Weekend awaaaaaay!!

So Jason and I managed to get out of the house this past weekend. Three days, two nights, zero kids. It was poetic. We attended a fabulous wedding, shopped til we dropped at the Tanger Outlets, went out to dinner and slept late. And I did not change one diaper or perhaps more significantly, I did not wash one dish. I wasn't in the kitchen at all! Sorry to say, I loved every minute :) STARTING WITH the completely gorgeous wedding of two of the most beautiful people ever: Evan and Kaelyn. I am 100% certain they don't read this but I'm going to post about it anyway. Evan is one of Jason's best friends from college, he and Kaelyn live in Manhattan and we try to make it to a Giants game with them every fall. Except this one, because they were busy getting married :) This past Friday, October 16 at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, NY, this was my view at approximately 4 pm:

That's rosé, of course. Some of my other favorites from the wedding and events:

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The story about my dress. Back in September, I had ordered two dresses from Rent the Runway for this black-tie-optional occasion. I wanted to wear a really special cocktail dress and knew that even if I could find what I was looking for in a store, I didn't have time to shop for it. So I picked out a couple of sparkly numbers to have delivered to me on Thursday, the day before the wedding. 

Fast forward to last week. There I am in TJ Maxx and I think to myself, "I should really have a backup dress for the wedding, just in case the dresses from RTR don't fit, they don't come, etc." I perused the racks, found a gold one, forty bucks, loved it, done. I ask you, when is TJ Maxx not the greatest.

I won't bore you with the long saga of what happened but the dresses from RTR were not delivered in time. I was very stressed and very disappointed, The package did eventually arrive (sometime when we were already at the wedding) so I tried them on for fun the next day.

Excuse my morning-after hair and makeup ha! Although the dresses were fabulous (the navy blue one has an open slit in the back), in the end my backup dress was perfect. Funny how things work out.

Anyway, after my fashion show, Jason and I headed over to the Tanger Outlets and spent 2.5 hours in the Pottery Barn outlet. I'm telling you, I was in some sort of heaven. Feast your eyes.

No boys to worry about and nothing but time! Plus a new house to decorate...we got a new dresser, two rugs, a mirror, a lamp, bedding and all sorts of odds and ends that fit in my car no problem because oh yeah we had no carseats :D 

Then we headed over to JCrew, Banana, etc. before it was time to go home, change, and head out for cocktails and dinner in Southampton (Le Charlot and Tuscan House, for those that know). We got home on Sunday around lunchtime and I made a mental note to not let another 4 years go by before we do that again!! Ashton showed us how happy he was that we were back by sneaking into our bathroom during his quiet time and squeezing out the entire tube of toothpaste all over the place. I was so relaxed though, being fresh off our weekend, I didn't even get mad. I instead chose to savor how minty everything smelled. 

Anyway, it was a wonderful couple of days. Thanks so much to Evan and Kaelyn for getting married - it was the kick we needed to get out of the house! And thanks even more to Poppy and Mema and Jen and Mike for tag-teaming the boys while we were gone. Awesomeness all around. 

Happy things!

Two weeks down in our new house and there is so much that has made me happy so far! In no particular order:

1) The neighborhood. We have gone for some good walks and met so many families! There is a good number of them who are several years ahead of us but Ashton already has a new friend in Caleb who is 5. It's also fun to watch Ashton marvel at the bigger boys playing basketball - there are a LOT of hoops set up on the sidewalks and the kids just shoot from the street! There is zero traffic and it's awesome. There's also a beautiful pond you can walk down to and toss rocks into the water.

I wish there was a nature trail around it but for now, kerplunking the stones works fine.

2) The Hannah Williams playground. Technically, you have to drive to it and technically, it's in Wayland, But I am very much a "leave the house as much as possible" mom and this is the best destination I've found so far. The boys and I spent our entire morning there this past Sunday. The sandbox area had one of those diggers where kids can pull the handles to make it scoop - Ashton didn't get off that thing except when I made him because others were waiting for a turn.

Ashton is a great climber and can do the monkey bars and big structures all on his own and I don't even worry about him anymore! What??

This park had all the cozy coupes and push toys for Alex as well and in general was just a great spot! They both took 3 hour naps that afternoon.

