Construction - End Of Week 8

Well, here we are at the end of week 8. We were told this would take about 8 weeks, and we're not quite there yet...but am I frustrated? No. Am I annoyed? No. Am I lying? Yes.

However, today's progress made me a little bit happier because we now have WALLS!!! And almost better than that is that the gaping walls that were in our bedroom have now been covered by dry wall. Today was dusty, but it's a good day.

Here are some pictures from last week, right before they installed the insulation:

And here are the pictures from today!

And what our room looks like right now...this is one of the reasons why it's hard to deal with...not to mention that everything that came out of our two current bedrooms is currently being stored in the bathroom, which makes it very tight in there!

And finally, some almost complete pictures of the outside. I am not thrilled with the way the siding went on (though you can't really tell in the picture), but we are planning to look at the with the builder tomorrow.

Right Now...

I am listening to Ahren sing bedtime songs to Lexi over the monitor. She has insisted that he sing "You Are My Sunshine", but he does not know all the words. She knows that what he is singing is wrong, but when she sings the words for him she sings, "but when I woke up, I was stinkin', so I hung my head and cried." He knows that stinkin' isn't right so he keeps trying to sing something different, and she yells, "NOOO, Daddy, those aren't the words!!" No matter how many times he insists that he doesn't know the words, she keeps making him try. It's quite hysterical. :)

Quickie Update

So much has been going on since we returned from California that I am definitely ignoring some good updating, so since I have about five minutes in the house alone, I thought I would post a quick update on a few things...

House:
Yea, the house...it's getting to that point where things feel like they have slowed to a crawl, everything is a mess, and we are still not done! When we came home from CA we found that one of the kitchen breakers had been turned off, so everything that was in our freezer and fridge was completely spoiled...and melted and MOLDY all over the floor. It was a disaster that kept us up until almost 1am cleaning, and then three trips to the grocery store to re-stock.
Since we've been home we have been told that the sheet rock and plaster is going to be done almost every day, and every day it gets pushed off again. The latest is that the inspector came a half hour early today, when no one was here to greet him. He left, and now they are trying desperately to get him back this afternoon so that we can get the plaster people here tomorrow. I am trying to be Zen about everything, but the construction debris, holes in the walls, and massive mess and dust everywhere are making us all crazy. We will be so happy to have them done. The good news is that the outside is done and Ahren hopes to get out there to paint this weekend.

Lexi:
Amazing child as always. We've been busily planning her little birthday party for a Sunday afternoon at the beach. She decorated all of the envelopes herself, and has talked daily about her party.
We're still working on potty training. I've been telling her all month that on August 1st she will no longer wear pull-ups or diapers. She seems okay with that, we'll see how it goes! Now when I ask her if she needs to use the potty she says, "No, I think I'll wait until August." Ugh.
We met with an orthotist and PT on Friday to discuss orthotics to help her gait. They did recommend a small pair that we will get fitted for in September. They will help her foot to fall the right way every time, so that the rest of her muscles learn how they are supposed to respond to a foot fall. I'm actually excited to see if they work, and have this issue resolved once and for all.

Baby Boy:
He seems to be doing great. I am feeling pretty good now, and he is kicking and moving all over the place now. Ahren and my dad have now gotten to feel some pretty big kicks, but they are typically very low and soft, so there are not many opportunities for others to feel. Lexi has been resting on me when I feel kicks, and I ask her if she can feel them but I'm not sure if she really does. Charlie was lying next to me in bed last night and seemed annoyed when he got kicked a couple of times. However, he's a cat, so he could have been annoyed that I was looking at him the wrong way.

Other news:
Ahren's Uncle Jim passed away last Friday after a very long battle with cancer. He had been sick since I met Ahren, so while it's probably a good thing that he can finally rest, it is still hard for the family to say goodbye. We'll go to CT on Friday for the funeral.
We are still anxiously awaiting the results of Ahren's CFA exam, and should be hearing something in about two weeks or so (hopefully before we go to the beach).

That's all for now!

San Francisco

Last week we spent six days in the San Francisco area with Ahren's side of the family. We went out to attend Ahren's cousin Jere's wedding, and I am so glad that we went! We weren't sure how Lexi would do on a nearly six hour flight, and then staying in a hotel room and traveling all over, but (no surprise here) she was beyond fantastic the entire time.

Both flights were completely uneventful, and Lexi did amazingly well. I think I was more cranky than she was on the flight home, and unless you could actually see her, there is no way another passenger ever knew there was an almost three year old in her seat. She was not impressed with the selection of cartoons on JetBlue, but luckily she was content to read or color (or watch Mommy and Daddy color) and look out the window. I believe her exact quote about the cartoons was, "Mom, these cartoons are really boring."

Once in San Francisco we met up with Ahren's parents and Auntie Kae, cousin Jere, and Aunt Laurie and Uncle Bill (who I was actually meeting for the first time). Uncle Devan and Auntie Jen didn't arrive until later that evening, so we didn't see them until the morning. This began many wonderful days of Lexi being spoiled to death by her family, and Ahren and I having the time of our lives getting to enjoy part of the family that we just never get to spend enough time with. What was particularly nice about the visit was that we were in a far away town staying in a hotel, so no one was "hosting" which meant that everyone was just relaxed and having a great time.

