What a Difference a Rug Makes!

In our old house, the girls spent more than 90% of their waking time in our den.  It was a baby-proof haven when they were younger, turned into the place where all their toys were organized as they got older.  They played…and read…and pretended, frolicked…and fought…and danced.

Long, long before the idea of kids came into the picture, we searched for a house with a kitchen that opened into the den area.  I had entertaining and cooking and TV-watching in mind, and little did I realize at the time, it was the absolute perfect set-up for kiddos, too.

The majority of the girls’ waking hours were spent in the den, and so were mine.  When I wasn’t playing with them, I was in the kitchen, making a meal or doing the dishes, or folding laundry on the kitchen table.  I could be [mostly] focused on something else, but still be within arm’s reach of the girls.

9 months!

When we built our new house, we wanted the same set-up between the kitchen and the den area.  We have a playroom upstairs for the girls, and a rec room in the basement, but we still wanted the intimacy in the heart of our house. 

We have a great new kitchen and a beautiful new den.  Missing, though, was a big part of the equation.  We have hardwood throughout the main floor.  We knew we would buy a rug for the den, but we didn’t realize until we moved in how critical that rug would be to our sense of family.

We were all, understandably, a bit out of sorts after our move.  Once we had everything unpacked and organized, though, it still felt as if our routine was awry.  The girls loved their new playroom, and we all enjoyed the run-around space in the basement…but something just wasn’t quite right.

As beautiful as our hardwood is, it’s just not very cozy.  We all spent very little time in the den.

When we finally got a big area rug, about 2 ½ months after we moved in (long story!), we breathed a collective sigh of relief.  Things were right again.

The girls still play in their playroom, and we still have some mean games of keep-away in the basement, but the first thing in the morning, we’re reading books or putting together a puzzle in the comfort of the den.  While I’m in the kitchen, the girls are oftentimes hanging out there, just a few steps away from me.  And I couldn’t have imagined Christmas morning had we been sitting up straight on couches the whole time.  Our family is definitely a spread-out-on-the-floor, cuddle-up-together-with-a-blanket, build-a-pillow-fort kind…and for that, a comfortable floor is a must.

Just turned 5!

What a difference a rug makes!

SUPER STUFF!!!

At LONG last, here is my SUPER STUFF {sorta-kinda} catch-up post.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the girls asked me if they could have a Daddy-Daughter day.  I told them to ask their daddy…and apparently he’d already told them to ask me.  The girls were THRILLED to see Mommy off to go grocery shopping in Daddy’s car, while they prepared to go out to lunch.  I’m told they had a great lunch AND made a stop by Walmart to pick up some cat food.  (My hat is off to the husband for braving Walmart with the girls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, too!!!)

We went on a great family walk the weekend after Thanksgiving, too.  The girls get SO excited when Daddy comes with us.  Without both my hands occupied, Mommy took along the camera and snapped a few (or a hundred) pictures.

We joked with A that she has a "nest" in that tree...she calls it 'her' tree now!

My reflection in B's glasses.  Love.

Showing off their mittens!

The girls crack me up with a handful of continued mispronunciations.  Baby A calls kiwi, ‘kew-ee’.  She can say it correctly, but seems to choose not to.  “But it’s kew-ee to me!” she insisted recently.

Baby B still says interesting as ‘inch-resting’.  She doesn’t seem to be able to say it correctly, despite her stellar pronunciation of virtually every other word in the dictionary.  That makes it so sweet to this mama’s ears…hearing her talking so seriously, so grown-up about something, and proclaiming how “inch-resting” it is to her.

B was talking to A about something Christmas-related.  “Sissy [A] Elf,” she called her in the sweetest voice.  Melt.

B cracked me up when she commented – of her own accord – on A’s choice of red-and-white striped reindeer socks with her pink tennis shoes.  “A’s shoes look good with those reindeer socks!” she declared.  Hahaha!

The girls were chatting in the back seat of the car one day on the way to school.  “When we grow up, there will be two mommies in the kitchen, not just one, like you.  That way we can cook faster, and Daddy will be happy, because he is always hungry.”

Another funny quote, from that same conversation…”Daddy goes to work so we have money on the days when he is off.”  I guess we don’t need money on the days he works???

The girls have been practicing dribbling a ball, off and on, for a year or so.  It finally clicked with Baby A last week.  She counted 35 times that she dribbled!  And I know she’s done even more at once…it’s pretty amazing!

Both girls love to come show me how sweaty they get, running around in the basement.  It’s such a badge of honor for them.  HA!

B was sitting by the fireplace a couple of days ago.  She called A over and said, “Kiss me, Sissy!”  I guess A came in close enough for B to plant a kiss, and then she said, “You have to kiss me back!!!”  HA!