3) My commute. I officially have my route(s) down - it depends whether or not I have Ashton with me, but when I don't, I can make it from my front door to my desk in 30 minutes. And the roads are beautiful right now. I avoid all the major highways because the traffic lines are red a lot of the time. So I take the back roads through Weston and Wayland from the lower left hand corner to the upper right hand corner (sorry for the small map, I guess you can't really see anything):

It looks far, but there are really no big stops and the roads look like this right now:

So it's beautiful and I'm happy.

4) Bargain finds!! This house needs furniture in a bad way. The boys have outgrown their gliders, we have more space, and the general filling-up process has begun. As it turns out, there is a place called ReStore in Dedham. There's a lot of these in fact - they are like thrift stores for furniture, appliances, etc. As it happens, Jen's boyfriend Mike has an uncle and his uncle works there. Occasionally, there is an "inside scoop" to be had. For example, if a movie is being shot in Boston, the furniture used on the sets might be donated to ReStore after filming. They get factory seconds, estate sale stuff, cabinets from kitchen renovations...it's generally a mish mash and you never know what you will find.

Enter relevance. Mike told me that Wayfair (the home decor site) was having a big clearance sale in downtown Boston on Friday night, October 2. Wayfair had told ReStore that anything that didn't go, ReStore was welcome to come get when the event was over. Boy do I wish I had been at ReStore on Saturday morning, October 3, when they opened. Apparently they had SO much gorgeous brand new furniture (and we are talking steep, steep discounts because whatever they make goes to Habitat for Humanity). Alas, we showed up at 11 am or so and a lot was sold. BUT, I spied these chairs:

They are big oversized comfy armchairs and I LOVED them. I bought two for $150 each!! And put one in each boy's room for their new reading chairs. They are huge and I am obsessed. Naturally I got right on Wayfair to rate my find and similar chairs by this designer are in the $700's. Yessssss.

I also scored a really sweet Land of Nod bookcase for Alex's room on Craigslist for $20. I love Craigslist.

5) THIS.

THIS is my new vacuum. It's cordless. And does a 360 spin. It's lightweight. And FUCHSIA.

You won't watch this, but it's the Dyson V6 Motorhead Plus Cordless Vacuum product video. No more sweeping, no more vacuuming on my knees. I zip around with this, take corners by storm, go under stools, over the rug, and I'm done. It's, say it with me, AH-mazing. Gosh, you know what, if you have hardwood floors, just get one. You will thank yourself.

6) My weekend starting tomorrow. Jason and I are heading to Long Island for one of his best friend's weddings. We will be gone two nights. Without the boys. Poppy and Mema are staying at our house for a night and then Jen and Mike are staying for a night and we will be home on Sunday. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I've been away from Ashton for a handful of nights in his past 4.2 years, but never Alex, and certainly never three days where we are out of town! I am so looking forward to the wedding, my sparkly dress, the mini-break with my husband, all of it. I can't wait.

Anyway, that's all I've got for the past week. We did get some bedroom furniture delivered today - due to the master closet in Watertown, we never needed any! I have a new bed picked out as well but for now our mattress and box spring are just sitting on the floor until I order it. After that, window treatments and then I should be able to do my first Craft Road before and after post. Happy things!! :)

02472 -> 01760

Well we officially did it – we are Natick natives! It seems like forever ago when, one warm June day, Jason and I stood on our freshly paved driveway and said, “We're done with our projects! Let’s be crazy and list it!” The house went up on Zillow on July 1 and the rest is history. We somehow navigated the sale of Edenfield Ave and the purchase of Craft Road without a realtor, closed both transactions the same day, and made it through unscathed! It really all worked out perfectly.

So Wednesday last week, September 30, was move day. As I mentioned we did have a storage container for our big stuff, but most everything else was taken by Berg and Jason on several trips over to the house beforehand. Things went very smoothly until we woke up that last morning in Watertown to, honoring its namesake, a town filled with water! A monsoon, to be precise. The storm drains were all blocked, the road was flooding, it was a MESS. We needed an ark! It was foggy, muddy, windy and rainy. It definitely dampened the mood (haha, get it).

