New Beginnings

Well it's been a long time since I posted. The kids are teens and almost 15 now.  They are so tall, I wasn't ready for them being taller than me (I'm 5'11"). They started high school last month. Last year, we applied to Chicago Public Schools that require tests (and grades) for admission and they both got in, so we bought a house in the city! Then within days my mom was diagnosed with stage four ovarian/fallopian tube cancer. So the year has been a bit of a blur. She's had multiple surgeries and multiple rounds of chemo since then, which she is almost done with now, at least for now. She turned 78 in May and will be fighting this for the rest of her life unfortunately. Since her diagnosis in March, we've spent every possible break in Wisconsin with her instead of on vacation. 

We "moved" over the summer, but since we are keeping our house in the suburbs (at least for now) we didn't really move that much. We bought new stuff for the new place. Thank goodness for the minivan, though it doesn't fit in our new garage. We are loving Old Town so far. The kids are getting settled in and making friends and getting ready for their first HOCOs. Marielle made varsity dance/poms so we've been doing football season and gearing up for competition season. It's been 21 years since I left the city (26 for DH) so we are being old in Old Town. Today is our 20th anniversary!!

Celebrating DH's 50th B-day in California last November

So it's September...

Which is my favorite month by far, but it's been a crazy year for us all. I started a post back in the winter about the seemingly pressing issue (at the time) of the kids trying to qualify for gifted and magnet programming (she did, he missed it by a hair, oh well, it's almost time to test again). Little did we know school as we knew it would be ending soon.

I took the kids on a great trip to Boston for President's Day weekend when things with Covid were starting to look hairy and then the shit really hit the fan. We stayed at the Seaport and the Boston outbreak really took off the week after we were there. Our planned trips to NYC for Spring Break and Nantucket this summer unfortunately couldn't happen safely.

The kids have been home for six months (now two weeks into 3rd grade) and for the foreseeable future, ditto the working husband, and my work project got put off in early April (and just got green lit again today for next month!), so I've been experiencing my very first taste of compensated unemployment, yet not at a lack for seemingly endless things to do. 

We found a new (to us) house in April near our old one and then moved in in June. We bought it from a lovely old lady whose late master carpenter husband built it with his friends 50 years ago and they raised their six kids here and (bless her busy perfectionist heart) she had the whole house completely redone to sell it (so I didn't have to!). We were thinking of building new, out of desperation, but I didn't think I (or our marriage) would survive that many decisions. I couldn't talk the kids into changing schools where we are all happy and the hubs didn't want to relocate either. It's rooms and closets are bigger and it has an amazingly huge yard, which is hard to find in our built up suburban area, and it's been a wonderful change, especially given all the time we've been spending at home. Now we just have to sell our old one of 15 years... 

Where the hell does the time go? A decade ago I was still trying desperately to get pregnant. 25 years ago I graduated from high school and moved to Boston and left Wisconsin forever. My first boyfriend from my new life in Boston just died a few weeks ago. My college bio classmate Maeve died in April, along with her 8yo son. Yeah these are crazy times. We are all still healthy, thank goodness, and my family is going crazy not being able to come see our new place.

The kids have done great with their upper expanders (now out after a long delay, they were due to get them out the day everything shut down), now a retainer, and lower braces. And the lowers come off in a just a few short weeks. We thankfully didn't lose any treatment time even with three plus months of no adjustments.

It has just started thankfully cooling down after yet another record setting hottest summer ever. It felt like a very long sweaty hotflash. Next big project is putting in an inground pool (next spring hopefully).

He's not even taller than her, they are both 4'9" and climbing, it's just hair...

Watch out THIRD GRADE!

Making the bacon, in our new kitchen

After I finished my full time on-site seven week project in December (my first since the twins, after several false starts), I didn't have any short term plans to return to work, as I had turned down a project extension and another FT job offer.  But then my old CMO (a fellow twin parent and a super nice guy) gave me a shout last month and wanted to know if I could help him out with a project for another former colleague (who I coincidentally helped hire in our last job together and is now running a dept. for a major multinational out of Munich..).  He's a professor at Kellogg now, after being let go a week into his relocation to Switzerland (crazy people, I tell you), but he also does projects on the side. It was a sweet deal, so I was in.  Making (what I assume is) his obscene billable rate (he's Harvard Econ BA/MIT MBA/former McKinsey and has almost 20 years on me) and working bits here and there from home over a few weeks (even if it was spring break)?  Yes please.

Now we are all done with that and my kitchen nearly is too.  We still have to paint and install the new lighting and decide on a stove, but all the cabinets, farmhouse sink, quartz counters, fridge, beadboard, and tile backsplash (the big stuff) are all up and in.  It was in the planning stages since we moved in ten years ago and I could count the active reno in months and years, which I don't necessarily recommend, though it has actually been less disruptive, which was kind of the point.  But this room is truly a testament to my patience, when in doubt...

