Wiggles and Giggles Sept 26, 2009

Maya had a blast today at Wiggles and Giggles. This is a program with the Fairfax, Va County Parks and Rec. We go every Saturday and she LOVES it.

Enjoy!

Sagan so serious!!! His shirt says "MOMMY THINKS I'M COOL". Yeah, I do.



Playing at W & G



Beautiful Fall Leaves

Fall is almost here

I can't believe I haven't posted since July, but it's kinda understandable...really ...I have an excuse!

We moved out of our temporary home in Manassas - the little hotel suite - on the 1st of August and moved into our little house in Springfield.

We didn't have any furniture for a week so we sat around in the cute pink deck chairs we bought for the 4th of July and the kids and dogs had the entire house to play in. The worst part was sleeping on a blow up mattress. Ugh. I'm just not a fan. I'll do it if I have to, but given a choice, give me my Thermarest, a pillow, blanket and I'll be happy. Thankfully the kids had their cribs so they were set and I had one pan, a good knife and some paper plates. I "made do" until our house hold effects (furniture & stuff) got here on the 5th. I called and begged the guy that arranges the delivery to bring it early and he somehow worked it out. Thank goodness. We weren't scheduled to get it until the 11th!

We've been unpacking for a little over a month now. The delivery of all the goods was a bit of a shock. They had to bring 4 separate trucks to deliver it. Granted they weren't all the big huge moving trucks, but they had crated up all of our stuff and it was an event. I had to direct traffic while my wonderful husband dealt with the kids. He was so great with them. I was so proud. It was an organizational disaster, but it all somehow fit.

We were totally shocked with how much stuff we had. I really should have taken photos of all the boxes stacked to the ceiling, but honestly I think I was a little embarrassed. SO MUCH STUFF. Needless to say we expanded to fill all 2833 square feet of our beautiful home in Denton, TX. It all had to fit in this 1400 square foot house. It wasn't pretty.

So it's been a month and we've tucked away just about everything except for several boxes in the dinning room. I've been avoiding them because I just don't know what to do with a lot of it. We are going to have one heck of a yard sale once I muddle through all of it.

Anyway, the kids are growing like weeds. Maya's little personality keeps blooming more and more. She's a stubborn, strong willed, sweet little girl who's almost two. She's officially sleeping in a big girl toddler bed because she kept crawling out of her crib. I was terrified she was going to break an arm or leg. She's doing so well and (knock on wood) I'm so proud of her. She also got her first haircut the other day. I think she looks cute!!!

Sagan is getting so big. Last time we were at the doctor he was already 21 lbs! He's only 7 months going on 8. He is an adorable ticklish little guy. He sleeps like a champ as well (knock on wood) and he loves to laugh with sister. They are really creating a strong bond. I'm sure soon they will be those siblings that have their own language (and possibly a secret hand shake! LOL)

I was able to find Maya a little playhouse the other day on Craigslist.org and I've never seen her so happy! I love that she enjoys being outside!!!

Hopefully I can have the boxes knocked out soon and we can enjoy our little home. It's definitely a challenge with the kids during the day and the evening we both need the relaxation!

We really love the area and the weather can't be beat. I've had the windows open on and off for a couple of weeks. BUT, we sure do miss our friends and family back in Texas!!!!

Busy July

July started off with a BANG!

My in-laws came to visit and we all went to the Great Meadow 4th Celebration for some much needed family time. Maya's favorite part was the Thomas train ride. She wanted to go again and again then threw a fit when it was time to move on. The entertainment included a model rocket competition plus a full size helicopter parade - I had never seen such a thing and thought it was very cool. Everyone had a great day and the fireworks at the end of the night were a bit hit. Maya was a bit timid about the noise of the fireworks at first, but she warmed up to it after a while. She made me hold her the entire time (she's not normally a lovey kid) and when I moved my hand from her back, she grabbed it and put it back. So very sweet!

We continued our house search the next weekend and thought we had found the perfect little house. Unfortunately we had no idea just how competitive the housing market is around here. Even though we are only renting the whole application process it insane! We lost out on the first one and had to start the process all over again. Finally after several days of looking with and without the Realtor I found the next perfect house for us. I put in the application and signed the deposit checks all without having John see the place, which was a good thing since someone else put in an application on the house the very next morning. The ONLY drawback to this little house is no covered parking, but the perks outweigh the one negative. It's an older house that has been renovated to a chic modern home with great additions including an amazing master bath and a great family/TV room.

Maya in the living room



Front of the house

Last weekend we went to Great Falls, Virginia. It's an amazing part of the Potomac that has some beautiful rapids and some great areas for the kids to run around and boy did Maya do some running!

We are excited to start our move-in on the 1st of August. It's been a long time coming and we are very ready to get out of our little hotel/apartment. I'm ready for Maya to have a nice room to play in and our poor puppies need a nice yard to do some exploring in. They are going to love it!

Hope you and yours are doing well!