Anyway, I got busy cleaning the house and Jason mainly paced around, waiting for some break in the downpour to get the rest of our stuff outside and packed in. At one point he went outside with his crow bar to pry open the storm drain - we were so worried the water was rising and would leak into the pod and ruin our stuff! I don't have any pictures of this treacherous time because we were very busy stressing out. 10:45 am came, the new owners pulled up with the moving van, we did one last run though, said our goodbyes and drove away! I thought I would be sadder than I was, I did love that house. But I had lots to look forward to in the new one so we were happy.

Alex was with Jen and Ashton was at school, so we found ourselves alone and temporarily homeless! The closing for Edenfield Ave was in the morning, and the closing for Craft Road was at 1 pm, and even though we had had legitimate access to Craft Road since the 20th it still felt weird! 

Later that night, after the boys were home and our container had been delivered, we set up the kitchen and the living room right away and all our stuff from Edenfield Ave was literally right at home. It didn't even look like we had just moved!

Although, panning to the left, it's a little more sparse.

[I think I mentioned we had the walls painted and the floors re-done before we moved in- it made a world of a difference and I'm so happy with how it all came out. The main wall color downstairs is Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments - it sometimes seems blue, sometimes green, sometimes gray, and it looks awesome. For anyone needing a good color.]

Overall, we have spent the last week trying to settle in. Of course we have a very big list of things to do: buy A, fix B, call for a quote for C, look at other options for D, build E, etc. But most importantly, the boys seem really happy. They are cozy in their rooms, play in the backyard, and we've walked around the neighborhood to the playground. It's actually at an old school that is no longer being used but hey, a playground is a playground, even if it's abandoned! 

Just means more room for us ;) [That's Route 9 in the background - hop on that puppy and in 5 minutes you have every kind of shopping you could possibly ever need or want - I'm loving our new location!] I'm hoping I will eventually meet other parents here but last night there were 3 ten year old boys playing and I was asking them all sorts of questions. Turns out they love their school, Halloween is a huge deal in the neighborhood, and one of them was having meatloaf for dinner. I said all of those things sound good!

I'll probably be posting a random assortment of things for my next few entries, just in the interest of getting settled and what I'm learning about my new surroundings. Even though I took most of last week off, I did practice my commute Thursday and Friday by bringing Ashton to school. It was not the fastest but not the slowest. I've figured out the best route when I don't have to bring him (which is T/R) but M/W/F will definitely be 50 minutes in the car from when we leave home to when I sit down at my desk. Still could be worse. I've decided to look for new schools for him in Natick/Wayland/Wellesley but it's a lot more expensive with a lot fewer openings. So that's a work in progress, along with finding Alex a little toddler program that he is desperately ready for, along with figuring out why our brand new washer won't balance, along with everything else right now! Objects in motion...

Movin' On

Well I can sum up our weekend in three words: “packing and moving”. In a previous post I did note that we have a big 16 foot pod that will be picked up on Wednesday, but Jason (and Uncle Berg) have taken several trips over the house in advance with bins, boxes, etc. We were granted access to the house on September 20^th, and it has been beyond amazing to get a head start with moving everything. Ashton of course has been right there in the mix.

 He literally followed Jason and Berg everywhere yesterday. When they moved stuff into the pod he ran circles around them saying “Don’t drop it! Guys, don’t scratch it! BE CAREFUL!!” A little policeman. It was so funny.

The sellers also gave us permission to do some work on the house before the close date, and by the skin of my teeth I lined up someone to refinish the floors (they look brand new!) as well as paint (the purple-gray in the family room was not my taste). Both of these were several day projects and I’m so happy we were able to squeeze it all in. I desperately wanted to replace the carpet in the bedrooms (the sellers had two big dogs, which is why we did the floors to buff out their claw marks) but I just could not get anything new installed in time for a reasonable price. So tomorrow we have a crew coming to deep clean the house and shampoo the carpets, and then a guy coming Wednesday morning to stretch/restaple them – I’m hoping they are sparkling. Honestly I’m so skeeved out by used carpets but I’m told it washing them should do the trick. Anyway, the best we can do for now and then we move in!

