When I got home Friday evening from being gone all week while the floors were being refinished I was ecstatic to discover the floors turned out so pretty but I couldn’t quite enjoy them yet.  The house was still in total disarray and it made me feel all chaotic and stressed looking at the mess.  So, Lorne and I spent Saturday and Sunday putting most of our furniture back and getting the rooms set back up again.  I felt much more relaxed afterwards and really started enjoying the new look.

The rooms all look so beautiful with their gleaming woods floors and the furniture back in place.   The wood floors really make all the rooms look bigger and our furniture looks much better against it than the very ugly rose colored carpet.

Project wood floors is complete and now we move on to the next big project.  I’d love to start painting the rooms but I think Lorne has another project in mind first.

Little by little we are turning this house that we love into OUR house.  It feels awesome.

It is back to school time in our neck of the woods.  Over the next week or so kids will be waking up early, getting dressed in that cool new back to school outfit, getting their backpack ready and heading out the door to board the bus for their first day of school.  It is both a very exciting time and a very nerve-wracking time.  I can remember being filled with first day of school jitters during the days leading up to the start of school.  The first day of school means big changes.  Meeting a new teacher, new classmates, figure out what this year brings in terms of knowledge, getting used to a new routine, it is all enough to make our kiddos feel very nervous, and us parents too.

There are several things you can do to help ease your child’s back to school jitters and nerves.  You won’t be able to alleviate them entirely, nerves are part and parcel of going back to school, but you can help ease their minds a little and make them feel not so alone.

• Acknowledge your child’s fears and give your child a chance to talk about what is making him nervous.
• If your school has an open house before the school year starts be sure to attend.  Meeting her new teacher, seeing what her class room will look like and walking the halls of the school will all help alleviate some of her worry.
• Accentuate the positives. Talk about your child teacher, the school bus, and school in general in a positive manner.
• Bring your child along when picking out school supplies and let them help decide which ones to go with.  They will be more excited if they know school will mean they get to use that cool new backpack they helped pick out.
• Buy a few “back to school” books to read with your child.  If their favorite character has one pick it up to help show your child that going back to school is fun, even for (insert favorite character).
• Buy your child a special going back to school outfit.  Having a special new outfit to wear on the first day of school will help make your child feel special and help get them excited about the first day.
• If you are packing a lunch for your child include some of their favorite lunch foods and a special note to remind them that you are thinking about them and hoping they are having a wonderful first day of school.
• On the first day of school make the day all about your child(ern) cook everyone’s favorites for breakfast, make a big deal about taking first day of school photos and plan a special dinner of everyone’s favorites.

Usually after the first few days your child’s nerves will calm down and their fears about starting school will be gone.  Just be sure to continue to give them a chance to talk about their day, their fears, their ups and downs at the end of every school day.

What do you do for your kids to make them feel special on their first day of school?  What do remember from your childhood about your own first day of school jitters?

When we moved it was hard to say goodbye to a couple of our neighbors because they had become very dear friends.  Maya had known and loved them since she was born.  They were a big part of her life.  We knew we were going to have to make sure we stayed in touch and try to see each other as often as possible.  So, Saturday night we had them over for a barbecue.  Tom and Wendy, our neighbors from across the hall who we just love and who are some of the few people who have ever taken care of Maya for us, and Loren and her dog Molly, our neighbors right below us, came over to check out our new digs and hang out like old times.

What ensued was an amazing evening of good food, good friends and good laughs.  Maya enjoyed having an audience while she was playing in the pool

We ended the evening having good great fun watching Maya play with whip cream!!

We had an amazing time hanging out with our old neighbors who are now just simply good friends.  We are looking forward to our next fun get together.

Thank you Loren for the great pictures

As I write this post I am sitting in my family room, which is blocked off by plastic, with Maya, my two cats and a bunch of extra furniture (including our bed) while a crew is busy sanding and staining our hardwood floors.

Last Monday we had a flooring company come out to give us a bid for refinishing our hardwood floors.  At that time all the rooms were still carpeted, except our spare bedroom.  The plan was just to see how much it would cost so we could weigh our options and decided when we wanted to tackle the floor.  Somehow by Tuesday we had decided to go ahead and have the floors done now and made arrangements for the crew to get started today.