I have always loved arabesque tiles (that's the shape) and while these mosaics (at under 2"/ea) were smaller than most, I decided they would work in our decidedly smallish space.  They are porcelain with glass iridescent ones mixed in and the colors tie together our new stainless appliances, our slightly off-white cabs and counters, and our blue grey textiles.  Kinda exotic (I fell in love with tiles traveling in Portugal), and kinda beachy. Perfection, finally.

More pics when we are done, now on to the master bath...

Starting 2016

I haven't been much of a blogger lately, but I have been slogging it out for awhile.  I'm entering my seventh year, though it has been much quieter around here since the kids were born.  It says something about my corporate job (and infertility too, I suppose), that the bulk of my nearly 600 posts came in those early years.  This outlet still holds a place for me that my other social media outlets don't and can't.  Facebook is not a blog (repeat after me) and neither is Pinterest or even Instagram.  And since I'm not selling anything over here (or anywhere), I have a little bit of a different take on each.

I'm finally getting around to reading "Quiet", which is amazing so far.  (Introverts unite!)  And looking forward to finishing it, so I can start on "When Breath Becomes Air" (you can read about it more on Cup of Jo and in the NYT) and then "We Should All Be Feminists" and "Between the World and Me".  One of my goals this year is to read more books...and actually finish them.  I've long been the queen of leaving books unfinished, and being on all the time for two busy preschoolers surely doesn't help.

The kids are doing great and we're all keeping busy.  We've done all sorts of classes over the years, but now we are trying to settle into a sport (dance for her since last fall, t-ball for him) and an instrument (piano for them both), though we'll mix it up come summer (tennis, soccer?).  We took a trip to the ENT to have Alistair's tonsils looked at and it turns out they are fine.  We are finally kicking whatever virus(es) have been plaguing us for the last few months.  Round and around it/they went...

If you aren't watching the last season of Downton Abbey, the last episode highlights that (spoiler alert!) having an incompetent cervix/infertility and cerclages are not new things.  And that others have had to move all the way to Boston to find themselves... I'm really going to miss that show (and yes I cheated and already watched the entire UK season online.).  Waiting for new Master of None and House of Cards (thank God for Netflix).

We just marked a decade in our house (and me in the burbs, the same amount of time I spent in Boston and Chicago combined), which means I've just now eclipsed even my childhood home for my longest tenured abode.  And we are finally almost done with the things we wanted to do here.  And in a few short months, it will be our tenth anniversary and my 40th birthday, which is all kind of crazy to think about.  So milestones and goals abound...

I still need to put together a post on our warm and wet holiday roadtrip to Nashville and NW Florida, so stay tuned!

Wrapping up 2015

The struggle is real...

Our babies turn four next weekend and we'll all be off to the city for a packed long b-day weekend.  We're actually staying at the same great hotel downtown we did for last year's b-day weekend.  The kids are super psyched, particularly about the pool.  I finish up my consulting project this week (thank goodness), though it has been extended through March, I opted out after my original contract, well I did agree to extend for this week to transition.

We'll spend Christmas at home and then it's off on a family road trip!  Long delayed (due to MIL's visit), but we are off to sunny Florida (the Emerald Coast) via Nashville (both new places for us).  We haven't been anywhere new (we're creatures of habit like that) in almost five years (our first trip to the Hamptons when I was expecting the twins), so it was time for some new scenery.  We are all excited for some non-lake sand between our toes.

So I'm returning to life as a SAHM, after my short term FT onsite project, and after turning down another FT permanent job last week that I was recruited for in Lake Forest several months ago.  It was so ridiculous, it's sad.  I actually semi-seriously considered it for a bit (all that money...), but it served as a means for me to flex my long dormant interviewing muscles (they still work!) and at least toy with the idea of trading non-paid manual labor for a position in senior leadership (Sr Director... of never seeing my kids) at a well regarded company.  I guess after all this time, you could call me an intentional SAHM now.  Only 20 months until they start full day kindergarten.

We're finally finishing up our seemingly never ending kitchen remodel, the only missing piece is the perfect backsplash tile, which so far has remained elusive.

Only a few weeks left until 2016, so excited to see what it will bring.  Happy Holidays!

Design Perfection

Some people are happy with new constructions on clear cut lots, but not this one.  Give me a 1960s Robert Parker Coffin design.  This one is about eight miles north of where we live now (in our target town/district/budget), and I really wanted to buy it, as in I went to see it twice (once w/DH), but someone beat us to it. Maybe next time it goes on the market...

I have a serious weakness for Cape Cod-style houses, and really any dormers in general, but alas we live in the Midwest where they aren't the norm.

 The floors in the LR were amazing...

And the family room was sized for indoor roller skating...

 Most of the window seats were in bathrooms, which was cool and odd, but these in the master dressing area were super cute.

  The huge backyard had a tree swing, climbing gym/swing set, and custom tree house (swoon).

 In full bloom...

