, because I'm usually throwing whatever I can make quickly with no real thought to a cohesive meal...some mixed veggies here, a slice of cheese there, a fruit cup to top things off. Still hungry? Uh, here have a peanut butter sandwich. She eats a lot of avocado and tofu, because they're easy to dice and toss on her tray before she has a total metldown. I'm feeding her nutritious stuff and try to hit multiple food groups--although I won't lie, there have been nights she's had just cheerios and milk for dinner--but I still feel bad that I haven't planned a "meal." (QUICK TIP: The Safeway brand of multi-grain Os actually have BETTER nutritionals than Cheerios--so go ahead, save a few bucks. But, I'll admit they don't taste as good.)

So, do I just have to make a choice? Either spend quality 1:1 time with Lainey after work or give up that time, so we can dine as a family? I know there's got to be a way to find a balance...I'm just struggling on how to get there.

Pool Time!

So, it only took us two months, but we FINALLY made it over to Holstein Pool on Sunday to give Elaine her first dip in a big pool. Looks like she's a water baby. She absolutely LOVED it! Not an ounce of trepidation or a single whine...except when it was time to leave. We tried taking her over to the baby wading pool for a bit, but she showed no interest and looked completely bored. So, back to the big pool we went. We pulled her around by her arms and let her kick her little legs. She looked ready to take off and do a few laps on her own!

The weather was perfect, the water was warm, and the pool was crowded. It was so nice to have a few hours of relaxing together as a family! Much needed fun for us all.