On Friday, after a very long, rotating breakfast, the entire family spent the day site seeing in San Francisco. We had a blast - lots of laughs, lots of yummy food, and sooo much Ghirardelli Chocolate...YUM! Lexi finally got to see the Sea Lions that I've been telling her about since Christmas, and she was totally impressed. That evening we attended the rehearsal dinner which was a blast. It was a Texas Style BBQ where everyone was expected to dress accordingly. The Lippman clan tried...some of us were more successful than others...but it didn't matter because we had a blast anyway, and the food was out of this world!

On Saturday Jere coordinated group tickets to a Giants Game. This was quite an adventure for Lexi, which began and ended with a pretty fun ferry ride. She enjoyed the game quite a bit, even though it wasn't the Red Sox. We also enjoyed the game, as well as the food - who can resist ballpark food. Plus, San Francisco has this amazing "tradition?" of garlic fries which are crazy good, but you better pack your Trident because they are garlicky! Saturday night we all met over at the Brewery across the street from our hotel for dinner. It was Aunt Laurie's birthday so it was nice to get together for dinner, though we were all pretty pooped, so it was an early night.

Sunday was the day of the wedding, so after another marathon breakfast (which was my favorite part of the whole trip - sitting around the breakfast table with our family) we all just went our separate ways to relax and be on our own schedule. Ahren, Lexi and I went to Sausalito and found a fantastic lunch spot where we enjoyed a long and relaxing lunch before heading back to the hotel where Lexi (luckily) took a very short nap before we had to head up to San Rafael for the wedding. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a blast, which was no surprise. Once again it was just so much fun getting to hang out and chat with the family, and no one had to get up to start cleaning dishes, or rush off to get home. Lexi danced the night away, as expected. She told me that her favorite part of weddings is the dancing and the cake. I completely agree with her on that one. However there was no cake at this wedding. There were little cupcakes (which she was pleased with) and these little shooter glasses filled with some sort of butterscotch orgasm. Seriously, you would watch people take the first bite expecting pudding and then the expression on their face change when they realized that they'd just taken a tiny bit of heaven. I don't know exactly what this was, but it was better than cake...much better than cake.

The next morning the rest of the family left early, and we drove Uncle Devan and Auntie Jen to the airport. We still had one more night, so we took a trip to the San Francisco Zoo which was a pretty cool zoo. You really got to get very close to the animals, which was especially nice for Lexi. My only complaint was that it was about 55 degrees, and I actually had to buy a jacket and hot chocolate...in JULY! On our way home we drove to Muir Woods which is a redwood forest near where we were staying. It was lovely, but the drive to the woods was along a small, windy road with no guardrail and *literally* a cliff right off the side. I thought I was going to throw up driving down, and then back up that road...and of course Ahren is driving with one hand on the wheel pointing out the sites to Lexi. I was extremely happy to be off that road. That evening we had one more early dinner at our favorite brewery and went to bed early.

On Tuesday we woke up and after a quick, and quiet breakfast went right off to the airport. We had a great time in San Francisco, but we were also VERY happy to be going home. When I woke Lexi up that morning she said, "Mommy, I want to go home." and I said, "Good thing, because that's where we're going!" and she looked me right in the eye and said, "NO!! I mean our WHITE house!!" She was ready, and so were we.

It was a wonderful trip and we were so happy and lucky to have the opportunity to go.

Three Is The New Two

Stubborn. Defiant. Whiny. Three words that would have never described my two year old, but are quickly becoming daily descriptions of her almost three year old behavior. Yes, it's true...three is the new two.

After a rather cranky start to the day, this was my attempt to lighten the mood:

Me: "Hey Lexi, you know what we're going to be doing at this time next week?"
Lexi: "What." (In that, "don't even bother trying to impress me, Mom." tone)
Me: "We're going to be on an airplane flying to California!"
Lexi: "Oh."
Me: "Doesn't that sound like fun??"
Lexi. "no."
Me: "Okay..."
Lexi: "Maybe you guys can go, and I'll just watch."

Then, there was this gem from yesterday...

Me: "Lexi, would you like to bring this paper and your markers to Mommy's office today?" (She had thrown up that morning, so she couldn't go to daycare)
Lexi: "But, you told me that paper was for the airplane."
Me: "No, the new coloring books are for the airplane. This paper is for home."
Lexi: "Why?"
Me: "Because I don't want to bring your markers on the plane. I'm afraid we'll lose them."
Lexi: "Why?"
Me: "Well, it's easy to lose stuff when we travel, and I bought you special crayons for the plane so that we can leave the markers at home."
Lexi: "Oh."
Me: "So would you like to bring this paper and your markers to my office?"
Lexi: "But you just said you bought it for me to use at home?"
Me: "Well, I meant 'home' as in 'not California', but we can still bring it to the office."
Lexi: "Why?"
Me: "Because I'm telling you right now that it's okay."
Lexi: "Why?"
Me: "Lexi, do you want to bring this paper to the office or not?"
Lexi: "No."
Me: "Okay."
Lexi: "YES!!"
Me: "Okay."