 

35 months old

We are rounding the final month to three, which is crazy...  Even though it has felt like winter for weeks, it's been a busy fall around here. 

Playing in the leaves at the rose garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden

It was 30 degrees (with 50 mph winds) and snowing, but the twins went trick or treating to a few of our neighbors for the first time this year.  They had three Halloween parties in one week, so of course we all came down with some sort of plague, that took a good two weeks to get everyone over and done with. 

We kind of glossed over Halloween prep last year (one of several fall slights due to our India trip prep), so this year we started planning early.  When I asked them over the summer what they wanted to be, they both answered, "ELSA!".  So yeah, that didn't happen (mean mommy), but we settled on Anna and Olaf (after some searching) instead.  But then Halloween week came and Alistair didn't want anything to do with his (admittedly cumbersome) costume.  So I went back to Party City the Tuesday before Halloween and exchanged it for Thomas.  Crisis almost averted...

As the doors to the preschool party open...

Somehow there were no other Frozen characters at any of our parties.  Yay for non-conformity!

Since the kids started school in January, they missed out on school pictures last fall.  Well, now they are in two preschools, so they had two sets of pictures done.  One was decidedly better (and correspondingly more expensive) than the other, but I'm just amazed they were able to get them to cooperate. 

Just a proof, but this pic is like seeing a unicorn...

 Yes, they look like an ad for Old Navy

At least one is smiling...

On that note, we had our very first parent/teacher conference recently and of course (as is typical) they are a dream at school.  Great at listening, helping, sharing...(ha ha!)  Still trying to figure out how to make that the norm at home...  It was interesting to see them interact at their one preschool Halloween party that was mom led/run.  They don't really interact with each other that much at school, which the teacher confirmed is kind of their norm.  They are all over each other at home, so I guess another of the many benefits of school is it gives them a well earned break from each other.

Somehow Thanksgiving is next week, so we're headed north to spend a few days with the family and another few lounging (and seeing Thomas) at the Grand Geneva.  DH is turning 39 (for the first time), and I'd hoped to squeeze in a birthday/Christmas beach trip this year, but right now we're just staying over in Chicago for a few nights and trying to plan something for spring. 

I'm trying to get our kitchen done by the end of the year (new buffet and FR built-ins are nearly done, kitchen is part way there).  When I couldn't find a new house I liked, I figured we might as well keep making this one what we want.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A New Big Year

Happy New Year! 

First of all, can I ask how the heck is it 2014?!  I've been out of college almost (ahem) 15 years, and HS nearly (cough) 20, and I can remember thinking about 2000 being so great, but honestly I don't think I thought much beyond that.  But here we are...

I'm really looking forward to this being a great year for us (no jinx, please).  The kids are doing well, and I know they are going to love preschool.  As you know, I hemmed and hawed on this forever (the when and where), but now that they are walking and talking, more independent, and craving more stimulation, and we found a school we like, they are starting next week.  At first, there was only room for them one day a week (it is four hours, from 9-1, which includes play, music, reading, and (a packed) snack and lunch), which I thought would be fine since the preschool that I'm looking at for fall is 2 days/9-11a (so also four hours total/wk).  But then space on the second day opened up and we decided to go for it. 

Eight whole hours a week to myself, can you even imagine?  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it honestly.

Other things on our radar this year for the kids are things like: potty training (Mari's already talking about it and sitting and trying), moving to big kid beds (w/new décor), losing the binks (Mari is down to sleeping only, though she'd use it all the time, if we'd let her), and continuing speech therapy.  Between therapy, preschool, and continuing our music and toddler class, we'll have just one week day completely off of any scheduled activities.

Me and Mari (on the left) selling everyone on the music class, from the cover of the latest park district catalogue... (A is wandering off screen)

With some time to myself, and more importantly the kids out of the house, I have some work to do.  On me and on the house.  Things that have been put off for a long time.  I joined a great gym last summer, after the kids dropped their second nap, and thankfully they really like the awesome childcare center, but I haven't gotten really serious about getting my strength back.  Fortunately for me, weight is not an issue (I somehow have every problem with pregnancy that is unusual, and almost none of the ones that are normal), but I'm still not very strong.  I'm still figuring out what I want to do on the work front, but that's a whole other post.  Hopefully I'll be doing more reading, other things I enjoy, and generally be less pressed for time to get things done.

And the house, our house.  We just marked eight years here, and after all that we've done we haven't been doing much lately besides maintenance, it just isn't worth it when so much else is going on and us all at home most days.  This year, we got a new steam clothes dryer (LOVE) when our old/new since we moved in one died and are finally getting a new garage door/opener (as we were planning), as it also recently bit the dust (during the worst weather of the year, of course.  Well, in keeping with the theme of the season (the kids got a lot of food/kitchen/shopping stuff for Christmas and DH (the cook in our family) got some new small appliances (since all our Cuisinarts from our wedding have been nothing but a disappointment over time), we are FINALLY planning our new kitchen.