For the last week we have been busy every day pulling up carpet, tack strips and about a million little staples.  But once all that was done we weren’t quite finished with the back breaking labor.  We then had to move all our furniture (that we just moved in mind you) into our kitchen, family room and basement.  To say our backs, knees and hands are sore is an understatement.  Lorne and I both pretty much collapsed with exhaustion last night.

With all the hardwood floors exposed we are ready for the refinishing to begin.  The crew showed up this morning, bright and early, and have been hard at work ever since.  Here are a few before pictures.  I’ll post some after pictures when the project is complete.

Living Room

Hallway

Master Bedroom

Spare Bedroom

I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s all done

Growing up I fondly remember walking with my Mum everywhere.  We walked to the park, we walked to the library, we walked to the grocery store or the drug store if she only needed to pick up a few things.  I loved that.  In our condo we were smack dab in the middle of the action, there were stores, restaurants, parks, cultural activities all around us, all within walking distance.  I loved that.  So, it only made sense that we would look for some of the same things in our new neighborhood.

But, not only did I want to be able to walk places, I wanted to be part of a neighborhood, a town that had a good sense of community.  A place where people wanted to participate to make it a better, more fun place to live.  A place where neighbors said hello to each other and offered to help each other out when needed.  When we choose our house we knew we were going to be able to walk to all the things we wanted to be able to walk to but we were only pretty sure we were getting that sense of community, because really there is  no way to know for sure until you move in.

We’ve lived here just over a week and I can say for absolute certain that this neighborhood and this town offer just that.  Our neighbors have all been wonderful, taking time to stop by and say hello and introduce themselves.  Offering their phone numbers in case of emergency or if we just need someone to watch Maya.  Maya and I spent the afternoon Saturday at a lovely little gathering in honor of the lady who used to own this house and to help welcome us to the neighborhood.  I’ve never felt so welcome some where as I do here.

On Friday night the park across the street was the site of a community event and our chance to see if this community would live up to our hopes.  There was a free concert in the park going on.   In our old neighborhood events like that drew a huge crowd and I was hoping to see more of the same.  I was not disappointed.  The park was filled with families relaxing on picnic blankets or in lawn chairs under the shade of huge trees listening to the sound of Beatles tunes coming from the live band.  Kids filled the playground and danced in the grass near their parents.  It was so much fun.

Maya had a blast partaking in two of her most favorite activities, swinging and dancing

I’m glad we made the choice we did.  I’m glad we put heavy weight on the neighborhood and community so that we could end up where we are in a house we love, in a neighborhood that is really making us feel welcome, in a community that is living up to my very high expectations.

Home Sweet Home

The move last week was, let’s just say, interesting.  The moving company we hired wasn’t exactly on the ball.  They gave us a 1-3pm window but didn’t show up until after 3:30pm.  It took them forever to get the stuff out of our condo and into the moving truck.  Lorne had to help them A LOT (which, hello we hired movers so we wouldn’t have to do all the work).   When they finally got here it was so late and we were so ready to be done with it that we just told them to put everything into two rooms and we’d sort it out later.  Needless to say we weren’t exactly impressed.

We spent a day or so unpacking and organizing before Lorne’s parents came into town for a visit.  It was nice having them here as it gave us an excuse to forget about the move for a while and ignore some of the boxes.  Plus, they helped with a few little projects, like cutting the grass

It has been a week since we moved in.  Sometimes it feels like just yesterday we were pulling in the driveway for the first time and other times it feels like we’ve lived here for a lot longer than a week.  All the rooms are mostly set up, with the exception of hanging our artwork and pictures, we still have to do that.  This weekend we’ll probably go through each room and make a list of things we want to do like paint, add a few decorating touches, change out carpets, etc and then begin to tackle the list that will slowly make this house all our own.

We love it so far.  I can’t wait to see how it takes shape as we add our own little touches.

The back of the house

Love, love, love the backyard

We just moved last week and things seem to be going pretty well so far.  There were several things that I did to help make Maya feel part of the move and prepared for the big day when we actual moved into the new house.  I figured if she knew what to expect along the way and felt like she was part of the action than things would go a little smoother, and they did.