These conversations can be exhausting. A couple of months ago it would have gone like this...
Me: "Lexi, do you want to bring this paper and your markers to Mommy's office?"
Lexi: "Okay."
Me: "Okay."
Ah...those were the days. :)

www.Dooce.com

I read a blog called Dooce – www.dooce.com that Ali recommended to me about 6 months ago. When I first started reading (from where she was, not at the beginning) I didn’t think I liked her style, the way she talked about her 4 year old, etc. That lasted about two days when I read more about her interactions with her daughter, Leta. I think Leta and Lexi are probably not alike at all, but sometimes the stories she tells about Leta – well let’s just say change the “ta” to “xi” and it’s my story. Every month she writes a letter to Leta, and every month it makes me cry. There is something about the way she writes about Leta’s life that makes me feel so much stronger and more confident as a parent. I’m sure I’m not saying this correctly, but let me put it this way…I went back and read a few months of her blog right after she had Leta, and turned to Ahren and said, “If I had known about this blog when I had Lexi, I wouldn’t have needed therapy.” She’s heard this type of feedback before, and while it seems odd, I think it’s just that you sometimes feel so alone as a parent, especially during the hard times, so to go online and read about some perfect stranger’s nearly exact interaction with their child it’s just enormously helpful. Here is her post today. The last two paragraphs are an example of a story that I could have written about Lexi – just slightly different scenario…say, going on a pony ride.

Fourth of July and Cartoon Thoughts

We had a different, although interesting 4th of July this year. It began on Thursday night with a huge rain storm that left us with dripping ceilings (due to the construction) and no power for about an hour. It was eventful, to say the least, but a little funny to look back on - especially our mad rush to run around and find flashlights (aka Lexi's favorite toys), and candles so that we could eat dinner!
Yesterday started out rainy and we were bummed. Even though North Andover has basically *nothing* in the way of festivities, we had planned to go to Wilmington's celebration with Lexi. However, by noon the skies had cleared, so we took her over. Despite it being close to nap time, we had a blast. She rode the Merry-Go-Round and a bus ride that takes you so high that you can see the entire carnival. We had lots of fun, and I was glad to have something exciting to do. For dinner we ordered sushi and chicken (for Lexi) - I know, very American! - and ate in the living room so we could watch Pop Goes the 4th of July. Lexi enjoyed the music, and getting to stay up late, though she was far less impressed with the 1812 Overture than Ahren and I were.
This got me to thinking about how when I was a kid, these songs were part of all the cartoons we watched. There was no Barney singing "I Love You", it was all silly animals running around to Mozart and Tchaikovsky. So, this morning I decided to show Lexi what "real" cartoons were. I did a search on YouTube for my all time favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon, and found it quickly. I put it on for Lexi, and Ahren and I were immediately horrified at what we used to watch as children. Granted, it's still a fantastic cartoon, but YIKES!! And they say television has gotten *more* violent?? I've never seen Barney shoot someone for interupting one of his songs!! Here is the video. Enjoy!
I hope you all had a great 4th! Today we're headed to CT for a BBQ at Auntie Heather and Uncle Tim's.

Everybody Loves The Circus!!

Tonight Gigi and I took Lexi to the circus. I debated all week about going, and I am SO glad that we did because it was fantastic!! I didn't take too many pictures because it's hard to get a good picture under the big top, but I got a few okay ones. Lexi LOVED seeing the elephants, and they really were spectacular. She says her favorite part was the pony ride. This took me by surprise since less than a week ago she refused to ride the pony at a fair we were at. She turned down the offer of an elephant ride, but later regretted it. She's hoping maybe we can ride an elephant next week...

My mom has some great pictures here, and here are a couple of mine:

Lexi and Gigi with the elephants:

Lexi and Gigi thought it was a little loud:
Who loves the elephants?? :)They were pretty awesome!She really enjoyed that pony ride!

Construction Update - Week 2

I know you're waiting for those ultrasound pictures. Can you tell we're second time parents here? I tried to scan them in on Friday, but I had a hard time, and there were nail guns going off above my head, so I gave up and I just keep forgetting to ask Ahren to help me. I'll get them, don't worry. Lexi thought they were very cute. :) She actually did the little "Awwwwe! How cute!...what is it?" :)

But, pictures I do have on hand are current house pictures. They tore open the other side of the roof today, and now they're hustling to get it weather tight because we're expected to receive some pretty nasty thunderstorms tonight. But, if the roof leaks through the ceiling, Ahren and I get a new kitchen ceiling...so we're not concerned. These guys seriously move fast. They come really early (which I'm not fond of, but you don't tell contractors to come later) and they get amazing amounts of work done every day. Here are the pictures from around 1pm today...which would be Day 5 of construction.