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!