Big Babies

My babies are getting big. It's a happy sad kinda feeling.

Maya is now 20 months and my little baby Sagan is 5 months. I can’t believe it. Sagan is starting to really show his little personality. He’s so ticklish and loves to giggle.

He’s totally enamored with his sister and vice-versa. They have started giggling at each other and Maya has learned how to entertain him on occasion. I love it.

Maya is learning more words each and every day. Her new vocabulary and her sign language skills make it so much easier to understand her needs. She can easily tell us when she is hungry or thirsty, when she wants more and when she is finished.

Maya can now very clearly say Mommy and Daddy. She really just skipped over Mama & Dada. She used to call John DAAAAAA! And I was Dooa. Now she sweetly says Mommy about a thousand times. It’s cute.

This Father’s day we decided to drive around the area and look for rental houses. We were cruising around in an older neighborhood in Alexandria when we found a little red tricycle on the side of a street with a sign that said FREE. John slammed on the brakes, I jumped out to grab it. We were both so tickled when the lady who was in the yard there said that she asked around and no one wanted it. It’s probably 20+ years old, but in absolute perfect condition. I swear it looks like the one I had when I was her age (guess that would make it closer to thirty something years old!). We had put Maya’s little trike in our household shipment (items in storage) thinking that she’s still to small for it. Well she’s growing like a WEED and I’ve regretted it. We only brought her little radio flyer wooden scooter. She loves playing with it but her knees are almost dragging the ground when she rides it. She’s so excited about her new bike and loves to climb on and off it.

We’ve taken up “tennis” again. I say that with quotes because we’ve played just a few times and our cute little multi-sport court in the hotel courtyard isn’t quite regulation size. It’s probably about 2/3 standard size, but we have lots of fun playing and Maya loves to be our little ball girl. She is great about chasing after them and giving them to Daddy!

Anyway that’s all for us so far this week. I’m in the middle of a marathon laundry session. 6 loads at once! I hate laundry mats. Thankfully there is one in the building, but it only has three washers. Hopefully I’ll get it all done before the kids wake up for their afternoon nap!

★Cheers!

Liberation

Sagan playing on his mat & Maya after eating a very sweet plum.

I recently joined a MOM's Club International chapter and I was talking with one of the other mommies about our situation: we’re living in an extended stay hotel/apartment for a few months until we are able to settle into a house. She said "oh that must be so hard, not having your stuff". I thought about it for a while and responded that it's actually quite liberating not having to worry about my "stuff". It's all in storage. Even though we miss certain items, we don't need that much to live with.

We only have three rooms to deal with. There are two bedrooms flanking a living/kitchen area. We have one bathroom in each bedroom and a small easy eat-in kitchen with just enough storage for a few days worth of food. It’s actually really nice. I do miss Maya having a nice open area to play, but it gives us more incentive to get out of the house and meet people. We go swimming, play on the multi-use court that is just outside our windows, and we have a few meals each week in the lobby with the other residents. It’s a total bonus we didn’t plan on. Two to three times a week they cook dinner for us plus they cook breakfast every morning. I’m getting so spoiled. We have a wonderful hotel staff that cleans our room each day – changing the sheets and towels, dusting, moping, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. Did I mention that they also load and unload the dishwasher if I let them?

Yeah, I’m in heaven.

I love cooking in my little kitchen too. Everything is right at hand (when you only have two and a half cabinets it’s hard not to have it at hand) and I usually only have to take two or three steps to get to the stove, fridge, sink and table. My prep, cooking, and serving time has been cut dramatically. I will tell you the pots and pans they provide are terrible, so I've had to suplement it a bit, but at least its a full size stove, microwave, and oven.

The only thing that is a real bother is the laundry and bringing things in from the car. I HATE having to do laundry at the upstairs laundry mat. Ugh…I miss my washer & dryer. And I don’t have my convenient garage to bring in the groceries. Right now I have to go back and forth down the hall to the parking lot leaving the kids in limbo until I’m finished.

Now don’t get me wrong…I wish we were in a house. I can’t wait to have our own place with space and people a little further than 3 feet away. Plus the pups really need some outside time other than potty breaks. I know they are suffering the most.

Gidget looking out the window & Ginger napping on my bed.

So we are in the countdown. Only two more months to go. I will miss the staff here. They have adopted Sagan and Maya and everyone grabs them from us when we go to the lobby for meals. It’s so nice that they are so well loved.

Maya getting a hug fom our favorite house keeper Zulema.

Otherwise the mommies group is great. We had our first play date and Maya had a blast. I’m looking forward to more play dates and outings including Mommy’s night out next Monday! Whoo Hoo!

My babies

How cute is this?

Popcorn Girls

We are settling in finally and enjoying ourselves here in Virginia. We had a quiet week and an even quieter weekend.

Bob Wheatley and Laura Galli came to see us and thier daughter Adele played with Maya. She taught Maya how to jump on a bed! They had a great time and we loved seeing our kids play together. We've missed our friends from the ship!