Here are a few things you can do with your toddler as you prepare to move into a new home:

• Bring your child along to look at the homes with you as you are searching for a new home to buy.
• Be sure you see the house you will be buying several times with your toddler in tow.
• Let your toddler explore the new house and talk about all the fun things about the house like where their room is going to be, how fun it will be to play in the new backyard, etc.
• As you pack up your home get your child involved.  Talk about all the things that will come with you to the new house and let your child pack up their own toys so they are comfortable with the fact that none of their stuff will be left behind.
• Get some books about moving.  We read The Berenstain Bears Moving Day a lot in the weeks leading up to our move.  Reading and seeing pictures in books about moving will help your child better understand what to expect.
• Talk a lot about the move and what your child can expect.  Let them ask questions.
• On moving day let your child be as involved as possible.  Give them little things to carry into the new house and let them help unpack some boxes and put things away.
• Allow for an adjustment period.  Sleeping habits may take a while to adjust in the new house.  Also, your child’s temperament may be a little different for a few days or so after you move in.

When your child feels part of what is going on and has a bit of an understanding about what to expect during the moving process it is more likely they will adjust to their new surrounding faster and may even be excited about the move.

The one thing that my daughter didn’t quite understand was that the new house was home now and not our old house.  For several days after we moved she would ask to go home when she was really tired.  She didn’t quite understand that we were home and this was where we were going to sleep now.  After a few days though, she seems to be into the swing of things and definitely loves her new house and new bedroom.

When you moved how did you help your children adjust to their new surroundings?

I’ve known Heather for, I guess about 4 years now.  We used to work together in what we lovingly refer to as HELL, and are now stay-home-mom buddies together.  One of the things I learned about Heather very early on was that Heather has a way with words and can tell a story like nobody’s business.  When she finally started blogging I was so excited, because I knew it would be a fabulous read, and I was right.  However, when Heather started caring for “The Others” she stopped blogging (when you read her post you’ll understand why).  Even though I get to hear all her stories in person I still missed reading her blog.  I was happy to give her the opportunity to do a little writing again.  Without further ado I had the floor (or blog) over to Heather, enjoy

A little over a year ago I basically walked off my job, my career of 10 years, to stay at home with my two children, then ages four and one.  That sounds way more dramatic than what it actually was.  I hated that office and all the unrelenting, back-stabbing politicking that came with it.  I knew I would never miss it for a day.  The big question was:  Now what?

I had crunched the numbers and the numbers were grim.  Sure, it was doable…  if by doable you mean spending exactly $100 a week on groceries for a family of four, cutting out most activities that involved entrance fees, dues, and/or gear, never getting sick and having a doctor’s bill larger than a co-pay, and avoiding the ultimate worst tragedy:  never, and I mean NEVER, allowing a car to break down.

But I was a girl used to decent dual incomes and the lifestyle that accommodated.  I wasn’t sure I could live under such tight budgetary constraints.  Having neither the sales presence to enlist in AVON nor the creativity to start my own home based business, I decided to try and make money at what I was leaving work to do anyway – caring for children.

Sadly, I didn’t have any friends or even acquaintances who were in the market for childcare at the time.  Knowing nowhere else to turn, I printed up flyers and distributed them around my neighborhood, and put an ad on Craigslist.  The flyers generated zero in the way of phone calls, but the ad I put on Craigslist generated a few calls and emails per week.  I started scheduling interviews.   Things were looking up, and quickly.  My husband went from sweating bullets to perspiring mere raindrops.  My fingers, wrapped tightly around my debit card, started to unclench.  These people must be crazy, I thought, to trust me – ME – no experience with other children, no background in nursing or early childhood education, really no idea what the heck I’m doing ME to take care of their children full time!

And what is it they say about instinct?  That you should listen to it?  Because when you start thinking people might be a little nutty, chances are fair that your gut is in fact trying to tell you something.  So when The Others showed up, proclaiming that their eldest child, age three, was “ALL BOY” and “likes to stay busy,” perhaps I could have gleaned from that conversation “our child has ADHD and will drive you constantly crazy with his incessant need for your attention which will include, but not limit itself to, Olympic-caliber couch jumping, artistic development of your drywall via chiseling, spontaneous removal of curtain rods and works of art from your walls, and the complete saturation of your son’s bedroom…in urine, all the while never ceasing from calling your name no less than 90 times per minute and bombarding you with the same question at least 400 times an hour.”