Our kitchen is unfortunately small (a walk-through galley with an open side), which I've recently taken to calling a "take out" kitchen, so while the style has been fine (and one of the things I didn't need to change as soon as we moved in), we need to maximize our usable space by having cabinets to the ceiling and adding a larger china/storage wall (where we currently have a freestanding china cabinet).  The cottage style will remain basically the same: white cabinets/appliances, grey counters, with a tile backsplash (though the tan, blue, white mosaic will likely be replaced by a new blue only).  I'm hoping/planning for a reno at this point to not be totally disruptive to our lives, as that is the only way it can happen. 

Other smaller projects, like painting the mud/laundry room, an accent wall in the LR (and maybe in A's room) and all of Mari's room are also on tap.  We are still working on making our home office as usable a space as possible.  It, like our guest room, has unfortunately become a drop space for things, since the basement is yet to be refinished since the flooding in 2011.  We also plan to do more work on our bathroom this year.

We managed to squeeze a lot of travel in this year, NYC/the Hamptons, Boston, and India, among smaller trips.  But next year will likely be more low key.  A summer beach trip (to the Cape/Islands) and teaching the kids to ski.  It would be great to make it out to see family in SoCal, but that may be a next year trip.

I hope 2014 is your best year yet!! :)

Exciting (school) news!

As I continue to ponder whether to send the kids to preschool before next fall, this is definitely for the annals of nerdy suburban parent, but exciting none the less.  Remember when I posted about the top rated math and science academy (M&S) in our district (10 minutes away) that the kids could go to instead of our neighborhood school?  Well...  Now I've just learned the district is turning our neighborhood school (three doors down) into another M&S academy!!!  This is what gets two STEM major parents really excited!!

Besides the curriculum, I'm hoping this will help boost our school's numbers, like it did for the other M&S school since it ends up turning it into a quasi magnet school.  Not that ours is a slouch (up to top 8% in the state) but the other M&S is up to top 5% (and top 20 of all in suburban Cook Co.). NB: It worked! We are up to top 3%!

I was also interested to learn that our district offers open enrollment for elementary schools with dual language/immersion programs in not only Spanish, but also Mandarin and Japanese.  They also have a school with mixed grade classes, which makes skipping grades much easier.  I was in a 1st/2nd grade combined class, which my mother still laments not using to my advantage.  But how on earth do you choose just one of these?!

The powers that be are really conspiring to get me to stop plotting out land in a top 1% horse country district nearby...  Well it's great news whether we stay or sell...

14 months old

The kids turned 14 months old yesterday.  The months are really flying now.  The saying that the days are slow, but the years are fast is dead on.  One day I will wake up and they will be all grown up.

His sweet smiles just melt my heart.  And with his daddy's coloring, he can pull off wearing any color, especially bright ones, with ease.  It's funny, he's the super mellow one now.  Someone told me that they'd switch personalities at some point, but I didn't believe them or think it was possible.

This little girl is fun, but so mischievous, can you see that look on her face?  We're in big trouble.  That's from her dad (that and the curly hair). 

Did I ever mention that he waited until long after we were married to tell me that he'd been a really naughty kid?   Thanks hon.  He was a good student, but apparently going to a Catholic school for 15 years brings out the bad or something.  He said he and his co-conspirators friends had a policy that as long as their antics weren't illegal and didn't involve girls, they were golden.  He also somehow thought that telling me that he'd been his high school's prom king was somehow going to make up for this revelation.  (This is especially ironic because I didn't even go to mine.  I turned down the friend who asked me to go with him (how terrible is that?) and babysat for my math teacher instead.  But don't worry about the kid, he went with another friend, married a lovely girl he met at Cornell, and now is a rising star at Google.)

I had a great trip to NY last weekend.  I went on the cheap (FF miles and stayed in my sister Jen and her boyfriend's extra bedroom in Brooklyn) and also got to visit my friend (and old Chicago roomie) Shelby and her little Beto there too.  He's almost two and such a cutie pie.  I hadn't seen them since we went to NYC & the Hamptons 18 months ago, when things were going downhill with the twins, and he was just a little bug.  It is always so good to see her, she reminded me I don't need to be a mommy martyr and am allowed to go back to work.  And thankfully she has an awesome job, because her husband just lost his.

We went downtown and walked around too, but it was so cold (we saw Silver Linings Playbook, which I recommend and the season finale to Downton, which I'm not sure if I do...).  I'm so ready for spring (please let us have one this year?!)  I'm already thinking about the weather warming up and getting ready to order our new patio furniture.  Home Depot is doing a fun thing this year where you can mix and match/customize your sets.  I think we are getting the Fall River one, since it is just what I was looking for (metal w/cushions, six chairs, and no glass top).