We recently let the girls start using placemats, and they think they are SUCH big kids!!!  So far they’ve done a pretty good job at keeping them clean.  It’s one more step towards a normal table setting…hooray, and sniff-sniff.

I asked Baby A to go upstairs and get two ponytail holders from her bathroom (as they tend to migrate upstairs by the end of the week).  She brought down a handful to last us the week, without me asking her.  I just thought it was so neat to see her thought process.  The next day she picked up both sets of pajamas and put them in the laundry basket, without me asking her.  It doesn’t always happen, but she can be such a responsible baby girl.

On a whim a couple of weeks ago, I started teaching the girls some volleyball moves.  They LOVE it!!!  They will hit balls (or try to hit balls) back and forth for ages.  This mama loves it, too.  I can’t wait until we’re more reliably able to pass to each other…so fun!!!

Last Friday Daddy had an unexpected snow day from school.  Since the weather wasn’t supposed to come until later that day, we went out for a family breakfast.  We hadn’t been in quite a while, so it was a big treat.  The girls cleaned their plates…and then part of mine!

This dates back a few weeks, but I didn’t want to forget, as I laugh every time I think about it.  We had gone down to Nashville for a little shopping and then lunch.  The three of us were in the bathroom stall together (a big one, thank goodness), when “The Thrill is Gone” came over the sound system.  The girls have never heard that song, to my knowledge, but Baby B started strumming her imaginary air guitar and swaying slowly to the rhythm…all while Mommy was going potty.  I could have just fallen over, it struck me as so funny.

Also going back a few weeks, Baby A called me in the middle of the night.  I went up to her room and found her sitting in the middle of the floor, between the beds.  “Mommy!  I can’t find my blanket!” she cried.  I chuckled and told her her blanket was on her bed.  I tucked her back in, and she went to sleep.  It wasn’t until a week or so later that it dawned on me, I think she fell out of bed.  Poor kiddo!  She’s one tough cookie, though.

And from the second night (I think) we were in the house…the guy was here from the gas company, working on our fireplace.  Hubby went outside with him to look at the gas grill.  Baby A followed them on the inside of the house, looking through the windows.  “Mommy!!!  Why is Daddy going to the edge of darkness???”  She was so alarmed, and it cracked me up how she characterized it.  She’s been using “darkness” a lot recently, instead of “dark”.  That just seems so foreboding!  

Lots of SUPER I don't want to forget!!!

What's Old is New

I don't know if it's a function of me being an only child, one who was pretty particular about her things, at that...or that my mom was a bit of a pack rat...or maybe a combination of both...but when I reached adulthood, I still had the majority of the toys I had as a child.

Over the past 10 years, some things I've parted with [farewell scary trap of a crib and rocking horse with rusty springs].  Some things I've kept [about half of the girls' books were mine as a kiddo].  And some things are hanging out in our garage [gulp].

A couple of things taking space in our garage were a wooden table and chairs set, a little rocking chair, and a doll cradle (that I remember most fondly as a bed for my childhood cat).

Over the past year or so, I'd been plotting how to recondition these items for the girls.  They would require some minor woodworking, and -- while I could probably have figured it out -- I was hoping I might run across someone a little more proficient than me.

During our move last month, we had a couple of painters over at the old house.  They seemed pretty handy, so on a whim I asked if they would be interested in a little project.

One of the guys jumped on the opportunity...and my old things now have a prominent place in our new house!

The girls have put these to such good use.  They just love having things just their size!

They did the "heart" sign of their own accord, and that was fine by me!

Getting Abby and Lily ready for their nap. :)

There may be some comparison pictures of me somewhere...I'll have to check with my dad when we're home over the holidays...but it's plenty enough for me to recall my fond memories of playing with these items three decades ago [gulp].

Moving Day and the First Night in the New House

It’s so hard to believe it’s been over FOUR WEEKS since moving day!  It seems like yesterday in many ways, though, and I’m thankful I still remember some of the sweet details.  I definitely want to capture those before any more time slips by and I completely forget!

I originally had a different game plan for getting the girls to school on moving day but that fell through the day before the big move.  I was so incredibly thankful that Miss Demara, M&C’s mom, was off that day.  It was a huge stroke of luck that, particularly on very short notice, she was able to pick up the girls and take them to school in her van, which is obviously outfitted with two perfectly-sized car seats.

The girls didn’t mind that I wouldn’t be taking them to school.  They were super tickled to be riding in M&C’s carseats!

It dawned on me that morning that no one – apart from my husband and me – had ever driven the girls anywhere.  It was almost surreal to wave goodbye to them as they pulled out of my driveway.  They were smiling and waving back, flashing the “I love you” sign all the way.