It’s been over a year now since I took on The Others.  In one way I am grateful.  They took a chance on me and made up just enough of the gap of my paycheck that our lifestyle hasn’t suffered much.  In another way……I’m freaking exhausted.  Ten hours of daily ADHD daycare plus All Boy’s infant sister, not to mention taking care of my own two (fairly) normal children, have completely zapped my energy and patience by 5 p.m. and I have almost nothing left to give my own family at the end of the day.  From 5:00 on Friday to the time I go to bed on Sunday I am dreading and fretting over Monday morning.  I recently asked my doctor for “happy pills.”  If there were such a thing as “energy pills” I’d have asked for those, too.  The light at the end of this tunnel is that All Boy will be leaving me in August for a full-time professional daycare, which will be a better fit for him.  I get to keep Lil Sis, and who knows – without All Boy around to steal the spotlight, I might actually enjoy her.

The big question:  would I do it again?  Absolutely.  What wouldn’t a mother do for her family?  If I’d had more time to work things out, I would have been a bit more selective in the children I chose to bring into my home.  Live and learn, I always say…….um, is it August yet?

The number of times I have read something of Jenn’s and said “that’s exactly what I was thinking” or “It’s like she was in my brain when she wrote that”have become too numerurous to count.  The guest post that follows is just such an example.  I mean, who comes up with this crap, better known as children’s television? Enjoy this guest post by the fabulous Princess Jenn:

Growing up we weren’t allowed to watch ‘The Simspsons’  in our house.  For years I thought it was because my mom was the ‘Worst. Mommy. EVER!’

I always swore I’d never ban TV shows in my house (how many of you can hear your mother’s voice saying “well, when you move into your own house you can do whatever you want”?).

*sigh*… you can see where this is going right?

Karma is a b*tch.

My daughter is only three and already the list of Shows That Shall Not Be Viewed In This House is growing.

Don’t get me wrong, there are several good kids shows out there, but there are even more that make me want to claw my eyes out and stick an ice pick into my brain.

Caillou is high up on that list. The theme song starts off with Caillou singing “I’m just a kid who’s four and each day I grow some more, I like exploring. I’m Caillou”.

What he should be singing is “I’m just a whiny brat who has a stupid cat. I’m good at irritating you.”

Yeah, exactly what I want my kid to learn.

The best episode of Caillou I saw, though, is the one where ‘mommy has a headache’ and goes to bed leaving Caillou to watch his little sister.  He’s FOUR!  (yes, I’m yelling at a cartoon)

Even higher though, is the dreaded Max & Ruby.

Ruby is an overbearing bossy bunny?  Check.

Max speaks in demanding one word sentences?  Check?

No parents?  Check.

The biggest question is whether their parents are:

1. absentee parents.
2. parents that are working all the time.
3. lying as roadkill on the side of some highway.
4. buried under the stairs.

Knowing Max and Ruby, I’m leaning towards #4, and THAT is something I definitely don’t want my daughter learning.

Now you’ll have to excuse me as I go re-hide the harmonica my mother gave my daughter for her birthday (securing her place as the Worst. Grandma. EVER!) and add it to the list of toys that are banned in MY house.

(Jenn also does some fabulous web design works so if you’re in the market definitely check her out, http://designsby.princessjenn.com/)

Today I have a very special treat for you, my friend and fellow blogger, Andrea, of The Sweet Life, has agreed to do a guest post for me.  Over at The Sweet Life Andrea shares the stories of her life raising two beautiful daughters on her ranch in Northern California.  I always love reading Andrea’s stories.  Her writing is beautiful and her girls are adorable, what more could you ask for.  I’m so grateful to Andrea for agreeing to share some of her amazing work here with my readers.  Without further ado I hand you over to Andrea, enjoy.

