Spring Break Recap

MONDAY

We went to Clemyjontri park with a several friends. Check out Alaina and Ellie's feet. It took me awhile to convince/force Lainey to wear her shoes. They're Roobeez which everyone I know has raved about, but aparently Alaina hates. Oh, and Ellie just doesn't have shoes in her size (third child and all).

Alaina kept saying, "Mommy, take a picture of me!" TUESDAY

Monday's outing wore us/me out so we stayed home. Lizzie had a little friend over and in the evening Drew surprised her with an evening at the circus. We were expecting our first over-night house guest in a few days so while the girls napped and played, I worked on the mess/continued "unpacking."

WEDNESDAY

We spent the morning at Reston petting zoo (where Ellie was terrified of the goats and Alaina wore her nightgown). In the late afternoon Liz went to a spa birthday party. When I saw her cute nails I felt like going to get my own mani-pedi but there was no time.

THURSDAY

Another day at home cleaning. I didn't leave the house until it was time to go to Lizzie's soccer practice. I tried to get a group shot of the girls for a "we've moved" announcement, but had no luck.

It feels like I have to tell the older girls "get off your sister!" on a daily basis.

FRIDAY

We met our PA cousins at Longwood Gardens. It was a lot of fun and I loved the way Iris and Lizzie, and Willa and Alaina paried off and played so well together. I also loved that Drew could come with us.

Alains surprised me by sticking her whole head in the water four separate times.

OTHER SPRING BREAK HIGHLIGHTS:

I finally let Ellie climb up the wooden stairs.Lizzie lost another tooth.

And Drew got his longed-for grill.

We're all so happy when Daddy has a day off!

My Birthday

First off, look at all those candles! I've entered my "mid thirties" which probably also means I've entered the number-shaped candles phase as well.I celebrated by taking it easy: slept in, stayed in my jammies all day, and alternated between reading my book and watching Harry Potter movies with Lizzie.Drew got up with the girls, took them to the grocery store, and made me breakfast in bed. Lizzie was super excited about the breakfast--all smiles and giggles.Liz also called me "birthday girl" all day. It was sweet to see her be nearly as excited about my birthday as she is about hers.Andrew totally waited on me, took care of all the diapers, and set up the ipod touch my parents gave me. I had for a few weeks before I took it out of the box and about a week ago Drew starting saying "when you set up your ipod . . . " I stopped him and said, "Let's be honest. We both know you're going to be the one setting it up." Thanks Babe! The girls helped me blow out the candles on my cake then everyone dug into it while I had a slice of the fruit tart.Drew and Liz got me birthday cards. Drew's had a "roses are red" rhyme which included some sexual innuendo. Liz read it, didn't get it, and wrote me her own "roses are red" version. So cute!I got lots of well wishes from friends and family on facebook which left me feeling very loved and also a bit guilty since I barely ever go on it to do anything.Ellie's sisters got their first cake on their first birthdays. Ellie got cake on mine. She so excited! Flapped her hands and everything.

Here's another update:

I have misplaced my cell phone and license somewhere in my home. The phone's only been missing for a day, the license is another story. Not surprisingly, Andrew is annoyed. Frankly, I'm also annoyed with myself this time around. .. Also, I have only four boxes left to unpack (but some piles of junk still on the floor) and I have yet to find my silverware. I have partially unpacked all four of the boxes and I don't think my utensils are in there. So random. Not sure where they could be except perhaps the Salvation Army. I managed to accidently donate both our toasters there last week so we're back to using our toaster oven which I think will probably be better in the long run. It seems kind of silly to have appliances that perform only one task with only a few varieties of food when space is at such a premium in townhomes.

Alaina Update

At two and a half years old Lainey is just as exuberant and entertaining as ever. She understands the concepts of colors, numbers, and letters though she can't acturately identify them yet (counting 1-2-7-5-19 or insisting that her blue shirt is actually yellow). She does pretty well with shapes. She's really excited about helicopters and they are pretty much the only thing she builds with her duplos.Flying helicopter (complete with sound effects):

Alaina's become a bit sassy. She sticks out her tongue now just to be cheeky. Recently she literally scooped up Ellie and then purposely dropped her on the ground. Drew scolded her and she stuck her tongue out at him. When, in frustration, he used his hand to push it back in she laughed and said, "That funny. You funny Daddy." So much for the reprimand making an impression. Within minutes she tried to pull Gabrielle off the couch by her ankles. When Drew stopped her and started to explain why such a move was unsafe, Alaina stuck her fingers in her ears and said, "nanna boo boo, I can't hear you." Andrew and I were so surprised that we laughed. Alaina still likes to draw on herself. She did this a couple weeks ago while I was fixing dinner. Lizzie was doing her homework and both girls were so quiet that I was mentally congratulating myself on how well things were going. Then Alaina asked if I wanted to see her drawing. When I said yes she proudly pulled up her sleeves to reveal her hard work (her legs looked the same).

Laines still uses her binki (upside down of course). It's a little embarrassing that she's still hooked on this and I keep meaning to wean her of it but obviously I haven't bothered. Something else I haven't bother to do with Alaina: toilet train.

She loves to cut paper and mush playdough. She collects rocks wherever we go. Today ended up transporting three for her. Lainey wants to copy Lizzie all the time. The other night Liz ate her dinner with chopsticks which meant Lainey had to do the same (which meant that she really ate her maceroni and cheese with her hands). She also insists that her teeth are loose (like Liz).