I had scheduled “Aunt” S and “Aunt” K to pick up the girls from school.  They found their way to the bookstore, where they enjoyed a cookie and milk, and then a seat on Aunt S’s lap to read some books.  I know they had such a fun time!

The girls got home – to the new house! – just after Daddy did, the movers still having a few minutes to finish things up.  They were very excited, but thankfully not “wild”.  :)

The girls’ room was already set up, and I made sure they had everything they’d need for a relatively normal night-night, including a favorite bedtime story.  Miss Demara brought over supper, which was a huge blessing. 

We were running a bit behind our normal schedule, but we held our bedtime routine as close to “normal” as possible.

I put the girls in bed, bid them goodnight with the same words I’ve used since before they were born, and I closed the door to their room.

I was a bit nervous, knowing they were in a new space, of course, AND with this being their first night in big-girl beds.  I was listening to them over the monitor, and I thought I heard some commotion.  I went upstairs, maybe 30 minutes after I’d tucked them in.  I didn’t hear anything, so I turned out the light in the hall to head downstairs. 

I then heard B whisper, “She just turned it off.”  For some reason, that still strikes me as hilarious.  The girls always call me “Mommy” – to me, and to each other, and to anyone else.  I think that’s the first time I’d heard them use a standard pronoun.

I shrugged it off, though, and went back downstairs to sweep the floors.  Hubby had gone back to the old house for a few more items, so I was alone with my [supposedly] sleeping babes.

There was not a sound in the house, as we didn’t yet have cable or internet service.  I was exhausted, having had a couple of very late nights prior to the move, and an extremely full day of directing traffic.  I was lulled into cleaning mode when something caught the corner of my eye.

There stood Baby B, silently, at the bottom of the staircase.

YIKES!!!

I tried not to show my surprise, but to calmly show her back to bed.

On the way upstairs, we talked about calling Mommy if she needed something.  You do not come downstairs for me.  I will come to you.

My heartbeat eventually fell back into a normal pace, and the girls eventually went to sleep without further incident.

That was a day of many firsts, for sure…some very sweet, some bittersweet, and some downright hilarious…which is really pretty fitting.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Sigh.

I miss it.

I really thought by now…a full four weeks after having moved into the new house…I’d be back on track.

But I’m not.

After the first week or so, we were fully functional here.  We have all the necessities unpacked, and all of the main living spaces are in order.  I still have the office to organize, I still have my china and crystal to unpack, and there are a few random boxes that I don’t even want to think about delving into, but all in all, we’re in decent shape.

I just don’t feel like we’ve found our groove yet, though.

A big part of it is that things are downright busy, apart from all the house stuff.  I stopped to recognize on Saturday that the previous four days, we’d had somewhere to be, bright and early.  Tuesday and Thursday were school days; Wednesday the girls had flu shots; and Friday the girls had their field trip to the orchard. 

On days where we have to be somewhere in the mornings, I usually make my coffee in a travel mug.  That indicates I don’t have that precious time of the morning I’ve enjoyed for the past couple of years…the time after breakfast when the girls play nicely and Mommy has her coffee / computer time.  It has typically been during this time that I’ve written my blog posts…organized my to-do lists…gotten myself together for the day.

Hmmm…maybe that explains the helter-skelter feeling I can’t shake.

The other big factor, I’ve finally decided, is the new dynamic of the girls’ play spaces.  In our old house, the girls spent 90% of their waking time in the den, which was open to the kitchen.  They played in the living room, too, but that was just off the den.  In any case, they were always within 30 feet of me, at most.  All their toys were there, too.

In the new house, we haven’t really defined a play space on the main level.  We’re lacking a rug in the den, so although we have a bookshelf with some of the girls’ books, it’s not very inviting to sit down and read and play.

The girls have a fantastic play space in the bonus room.  It’s nothing short of awesome to see their toys so nicely organized, complete with a dress-up area and room for their play tent.  Although they’re closing in on five, though, they don’t have much experience playing totally by themselves.  They’ll play for short periods of time, but they haven’t been engaged for more than 30 minutes or so without needing a dose of Mommy.

We are really blessed to have a big basement, perfect for the indoor soccer ball and Frisbee.  That’s garnered the majority of the girls’ attention, the opportunity to run at full speed, any time they like.  That seems to call the girls away from their play room, too.

I say all this to say that the girls’ playtime is not as focused these days as it always has been.  I typically spend quite a bit of time playing with them every day, but I have always been able to step away for a bit of “quiet time” – for me and for them – in the early afternoon.

We just had a conversation today about how important some downtime is for all of us each afternoon.  I’m hoping to get back on track with that…for everyone’s sanity.

It’s all a process, I know.  And these are first-world problems, for sure.  But I’m ready to find our new groove and get back to basics (and to blogging).