As I mentioned, the family room and dining area were repainted, along with the boys’ bedrooms and the master bedroom. I took a chance in the master and went with Benjamin Moore Willow Creek…Here’s the (very UN-high resolution) before:

And the after:

Now I know you're thinking, the before picture was so light and airy! Trust me, it was not a good beige color, plus all the trim was cream. I want to really cozy up this space and give it some wow factor - it's starting with the paint! I promise you'll agree with me :) Anyway, all the new updates will come in due time with a brand new set of before-and-afters!

What was great about this weekend was that it was absolutely beautiful and we took the boys over on Saturday morning for the first time. The playset and swings in the backyard could not be more perfect for them and they wasted no time.

The best part is that the slide has a small hump in it so that when Alex hits it, he flies a little bit and the momentum is just enough to catapult him onto the ground at the bottom. He loves it.

Overall I’m a little sad about leaving Edenfield Ave, it was such a wonderful first house for us. In the grand scheme of things though we lived there less than 3 years and are ready for our next step. I've lined up a modified work schedule where I will go in earlier and leave earlier. I'll actually be out at 3 pm on Mondays and Fridays and head straight to pick up Ashton from school. Until I figure out the Natick preschool situation, he's going to stay where he is and commute with me (but he will go MWF for longer days, vs. all five days until lunch, which is his current routine). I think I mentioned Jen is going to make the trip and will continue watching Alex and sometimes Ashton on Tues and Thurs.  I do need to find the best route to Bentley. But first things first: get through this week! Our new house is waiting... one more day!

p.s. the month long yard sale? We made $1,007!!

18 Months of Alex

My sweetie pie Alexander has hit another age-related milestone...18 months! It's hard to even describe this little character. I can tell you he's incredibly determined and strong, so if he doesn't want to do something, that's pretty much that. This kid can whine with the best of them too. For long, long periods. And I've never seen anyone shake their head with quite as much vigor. The harder he shakes it, the bigger his NO. Words are a pretty big issue. He's been seeing Fran with Early Intervention for about 6 weeks now, but of course, we're moving, so I need to get him transferred to the Natick Criterion group. Sometimes I swear he has phrases: all done, I did it, I want down, etc. but you'd have to be either me, Jason or Jen to decipher them. We're really working on pronouncing actual sounds instead of just babbling. It IS cute that he sticks his tongue out and pants when he sees a dog, but I think we should set our sights a bit higher ;)

Alex has two moods: happy and really not happy. He's either toddling around laughing and smiling or crying and whining. There's honestly very little in between. Here are his stats after his pediatrician appointment this morning:

Height: 34 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 28.14 pounds (90th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (75th percentile)
Shots: Just the flu shot
Diapers: Size 5
Clothes: Some 18-24 or 24 months, but they are getting tight. I've broken into the 2T bin for him.
Teeth: He's consistently had four on the top, four on the bottom, and all his first molars, but now there are definitely teeth coming in to fill the gaps and he is CRANKY.
Hair and eyes: still blond and blue. I think I will stop including this category because there are never any changes. But while we are on hair, here's a behind-the-scenes at the salon Alex goes to.

It's called "The Garage."

Loves to: use me as a segway. He'll lift his arms to be picked up, and then once comfortably on my hip, leans forward in the direction he'd like me to walk in. It's almost like he wants to get back down, but no. He leans and waits for me to move. Also loves to ride in his blue car, go down the big slide all by himself, and give kisses and hugs.

Naps: he's down to 1 long one - hooray! Which means mornings can actually be used for something. It's a struggle to get him past lunch and he is not above trying to fall asleep in his highchair. He's a great sleeper generally, up around 7:15 am, naps from 2-2.5 hours in the afternoon, bed by 7:30 pm and usually he doesn't make any peeps about going down or in the middle of the night.

Favorite toy: anything Ashton has. Also chalk.

Foods: Just like his brother, basically carbs and fruit. He's more of a dipper than Ashton was, so I can get him to eat cucumbers with ranch or chicken with some BBQ sauce for dunking, but basically things aren't pretty. I don't get it! I try to offer different things but I get so sick of scooping uneaten food off the floor that most days I say forget it.

Alex has gone international: His passport arrived this week, complete with this mug shot:

We're going to Aruba in November so he has to be legit.

Up next for my favorite 18 month old: getting a new room and deciding on a Halloween costume. I also signed him up for a home daycare for just Mondays starting after we move, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull the trigger and send him.