Oh, and I finally found a preschool for emerging two year olds for the fall.  I am so excited! :)

Good school hunting

As I am looking at pre-pre-schools for the kids, it has gotten me thinking about real school, like kindergarten (hold me).  As I've mentioned, when we bought our house in 2005, we didn't think we'd still be here when our kids went to school (and still may not be), even though there is a grade school just a few doors down from our house.  I knew that schools were important even if you aren't planning to use them (for resale, if nothing else), but given our haste in buying and other considerations (location, layout, room to grow, etc.), I didn't do even cursory research on our schools.

Count me lucky again, as I've discovered the site Great Schools which compiles ratings on all public schools.  I found our elementary school is a nine (now a ten!), middle school a ten, and high school a nine.  Our district also allows kids to attend any school in the district (not just the closest) so they could attend one of the several higher ranked schools, including the nearby public math and science academy (one of the best schools in Cook Co.) which is a ten.  Given their parents, this will be most likely be the twins' inclination, but we are obviously looking forward to nurturing their other interests as well. There is also a "10" high school in our district, which my artist aunt just happens to have attended.  I realize there is more to a school than these metrics and that many love schools that are not top rated, but I think it's helpful to have some sort of measure to know what are looking at instead of just going by other people's opinions.

It is also important to me (and DH) that they attend a school that is diverse (something that my education before college was seriously lacking, save the Hmong refugees the Lutherans in our town brought in).  The ironic thing about schools is they are usually reflective of the parents as much as the kids (or even the teachers, as important as they are). Highly educated and/or high income parents tend to have high performing kids (very broadly speaking, of course) and these people tend to cluster in specific areas (of million dollar homes, in Chicago anyway). Many of the schools in more upscale suburbs are top rated, but they also typically have less diversity.  Our district is fairly diverse, the schools are about 1/3 non-white, mostly Asian, which is a plus in my book.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the schools I attended (beware, this site is highly addictive).  My grade school and middle are eights and high school a seven (now six, four, and seven, respectively), among the best in our district.  Even in the advanced program, I was bored through most of school (one of the more reasonable reasons my sister is home schooling).  Had my parents been more proactive, I probably should have been skipping grades or getting scholarships to prep school, but instead I was making the most among peers who thought drinking and driving was a legitimate extracurricular activity (it was Northern WI, after all).

So check out the site...  How are the schools you went to?  The ones you are planning or hope to send your kids?  Were you surprised by their ratings?

Busy Times

We're keeping busy in these early fall days.  After having a house full of all sickies last week, including the kids' first bout w/colds, which thankfully they fared much better than DH and me, I recently also came down with food poisoning, because don't you know when you are BFing twins you need more help losing more weight you don't really need to lose.  Not cool.  So we are trying to claw our way back.

 

The Ryder Cup was literally down the street over the weekend and though I'd wisely passed on tickets to go, we went and visited the course last weekend before the crowds besieged and Team USA choked something awful. The last tournament we went to there was the PGA in 2006, when we took the day off of work to go and watch and then go to get our marriage license.  My a lot has happened since then...

 

In other news...

We recently decided it was way past time to put in our new patio.  We first planned to do this several years ago, since our small deck had limited usefulness, but it just fell by the wayside with all the much more important nonsense we had going on.  Fortunately, we'd done all the research, scoping out of contractors back in '09, so it was a quick revisit with our top pick to get things rolling.  We're having Unilock Hollandstone pavers laid over 400 sq feet.  By having it done now instead in the spring, we negotiated '09 pricing, nixing the 30% increase since then. Yay!

 

This is obviously an entry, but it's the stone (Sierra) and pattern (herringbone with a single border) that we are planning.  Simple.

 

DH built the paver patio at his last place (with a buddy's help) and I come from a long line of DIYers, but we are pretty much an outsourcing bunch of folks now.  If there is massive labor or expertise involved (we're having a concrete Unibase laid under the pavers) or it doesn't matter who does something (like the guy who mows the lawn, cleans the gutters) we pay someone else to do it.  If it were up to DH, I'd hire someone to come help regularly with the kids, so I had more time, but I've yet to give in to that.
 



With the kids, and a sloping driveway, we knew we'd want/need more safe outside space for playing, riding around, etc., plus the obvious benefit of having additional outdoor living/eating area.  It has southern exposure, so I'll probably be shopping for more than just a simple umbrella.  It can get really hot back there.

Our plan is to put a playspace for the kids just beyond the new patio, before our lawn drops off slightly before the rear property line, as all are in direct line of sight from the kitchen window.  I'll try to remember to post some before and after pics when it's all done.

We've also just started acquiring the pieces of our new master bath.  So far, just the new bath tub, surround and fixtures.  I still need to figure out what we are going to do for flooring and the vanity and then ultimately have it all installed.  The bath is 12' by 6' and has a 72" vanity now.  I have to decide if I want to break it up into two smaller vanities and add storage or just go with something simple since we have a good sized closet in there already.

