The few people I have been able to talk with lately have all had the same questions about the house and the move, Em’s birthday, the girls in general, etc. So I thought I would do a little Q & A Tuesday edition, because I’m not sure that I will have a lot of time to get to talk with the rest of you…and maybe you are wondering the same things!
(Okay, it is a little bit of laziness on my part – but I prefer to think of it as, I’m just “simplifying” a little bit!)
Q: How is the new house?
A: FANTASTIC! In one word, it is fantastic. We have so much room and the house is really beautiful. It feels amazing to be back in a house. I keep catching myself starting to tell the girls to be quiet or stop running and I then I stop and realize – “What am I thinking?? Go right ahead. Run to your heart’s content! Make all the noise you want! It is all good.”
Q: How are the girls adjusting?
A: Are you kidding? They walked in and saw their stuff, and well that was just fine with them. “We are living here now, um…OK!” A. is sleeping through the night and seems very well adjusted – she loves the courtyard and swing, and unfortunately the stairs. (They are very, very hard, Spanish tile as my bottom can attest to. I had a slight tumble down them on Easter. Now I am a bit paranoid about them. But J. put up the gates and we are being pretty vigilant about the girls on them.) Em is having a little bit more difficulty sleeping at night, but hopefully we’ll get her straightened out, too. But during the day, she is loving everything about the house, too.
Q: Which room is which in the pictures?
A: I fixed the flickr pics! Now you can go through and see the descriptions. And I promised Kim that as soon as the house is presentable, I’ll take pics again so you can see it “lived-in.”
Q: How old/big is the house?
A: I just went on zillow and figured all this out. It was built in 1929 (those of you that guessed the 30s were right on!) and it is 2700 square feet – no wonder it feels so much bigger than anyplace else we have ever lived!!
Q: Are you unpacked and settled in?
A: Haaaaa HA! Are you kidding me? I’m still trying to figure out what light switch goes to what light fixture! That and change nearly every light bulb in this house. It is old, apparently all of the light bulbs are too, since they all decided to blow out at the same time.
We finally have the important rooms unpacked like the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. Meaning, the boxes are unpacked, but it is by no means “decorated” – we’ll get right on that next.
Q: What did you do about Denise (our heaven-sent nanny/sitter)?
A: Thankfully, it is about the same commute for her – she still takes the train/bus here. Today was her first day back watching the girls and I realized how very, very happy I am to have her. She is amazing and I think they had a great time today. They found the playground down the street – and I had a productive day running errands and getting rugs and things that are virtually impossible with two girls and carseats in the Volvo!
Q: How was Emma Gracie’s birthday? (And also, did you cry?)
A: It was great. She was asleep in our bed yesterday morning and when she woke up she said “Good morning, Mama!” And I said “Happy Birthday, my big 4-year old!” And the look on her face was priceless. “Today?! Today is my birthday? I’m four? I’m four!” And the rest of the day was pretty fun, too. She got to pick out all meals, and her cake. She got a bunch of fun presents from everyone and I think she had a pretty good day. Plus her little birthday party is Saturday, so we are stretching her birthday out a bit.
And as for “did I cry.” Not really. I did feel a little sad. Especially when I was writing her blog letter. But I am coming to grips with the fact that my baby is growing up. I think. Ask me again when she starts preschool in the fall. Then we’ll see.
That concludes our Q&A for today. And now…back to our regular scheduled blogging.
She is still there. Under the whiny, bossy, nearly 4-year old, my sweet daughter still exists.