Overall, Alex is very aware that he choices now and loves to exert control over anything he can. He wants to do a lot of things himself, like brush his teeth (his top front row is VERY clean), hold an open cup (disaster every time) and put his shoes on (he can't). He tries so hard to keep up with his older brother and gets frustrated when I don't let him do the same things as Ashton. But he definitely has his own adventures. Here are some of my recent favorite pictures. Happy 18 months Alexander Michael!

The Month Long Yardsale and the Big Mess

Two weeks until move day. I'm happy to report, the dining room is just about all packed up. I realized last night as I tucked the last of the wine glasses in their boxes that I never did get around to posting the updates we did in there. And now it's gone forever. [Twinge of regret/moment of silence.]

Anyway, our move out process, as far as I'm concerned, has three phases. I've completed Phase I: Sell anything worth selling. Back at Trapelo Road, we had a yard sale and raked in over $700 for stuff we have never even missed. But physical, location-based yard sales are sooo over. Most of the towns in my area have online Facebook groups that serve the same purpose. I am a member of the Belmont, Waltham and Watertown sites and here is how it works.

Take a picture of your item and post it, noting the condition, price, and any other relevant details. Then wait for people to comment! I'll say, it's been very interesting to see what sells. And when you have something that is a good price, the comments pop up almost immediately. Here's an example of what it looks like:

So in this case, "GUC" stands for "good used condition" and in the comments I tell her I will send her a "PM" - personal message. From there, we work out when she can come pick it up. 9 times out of 10, we agree that I will leave it on the porch and they will just drop the money in the mailbox. It could not be easier! Ahem, in most cases. With our bed and boxspring, THAT, let me tell you, was blood money. So many people wanted it, then didn't want it, then wanted it cheaper, then couldn't decide when to pick it up, then passed, then wanted it again, then wanted JUST the bed not the boxspring, etc. At one point, the main buyer I had backed out for the second time and I flat out told her she was annoying and I would flag her if she kept tying up sales like that. Selling that stupid bed was my second full time job!

But here's why online yard sale sites are so great. When you deal with Craigslist, you have to wait for someone to be specifically looking for your item, view your ad and contact you. With Facebook, people are just scrolling through mindlessly and think "Oh wow look at that. A huge flower pot for $5! Those are usually like $50! Hmmm, I don't need this, but it's such a good deal..." and then they just can't pass it up and bam. Sold. The woman that bought my kindle also bought my hamper a few weeks ago and when she showed up for it, she said, "I don't even read! But, I mean, a Kindle, for $10! For that price maybe I'll start!"

So I take her $10 and put it in our money jar. It's taped shut with a little slot on the top and we have no idea how much is in there. I'm kind of excited to find out! I hope it's enough to buy a new TV as the people that bought our house bought our existing TV along with it. 

Anyway, for the past month I've been posting things at a pretty consistent frequency and I'm just about out of things to sell. Someone is coming for the baby activity mat this morning and that wraps up Phase I. Phase II is trips to the donation bin/Salvation army and drop offs at the thrift store, and Phase III is "You can't avoid it any longer, start packing."

And speaking of Phase III, our giant 16 foot pod came yesterday from PackRat and is sitting on the curb, just waiting to be filled.

Jason would not even consider letting me hire movers because the ones I picked last time were the slowest, scrimpiest guys you've ever seen. So we have this big pod, and actually are allowed to start moving stuff on the 20th, so between random trips over there and the pod going on the 30th, we'll make it. We have to.

But gosh, things have been such a mess. I just think it's so funny. We patted ourselves on the back when we sold Trapelo Road, knowing we were getting out *just* in time for the massive roadway reconstruction that had been approved. I thought, we are going to move to this house on this little quiet side street and it's going to be nice and peaceful. Little did we know. Oh, just how little did we know.

Last year they ripped up the entire road to replace the gas main. THEN, they knocked down the house across the street in January and it is STILL not finished. For the last nine months we have looked at construction vehicles of varying sizes and shapes out our front window building a massive front-back two-family house.

 Today:

Fun fact: the little bungalow on the right side of those pictures? We just found out that's being knocked down too (by the same contractor) and a similar structure will be going up.

As if the dirt and noise from this project wasn't enough, last month they started in with the water main replacement.