 

Hutton double by RH 

We went to a (not really a) pumpkin "farm" over the weekend hoping to pick some pumpkins, you know because that's what you do at a pumpkin "farm", but not only was it crazy hotter than predicted (apparently we live in FL now), they had miles and miles of prepicked pumpkins.  Now what is the fun in that?  Apparently if you go to their location in the far far exurbs you can pick your own, but not in Barrington (which to most people I know is way beyond anywhere they would ever want to go) since there isn't "enough room".  Barrington is horse country BTW, there is plenty of room.  But they did have enough room for giraffes and camel rides...  Go figure.

I mean what's a pumpkin "farm" without zoo animals, really?

 



So we had to settle for just buying, not picking, the kids some pee-wees of their own

Our kids are crazy smiley, but I think this is one of the only pics I have of them after nine months both in the same picture.  Oh well...  cuties.

If you follow me on Pinterest, which you are by no means obliged to do, you'll see that for Halloween we are planning for the kids to be Paddington Bear and Madeline, this is assuming I finish their outfits.  And I'm starting to plan their first birthday party which will come after our first big family trip over Christmas (likely to Sanibel or someplace similar), again assuming I can manage to get everything done on time.  I like to joke the main thing standing between me and total world domination is my low energy level post mono (and now post bed rest), but we're likely not getting that addressed until after BFing is done.  Happy October!

Oh, the plans we make...

I like to think of myself as a goal oriented person, as many people do, but I think I'm actually more of a planner. And I think of goals and plans as somewhat different things, though they are clearly related. I guess I think of goals as more tangible (things to be achieved/crossed off a list) and plans are experiential (how you want to live). I have a very clear picture of the latter, as that is more important, and build the former from that, which is what makes the plans come to life. Anywho...

We bought our current home six and a half years ago with the plan of moving on within seven, which of course seemed like an eternity back then. But then after the first year when we got engaged and married, our planned one year wait to TTC turned to two (those ducks we wanted to get in a row turned out to be ferrets :/ ), and then it took over three more until we brought live babies home, which I've chronicled ad nauseum here. I also left my job in the meantime, something I never thought I would do, which worked out for us given our situation.

Fortunately, we did plan for this to be our first family home. The location is great, close to everything and super safe, if rather suburban boring. There is enough room for everyone (us, guests, kids), we are three doors down from a good elementary school, there are several nice playgrounds and a pool in our subdivision, etc., etc. I am so thankful now that we weren't among the seeming majority who only after they get pregnant, suddenly realize they quickly need a bigger place to put the baby/ies, as it obviously would have been even more complicated and stressful given our last pregnancy. And likely it would have just added to the nightmare or just wouldn't have happened at all.

But I can't help but feel the itch now as this time comes and goes given our plans, even though obviously the original timing of our family didn't pan out and we now have two infants rather than a pre-schooler and a toddler (not that I'm complaining about that). We've met our initial goal of paying enough extra over time to have six figures down on the principle on our current home in order to have enough for the downpayment on the next one when we do sell (yay us). And it is definitely still a buyer's market, interest rates are insanely low and supposedly headed down even more, and home builders are about as hungry as ever.

But if we sit tight, we can continue to live comfortably on one salary and decide what to do next and where. We could pay off the house in ten years, though I know we'll be long gone by then. I've grown to hate moving (I've done more than my share in 17 yrs.) and I certainly don't feel like I want to right now. The real estate market for sellers is still not great, and we've put in a lot of significant improvements. I'd love to blow out the back of our house enlarging our kitchen and family room, but while there are dozens of McMansions in the newer developments behind our school, in our subdivision our model is the largest, so this doesn't really make sense unless this was our forever house. We hope to finish our remaining planned renovations in enough time to actually enjoy them for awhile before moving on.

So, long story short, our conclusion, for now anyway, is to watch this plan fade with our original family timing that went out the window and stay where we are for now. I will likely go back to work (because I think I want to), giving us more flexibility and direction on where we will end up. And let's be honest, I'm pretty sure I'll actually have more time to deal with this while working than while at home with the kids.

We also need to decide where we want the kids to go to school when the time comes, this will also be a big driver. We've talked about moving back to the city (which DH thinks he wants, since he grew up in a big city), but the cost of private school almost gave him a heart attack (hello $24K kindergarten for each kid- he attended less expensive Catholic schools, I went public) and the city magnet schools admission is by test and lottery (so no guarantee). Or we could join other friends who've made the North Shore home, where we could send the kids to public school.

It should be interesting to see what happens, stay tuned... :)

This time of year

It is so wild that we are approaching the holiday season.  How is Thanksgiving next week already? I love Thanksgiving. We'll be chilling quietly at home this year instead of traveling up north to spend it with my family, as we usually do. My dad is coming down this weekend to help DH demo the basement and get it ready for the radon mitigation next Monday. My mom may come down again late Thanksgiving weekend.

I was just thinking that this time last year we were finishing our IVF cycle (ER anni is tomorrow). And in 2009, we were dealing with our first failed IUI. The year before that, we were dealing with our first failed month at TTC.

Back in 2006, we were honeymooning in India after our second wedding there.