Lately I’ve been lying in bed at night, thinking about universal balance.  You know: karma, yin and yang, give and receive, having your beautiful cake and not being able to eat it, too.

It led me to wonder, when God grants a prayer request, does He also scribble down a little IOU?  It’s funny to think of Him standing there, holding a stack of invoices, but it’s a little scary too – you never know exactly what the cost is, or when it’s due.  I mean, when is your debt really paid?  It’s not like He sends a statement.

Back when we were trying to get pregnant with what turned out to be Blythe, I would take my monthly pregnancy test (or five) (who am I kidding, I mean 10) (ish) and while waiting the requisite 4 minutes, I’d say “Please let it be positive this time.  Please, God, just this once”.  And then it would be negative and I’d start again the next month with the begging.  God was probably tired of hearing from me.

After a year or so, we took a little break and wouldn’t you know, one day a few months later, a burrito sounded damn good and I wolfed it down even though I’ve always thought, my whole life through, that burritos were disgusting, and BAM.  Positive pregnancy test.  No negotiations required.

I begged God or the Universe, or who ever else was listening, to let the baby be in a good spot in my deformed uterus.  Because, otherwise, the chance of miscarriage was something like 85% and who bets on those odds?  Our relief at her good uterine placement was short lived when, at 9 weeks, during one of my many daily bathroom visits, I discovered copious amounts of blood gushing from the worst possible place for a pregnant woman.

Have you ever seen a mother beg for her child’s life?  It’s not pretty.  It involves a lot of blubbering and tears and even snot bubbles, and if you think I might have offered up every thing we possess to the Keeper of the Universe if this child could live, you’d be spot on.  We had to wait through the entire weekend, me on bed rest and continuing my mental begging, before getting to see whether the baby made it.

When I saw not only a little peanut in my uterus but the flashing light that indicated a heart beat, I just knew this baby was going to make it the whole nine yards, and I quit my begging.  My request had been granted and I didn’t want anyone changing their mind based on the fact that I was annoying.

Over the past few months, I picked up my old habit where I left off, asking God and the Universe to let Blythe grow out of her food allergies.  It’s not such a big request, is it?  It’s all I’m asking for, not a fancy new car or world peace or for my adult acne to finally go away, because, really, don’t you think someone in their 30’s should be able to focus on their wrinkles instead?

But then, about a month ago, after I’d gotten all cocky about how I had this thing down pat, what with Blythe going months now without a severe reaction, we got a rude awakening.  She picked up a girl scout cookie her sister accidentally left within her reach.  Not only did she put it in her mouth, she ate the entire thing.

I could blame the girl scouts for putting high fructose corn syrup in their cookies, myself for keeping a stash of them, my husband for finding the stash and sharing with Alison, Alison for leaving the cookie out, Blythe for eating it.  But you know, sometimes things are just inevitable.  No matter how hard you try, sometimes mistakes happen.  You can look back on that one thing, that catalyst, if you will, and regret it or relive it the rest of your life, but you can’t ever change it.

Every day for 5 weeks now, Blythe has been struggling.  One corn-laden cookie knocked her immune system down and now she’s not only hyper-sensitive to anything corn, she developed a NEW allergy, to soy.  Anyone who comes around has to wash their hands and face before touching or kissing her.  My husband has to take a shower and change his clothes before he’s allowed anywhere near her, because she has a reaction from particles he accumulates on his clothes and skin from animal feed and the like.  For Blythe, these allergies went from manageable to out of freaking control.

Being anal retentive and a bit dramatic, I spent a few days thinking, ”WHAT NOW?  We may as well order ourselves a bubble and put her in it”.  I felt like we were up against something I couldn’t see, couldn’t predict, couldn’t fix, all while my baby girl suffered and whimpered her way through her days and nights.

Laying there night after night, thinking about universal balance, though?  It’s what has changed my attitude from one of defeat to one of proactivity.  Right or wrong, looking at this as the debt we owe in exchange for her survival makes things seem, well, not so bad.  I’ll take a sweet, loving, thoughtful, happy little girl who happens to be extremely food allergic over a clump of bloody cells in my toilet, every time.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Oh and God, if you’re listening?  I think you can mark that invoice “PAID”.