A lot of the time our street is blocked off. I picked up Ashton from school last week and we had to park around the corner and walk up.

Notice the phone pole on the right hand side. That's been a "temporary fix" for like a year. It's all just a huge mess with the vibrating, the drilling, the beeping, the pounding, etc. We are told that next year the entire road is going to be repaved and new sidewalks and granite curbs put in. It will be gleaming and brand new but fortunately/unfortunately, we will not be around to enjoy it.

My mantra for the next few weeks is "embrace the chaos". The house will be a mess and the street will be a mess and that's just how it is. In the end, it's all for the better. And one of the great things about being forced to go through your stuff is finding things you forgot you had. Like a massage gift certificate. Like maybe it would be a good time to use that, if I could figure out when to go. Until then...

Bye bye babies

As I watch Ashton and Alex grow, I honestly do try and live in the moment, cherishing their ages and knowing that I will someday look back on all the messy chaos with a fondness for days gone by. Their little happy faces, Alex's chubby legs and electric blond hair. These are my babies.

They will never be any smaller than they are at this minute. It's enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I have already had a taste of the nostalgia: there are several bins in the basement that house teeny tiny clothes that the boys wore about a hundred years ago. Teeny tiny clothes that will not be worn by any more babies of mine. Officially.

It's been a crazy month for us on many levels. Our buyers got the clear to close and we signed the P&S on our new house. We have a big day coming on September 30, which means it's time to start getting ready to go. In preparation for packing, I have been in complete clear out mode for the past couple of weeks. I look at a particular item and ask myself, "Do we need it? Have we used it? Will we ever use it again?" If the answer is no to any of these questions, it's gone and therefore we don't have to move it. I am a member of several Facebook buy/sell groups and I can't believe how much I have sold! And...a lot of the stuff is...baby stuff (sniffle). This move has really forced me to answer that "Will we ever use it again?" question when it comes to this category of belongings. I am confident now that the answer is no - Ashton and Alex are it for us (insert a dizzily happy face and also a sobbing mess face). So, the toys, swings, jumpers, swaddle blankets and anything having to do with babies? All gone to new homes. I even sold my breastpump and all the bottles and spare parts.

While our move is the impetus for this blog post, I have been thinking for a long time now that I am done having babies and for many reasons.

1. We are blessed with two healthy boys. What if we had a third and weren't so lucky? I don't worry about having enough love for another baby, no matter what the case, but I'm afraid of the immense challenges and heartache it could bring. I am much more scared of this than I was when we had Ashton and Alex, I'm not sure why. Perhaps because I feel like asking for another perfect baby would be tempting the fates.
2. We'd be outnumbered. I know, I know. Kids are little for a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things, but I barely manage with two. I cannot see past trying to get three kids to the grocery store, or to the beach, or to bed every night for that matter!
3. In the same vein, even though it's only for the first year, it's 365 straight days of breastfeeding, pumping, and exhaustion from all the middle-of-the-night wakeups. But that's 365 days AFTER you've been pregnant for 266! Been there, done that. Twice. "Body for one, please."
4. There's enough people in this world already.
5. What if it's a girl? I'd need ALL new stuff. What if it's a boy? Because, three boys! It's a no win situation that's what.

So, no more babies. I'm excited to look ahead now. The days where our schedules are not ruled by naptime(s), tantrums, diapers, sleep-training, messy highchairs, baby-proofing etc. are much closer than if we were planning to start all over again for a third time.

The boys and I meander around the neighborhood and down to the playground every day. They walk beside me, one to my left and one to my right, and I have a hand for each. My two little peas, my perfect number.

New School Year

Today Ashton starts in the 4 year old class at his preschool! While it's certainly another milestone, it's not as big a deal as last year when it was his first day of school, like, ever. At this point, it is looking like he will have another year after this in transitional kindergarten - he is an August birthday and we are almost positive we'll hold him back. But, where that school will be, who knows. We have a lot of transitions coming up with our move at the end of the month. My thoughts right now are that, come October, he'll go down to three full days at Belmont Nursery School and will commute in with me (Bentley is only about a mile from BNS). I just don't have time to tour new schools in Natick/Weston/Wayland at the moment. Anyway that is the end of this very brief post :)

September 2, 2015!