And six years ago, we were moving me into DH's townhouse, house shopping, and getting ready to go to Vegas to celebrate DH's 30th b-day.

Halfway there

We have hot water!  This is a major accomplishment after 12 days without any.  They are coming back tomorrow to finish and install the new furnace and then we'll have air conditioning.  We are moving up in the world, huh?  Even though the heat has finally broken, for now anyway, I am so excited!  It's been a crazy two weeks.  We moved back home today after two days at the hotel.

In lieu of doing school work, I assembled one of our cribs today.  This was just an exercise to make sure the mattress I got fits properly (it fits like a dream BTW).  So I ordered the second mattress while it's on sale, but will wait on ordering the other crib until we have the nursery wall up and walls painted and we can start putting things together, later in September.  I also needed to see how far the drop is from the bottom of the mattress (from the highest setting) to the floor (15"), so I can order the correct amount of crib skirt fabric and get started on those at some point in the near future.

I also just bought our tickets to NYC for later in August.  I can't wait!  We still have to decide where we are staying while we are in the Hamptons, though we are staying with my sister and her boyfriend at their new place while we are in Brooklyn.  It will be so nice to see them and to get away.  It's always nice to have something to look forward to. :)

Day 10

Well, the good news is that we've finally decided on the new systems and hope to have them installed this week (and on stilts!).  The bad news is it's the hottest week of the year, again, and after a terrible night last night, we are now staying at a hotel until the heat breaks on Wed.  You don't really realize how much you rely on something like A/C until you don't have it.  This pregnant lady is much happier now.  It just got to be too much, the house is absolutely sweltering and the humidity is downright tropical, with the heat indices over 100.

16 weeks!

We have babies the size of avocados!  I love avocados! :)  It's crazy how much I'm feeling them.  I can only imagine what it will be like when they get bigger.  Hang onto your hats!

Not much new to report on the baby front and I guess I should be happy my biggest complaint is that we are in day 7 of no hot water and no A/C.  Not fun when you are pregnant and hot.  We finally got the basement cleaned up, which DH did almost entirely by himself, and my contribution was washing all of our Christmas ornaments (since stupid, i.e. me, didn't put the tote back where it belonged in January).  The crazy thing about those Rubbermaid storage totes is that it doesn't take much water to make them float and then they tip over and then goodbye goes the waterproof container (since the lid is not water tight).  Oh well, I managed to salvage all but a couple.  Thank goodness DH was home all week from work, I'm not sure how we'd have managed otherwise.  It looks like his office will be closed next week too, as they got flooded again from last night's storm (though we were dry).  I'm ready for it to stop raining any time now.

We are hoping to make a decision tonight on all the quotes we've gotten this week on a whole new furnace and water heating system since both were completely killed by the flood.  Goodbye $5K. :'(  Hopefully we can get the install scheduled soon and I can stop showering at the clubhouse pool locker room (though I'm awfully glad we have that).  I spent this afternoon at the mall, which was a wonderful break from the house.  I have realized that as long as you have power, life goes on.  I can still do laundry, dishes, work, and thank goodness we have a refrigerator that works. 

Happy Weekend!

16 week u/s and OB visit

We are still "camping" over here...  Did I mention I abhor camping?  Still no a/c or hot water, boo!  The a/c guy is coming tomorrow and hopefully will be able to get things going again, though I think we had to wait for parts the last time this happened.  Really wishing we had non-giant, non-slider windows, so at least we could get a window unit.  The water heater guy came today, since we couldn't get the pilot light lit again ourselves this time, and he suggested just getting a new system.  Big boo!  DH is determined to see if once it dries out a bit more we can get it lit, but I'm not overly optimistic.  DH's office is closed from the storm flooding their electrical system, so he's working from home for the foreseeable future.  Oh well, on to much more exciting news...

We had our ~16 week u/s today and the babies look great!  We got some really good views, it was a nice long u/s, and got some ok pics.  Both of them are measuring perfectly! 

Baby A, who is clearly a boy, is measuring 16w1d by composite, as now that we are in the 2nd tri they don't measure the length, they do measurements of the head, abdomen, and femur bone.  His HB is 150 BPM and he weighs ~ 5oz.  Baby A, who looks to be a girl (she was >90% sure), is measuring right on track at 15w4d.  Her HB is 158 BPM and she weighs ~ 4oz.  It's still early, but both babies are breech right now.  She also did a color mapping of the cords and they looked good too.  We think it's possible that they are calling what has been baby A baby B and vice versa, not that it really matters.  I thought Baby A (now B) had been on my right and is now up under my belly button and baby B (now A) is still down on my left.

Both babies are very active, I've been feeling them for weeks.  I call them my wiggleworms because they are always moving.

At the big weigh in, I was disappointed that the pounds I thought I had gained, were apparently transient weight. :(  The OB I saw, I'm rotating as recommended with my check-ups, was not concerned since the babies are looking good.  She said the weight will come.  DH is still threatening pound cake therapy and I'm actually looking forward to putting on few, though I really feel like I already have.  Oh well, I'll just keep focus on eating healthily and hope to up in a few more weeks.

