$ Tree?

This week has brought lots of fun our way, not the least of which is a new addition to our kitchen:

A week ago I went to bake a frozen pizza, and when the timer went off I opened the oven door to see-- a raw pizza. Nice. I believe our oven was probably the one installed at the time the house was built 20 years ago, so I suppose it had to go at some time. Given that our fridge shelled out 8 months ago, now the oven, and the dishwasher seems to be following quickly behind, I'm thinking we're hitting that weird black hole that appliances all seem to reach at the same time, where EVERYthing goes at once and you have to replace the whole dang kitchen. It will be a fun race to see if the dishwasher or the water heater demands to be replaced first..... I know you'll all be dying to be kept up on that.

The other great financial news is that the Geo (my first car, a '97 Prizm with about 110,000 miles on it) is starting to sputter. We're trying to make it last as long as possible, but most likely in the next several months we'll be looking at a new vehicle, too. Yippee, another car payment! If anyone knows where to find a money tree, would you mind sharing the directions? Or save yourself the trouble and just give me the address and I'll Mapquest it.

Benjamin has finally hit that 9-month separation anxiety phase. If you even consider leaving the room, you break his heart. Screaming, crying, tears everywhere. Just in a 30 second absence. Needless to say this is wearing a little thin for the new nanny. She, however, is doing great and I love having her around.

Why is it winter again?

I guess I'll end this with a conglomeration of random photos from the past couple weeks, as I usually do. Enjoy.

Benj is a killer hair puller


and Jack just freezes when it happens to him. This is my new favorite photo. "Little Brother strikes back." I love the pure joy on Benj's face as Jack crumbles.


Ben is everywhere these days, including trying to steal food off Jack's tray.


This was a rare and quiet moment--Jack with a book, *not* pleading for someone to read it to him. He was reading it to himself out loud and it was very cute.


Benjamin is still fighting sleep, and many evenings can be found bouncing with daddy, wrapped in a blanket. This particular evening he was quite mischievious, and kept peeking out of his blanket hole and giggling at me as Mike tried to lure him into sleep.

Spring's a comin.

This we know from the melting snow and sopping wet socks and pants that we've been wringing out lately.



Benjamin continues to give me grief at night by waking frequently. He was such a good sleeper for so long, and I guess he's now making up for it by acting like a newborn. I suppose it has to do with his racing mind and restlessness due to all the new things he's doing. He's now walking behind push toys and will try to stand up in the middle of the room. If this kid turns out to be a 9-month-old walker, I'm going to have my hands full. Oh, scratch that-- Natali will have her hands full :) We met her one more time for a familiarization session before she starts on Monday for her first 8-hour shift. I'm still trying to find something wrong with her. She wants to do our grocery shopping for an excuse to get out of the house with the kids. She wants to learn about some of the eco-friendly things we do to incorporate into her own home. She thinks Benjamin is the cutest thing. Seriously, nanny from heaven? I think so. I guess the only thing wrong with her so far is that she's leaving at the end of May, when her husband begins his pediatry rotations in Washington. But we'll take her for as long as we can!

Some other fun pics I took recently:

My favorite men:


I've got toothers!


Note the beginning of a peeling away of the diaper on his right side...


Half-way through the job...


Success: diaper free baby.

owie owie ow ow.

as part of our new membership to accel fitness i received 4 free personal training sessions. i was excited since i've always thought personal training would be the way to go to kick me in the butt and make me answer to someone on my health trail. well, session 2 was today. session 1 was no exercise--just body measurements, etc. ("oh, you mean my body is 1/3 fat?") but today we did arm machines. for 25 minutes. that's all. and i'm dead. literally, i cannot lift my hairbrush. how i'm going to take care of 2 children tonight while mike works the late shift, i have no idea.

she said yes!

Woo hoo! We got our nanny! Soooooo relieved and excited. Granted, we've only met her once, but we really felt an immediate click. We'll see her again tomorrow for a brief training, and then she'll start Monday. I can see the dissertation pages falling out of the printer as I type.... heh heh. I'm hoping things will work out well. This should be a good start. No more driving Jack across town and feeling terrible when he doesn't want to stay at daycare. At least I'll be around (which will be a challenge in and of itself, but I'm willing to negotiate that). Here's hoping!

P.S. Sorry, Jaxson, Jack won't see you at the Kids' Room anymore. We'll have to plan more get togethers. Of course, once it's nicer out consistently again, you'll see each other outside all the time!

Bits and pieces

I just figured I should write a little update since it's been awhile. Uh, let's see. Highlights:

1) Benj will be 9-months-old tomorrow. He's finally starting to do solids, though still not whole-heartedly. He likes Cheerios, though. He has the cutest little cupie rooster tail that is always sticking up on top of his head. I just love it. He's at such a fun age. He's constantly saying "Ma ma ma" and "Ba pa ba pa" and other cute little baby babbles. He's got the sweetest little baby voice.


2) Jack has been enjoying the 50-degree weather by puddle stomping whenever possible. I finally decided he needed some rubber boots, so he and I went on a Target run yesterday to buy boots. Then we went on a mommy&Jack date to Caribou coffee. He was so well-behaved. He got to sit in the leather chair with his feet up on the bear ottoman. The coffee dudes gave him a cup of animal crackers and made sure our Hot Apple Blast wasn't too hot. Good times. I think these little one-on-one dates will have to continue happening with me and each of the kids as they grow. I don't want to lose that time even when our family is larger.

3) Mike and I got to enjoy a nice dinner out at a new restaurant in the downtown East Village called Alba. I'd heard good things, and wow, were they ever right. We took every single one of our server's recommendations on food, right down to dessert, and he was DEAD ON every time. I have not been that happy with a meal for a long time. My absolute favorite was the soup: a huge bowl, where the chef lined it with marshmallows sprinkled with cinnamon, then torched them so they melted into the bowl. Then he put diced sour apples at the bottom of the bowl, and the server poured piping hot butternut squash soup into it. I practically licked that bowl.

4) We are in the process of trying to find a nanny. Well, actually, we found one. We offered her the job. She's still deciding. It's killing me. She would be perfect. We need someone to work 8-4, 3 days a week. The part-time daycare for Jack isn't working well and Benj is so active now that I can't get much done even when I'm home with just him. I don't want him to go to daycare, so the nanny thing seems to make more sense. We interviewed 3 people and weren't comfortable with the first 2, but the third was so great we offered it to her right then. We should know by the end of the week.... I'm keeping all fingers and toes crossed. This should make a big difference in my ability to get good progress made on the diss.

5) I've yet to hear back from my adviser on the chapter I sent her. Maybe this is good. Ignorance is bliss? In some ways I don't expect to hear back. We'll see.