Alaina is playful and delightful and usually in a good mood though she often wakes up grumpy (as in, inconsolable crying for an hour). She likes to sleep with her green blanket still, but as far as comfort objects she varies from her teddy bear to a random toy, book, or object (like her precious rocks).

She's speaking pretty well--well enough to say prayers, well enough to argue with her sister. She still says funny things though like "oopy" instead of "oopsie."

Lainers is a "good eater." She's willing to try all sorts of new food, food that surprises me. The other day she ate salt & vinegar chips with her daddy. Ugh. She doesn't get it from me.

Still dancing and singing all the time.

Finally, some improvement

This week I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're just so close. I think we can get everything unpacked by the end of the weekend (of course that still might be wishful thinking). In other news: Lizzie, Alaina, and I have all slipped and fell on our wooden stairs (poor Alaina tumbled to the bottom). So, love the way they look, but maybe they are too dangerous. . MONDAY - Lizzie was out of school so we took a little break from unpacking to visit George Washington's Grist Mill & Distillery. It was kind of funny to hear Lizzie call to her friend, "Come on Taryn! We're going to learn how to make whiskey!" In the afternoon we finished the girls room, phase one only of course. I can't completely finish it until I get a hold of the quilts my mother and I have almost finished making for Lizzie and Alaina. Oh, and we need to paint the walls, paint their dresser, hang pictures, select a rug, and put together their bookshelf.

In the evening Drew and I "finished" our room! Yeah! We didn't bother to put the bed on it's frame since we're expecting a bedroom set next month. That may seem inconvenient to some, but, let's face it, after sleeping on an air mattress for seven months our regular king mattress resting on box springs seems super luxurious. Incidently, having Ellie sleep in a crib in her very own room instead of a pack 'n play in the master bathroom like at the apartment is also pretty nice.

TUESDAY - More unpacking, but no rooms finished. The highlight was when our friends, the Bowerbanks, came over for dinner. They are our first official dinner guests and it was bittersweet--so fun to see them, so sad they're moving, so excited for them and their upcoming overseas adventure. Also, Tuesday we finally had some trash removal. The night before I was trying to calculate how long it would take to get rid of everything when we were allotted just two cans a week so Andrew loaded up the van and took a bunch of bags over to our condo's trash reciprocal. In other news: Lizzie started soccer, Alaina's hair is long enough for pigtails, and Ellie climbed up the carpeted steps (with a spotter of course)!

WEDNESDAY - I gathered up every home-repair-related thing Andrew has purchased over the years that was still in the package and returned it to Home Depot (and I'm keeping the store credit for myself). . . . Took Alaina to play with the trains at Barnes and Nobel and just like Liz, she played with them in a kind of girly way. By the end of our hour there she had a little family of trains--daddy, mommy, and "Nie Nie" (Lainey). . . . More unpacking and just when I think I've found all the toys I'm surprised by another box or two. The same thing happens with clothes and books--we have way too much of all three.We've enjoyed sidewalk chalk each evening while we wait for Daddy to come home. Last night while we were outside we met a bunch of friendly neighbors (now if I could just remember their names). We are very excited about this neighborhood. Lizzie grabbed her scooter and seemed to immediately integrate with the other children. Meanwhile the parents told us of traditional summer evenings visiting in the street while the children played and of the upcoming Easter egg hunt. I know it's not really as idyllic as it seems to me right now, but it's such a vast improvement over where we were living before that it's hard not to be enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to the holidays here. We have an actual fireplace to hang stocking on and this Halloween I expect actual trick-or-treaters (they will be the first of our 12-year marriage).THURSDAY - Today I'm taking Drew's advice and taking a little break from unpacking (cuz I got a little cranky and crazy last night). Instead I'm trying to catch up on laundry (I totally let it go while I focused on emptying boxes last week). I'm also enjoying some interaction with Alaina. As I type this she's feeding her baby doll named Wally, doing the "open your mouth, here comes the train" bit and all.

Making Progress

Yesterday was our one week mark in our new place. We still love it. We are still unpacking and probably will be for awhile. Even after we unpack we still need tackle window and floor coverings. Usually this time of year I insist on a family outing to view the annual cherry blossoms blooming downtown. Instead this weekend I continued to unpack while Andrew set up a cabinet for us. If he had to do one again I'm not sure which he'd pick: assemble a giant closet or fight the crowds along the tidal basin. Incidentally, while the weekend was pretty much endless work for Drew and I, it was pretty much endless fun and partying for the kids, Lizzie in particular. She attended a birthday party on Friday night and Saturday morning. She also made it to the tail end of the party Alaina went to Saturday and then to the school play later that night. . A lot of our place still looks like this, but some rooms/spaces are coming together. For instance, the nursery is unpacked. I consider this phase one. Everything is put away. Phase two will be when we finally decorate it. Also finished as of our one-week mark: the linen closet, guest bath, and powder room (impressive right? ha!).

Last night along with general unpacking I had a crazy moment and swapped out all our colored hangers for white--because they match the wire shelving in my closet, of course (oh, and I had more white hangers than any other color). When I had suggested the project to Drew the night before, he looked at me in surprise, glanced at boxes and clothing piles strewn about the room and pretty much declined to participate so I did it myself. I fitted the leftovers onto a special spare-hanger holder I picked up at Bed Bath and Beyond a few years ago. Yup, I'm the sort of person who has a spare-hanger-holder.