Sorry the pics aren't great...

Baby A = BOY!

Baby boy's face

Baby B = Girl!

She waves hello (and goodbye!)

Le weekend

Oh you know what they say about best laid plans?!  We didn't get our radon mitigation this weekend, or me to prenatal yoga.  We had the biggest rain EVER in recorded history in Chicago (since the late 19th century)

early on Saturday morning.  About 7" in just a few hours in a wicked storm that I somehow slept through entirely.  So, of course we got water in our basement, and a lot (nearly 2'), more than ever before.  Primarily because the power went out, for about 12 hours, which means the sump pump can't run (and the battery powered back-up pump is no match for a 100 yr. rain).  The longest it has been out since we've lived here was a few weeks ago after the wind storm, when it was out for three.  We fortunately have buried power lines, but just in our subdivision.

The power came back on Saturday afternoon (after we bought a new generator) and the water is now pumped out of the basement.  We've gotten rid of most everything that needs to be, which fortunately is not too much, as we've been here before.  We still need to finish cleaning out all the silt.  We are still without A/C (until Wed.) and hot water (until we can get the pilot lit again), but are managing.  Thankfully the heat is not quite as bad as it has been and we have plenty of fans.  The joys of home ownership never cease...

15 weeks! (and other miscellany)

And we're going from lemons to apples and oranges! :)  I can not wait to see the babies again on Tuesday, I'm just dying of anticipation over here.  Then it's another long wait until our anatomy scan in late August, but it will be our last four week wait, as then we are onto OB appts. every other week after 20.  Yay!

Otherwise, our huge milestone is tonight is my very last PIO shot (hopefully forever).  I will not miss these.  The individual shots themselves are not really that bad (or not nearly as bad as I envisioned when I saw the huge needles), but cumulatively over three whole months (!), they do some serious damage to your backside.  

And with all the bruises, we are having more bleeders lately.  DH always does the shots, unless he is not around, and the other night after drawing back, doing the shot, holding the alcohol swab over the site for awhile, and applying the band-aid as he always does, we went on our merry way like we do every night.  It wasn't until later when we were in bed that I rolled over and he could see that I had actually bled through the band-aid and had a huge blood stain on the back of my panties.  Lovely.  So after tonight we'll be done with all hormone replacement, and only on baby aspirin for another five weeks. 

I think we had a growth spurt last night.  I got really tired and uncomfortable during dinner and then passed out on the couch for an hour and a half.  I woke up and was noticeably bigger.  Very weird and very cool.

I'm up about eight pounds from when we started and looking forward to packing on many more. :)

I haven't been sleeping very well. I'm up in the middle of the night and lay around like I have somewhere else to go.  Though I am eternally grateful we have another master (our main guest room) on the first floor of our house, as with this heat the upstairs and our bedroom can get quite warm.  If I had to sleep up there all the time, I just wouldn't be sleeping at all.  I am also so so happy that our subdivision has a wonderful outdoor (and partially shaded) pool for when sitting in the A/C just isn't enough.  I'm running so hot lately, that the pool feels just amazing.

Speaking of water relief, I'm dying for some ocean time.  We are planning to head out to NYC to visit my sister in August and spend some time in the Hamptons, in lieu of the Cape and Islands this year.  So of course I just got an unexpected invitation to a party on Nantucket (and directly on the ocean) in August.  I'm not gonna lie, I looked into buying a ticket to go.  But hopefully the lovely Jay's of Hallowell Lane and Greenwich will host another. :)

I start prenatal yoga again tomorrow and am really looking forward to starting that up again.  We are also finally getting our radon mitigation taken care of tomorrow after having to do some work to the sump pump system (N.B. don't ever buy a house with one of these) in preparation of having it done.  Yes, it's somehow been a full year since we discovered we needed to have this done.  I guess we haven't had anything else going on... ;)  We also have ADT coming on Monday to move our glass break to the soon to be enclosed living room and install a window sensor in the new nursery.  Baby steps...

I went up the Arlington Design Center (which I didn't even know existed, a mini Merch Mart in my hood :)) the other night for a Ben Moore color event.  I got to roaming around Kravet/Lee Jofa and found another cute fabric that has my colors (blue and golden yellow).  Can't decide whether I love it enough/more than my Uzbek or not.

Halometer by Kravet

This would go wonderfully with the wool rug I had bought from Garnet Hill for our smaller nursery, though I think I've found a new rug from Dash & Albert to go with Uzbek for the new/bigger one.  Ah, decisions, decisions...

Oh and we finally got our headboard from CSN (well, I finally ordered it and it came very promptly from IN).  It's gorgeous and much nicer than you'd think was possible for $290 for a king ($250 after my voucher).  Love it!  Don't mind all the wrinkles...

Happy Friday!