Ikebananas

Last week I took an Ikebana workshop with my husband and mother-in-law through our county park system. Ikebana is a Japanese art of flower arrangement. I still couldn't tell you much about it, but Wikipedia does a great job. 

It was held at our favorite park, Deep Cut Gardens, and I think I signed up for it because I was hoping it would take place in their magical greenhouse (it wasn't). But I find floral arrangements to be one of the great pleasures of life, along with watching a baby nap, sheet cake that's better than it needs to be, falling asleep on the couch, and The Met. Plus, I'm always looking to add to my bag o' tricks.

Once we arrived, I was excited to learn a different approach to flower arrangement that uses materials, shapes, and proportions uncommon to the Western style. All my arrangements tend to look the same. I do a lot of round stuff with one kind of flower. Any time I diverge from that, it gets awkward. 

We each made an arrangement, and mine was OK. To be honest, I'm not sure I know good or bad yet, it's so foreign to my eye. I'm not a natural minimalist, and I didn't think my materials vibed together all that well. I wasn't sure if I'd do it again by the book, but I was inspired to try again with plant materials from our yard.

So today, after Mother's Day brunch, the babe was napping, the mister was mowing the lawn, and Pip and were looking for something to do to pass the time until our next meal. (Why not put it bluntly.) She came with us to the Ikebana workshop and was eager to try her hand at making her own arrangement. We took clippers outside and found a ton of good stuff to use. 

I gave her a traditional vase and I used a wide, shallow bowl more typical of Moribana (the style of Ikebana we "learned" -- that's a stretch). We had two colors of Japanese maples, azaleas, lilacs, and Japonica. There are a lot of specifics to the proper placement and geometry of the branches in Ikebana (refer to our handout up top), but I despise following instructions in all circumstances except when giving my children medicine, so we wung it. Basically: tall thing, slightly less tall thing, wide thing out to side, something protruding toward you, something heavy down low to anchor it. This is probably blasphemy but I find it works.

Mama Ikebana

Pip took a more maximalist approach and made the most beautiful arrangement I've ever seen (I'm not exaggerating because I'm her mom). I'm telling you, you'd have to pay $130 in Brooklyn for this thing. It is hauntingly beautiful, and all from found clippings in our yard. I would have been hard-pressed to summon the freedom to make something so luscious and exuberant and great.

Pippa Ikebana

It's something I've noticed whenever she paints too -- she has an innate understanding of beauty. It's direct, it's colorful, it's free, and she knows exactly when to stop. Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up." Kids. You learn something from them every day, if you pay attention.

...

On a side note, the babe is ten months today! She has her bottom right front tooth, and all the others seem to be just below the surface. She loves to eat real food (clementines! ricotta! meatballs! banana!). She isn't quite crawling forward yet, though she just figured out how to get over her other leg, and she loves to do "So big!" and clap for herself. She says "da da" all the time, and yesterday she said "Pippa" (we both heard it). So far she has no interest in saying "Mama" -- not even for Mother's day.

Spring

New front door, new house numbers. Just in time for our Easter brunch. It made a much better backdrop for the group shot of all the kiddos after their egg hunt. 

Baby Margot is almost 9 months and has a great sense of humor. She plays peekaboo (she prefers to hide), looks like she's getting a bunch of teeth any day now, and manages to scoot backwards when she's in a crawling position. 

Her big sister is becoming the sweetest lover of life you'll ever meet. She radiates joy, is honest and kind and wickedly smart. 

Very blessed around here. 

Deep Thoughts From The Porch

We have a book called "What A Seed Needs" about a pig who is also a farmer. He plants a few different kinds of seeds and the book walks you through all the things that are required for a seed to grow into a flower, vegetable, what have you. Sun, a place in the dirt, water, time, and a little love and care. 

But did you ever really think about it? How amazing it is to plant a little tiny spec of something in the dirt and then get bushels of tomatoes, or hundreds and hundreds of flowers? I have been sitting out on our porch overlooking our gardens and find myself awestruck this summer. Almost every day for the last two weeks I have been harvesting a pint of sweet orange cherry tomatoes and picking a bouquet of zinnias. Sometimes for us, sometimes for neighbors and friends.

 As I nurse our little baby, who similarly came from two specs and grew into the most lovable and spectacular little person, I can't quite believe how long I've been taking the miracle of life for granted. I mean seriously, have you ever really stopped to contemplate how things grow?! Is this why people love science?! Amazing. 

First Fortnight

We've been a family of four for two weeks today. She is a happy newborn: she loves eating, sleeping, pooping. She gets the hiccups at least once a day. In natural light her hair has a reddish, auburn tint. Excited to see how that develops. We have redheads in my family but only on the side that I'm not actually blood related to. She has my color eyes and looks a lot like her big sister did as a baby, except she has less prominent lips. 

She immediately took to breastfeeding (like moments after she was born), and she loves to fall asleep snuggled up next to me. Breastfeeding is so special, but it does get exhausting. It's a lot to know that you are THE food source for this precious new creature  you love so much. Everyone wants to help but they can only do so much. Really I don't mind it, only when I she's in the middle of a feeding frenzy and I want to eat, or I've just fallen asleep, or we are out and about and not in a time and space where halting everything and plopping down to breastfeed is an option. But all in all I can't really complain. My mental plan is to breastfeed for 6 weeks and then take each week as it comes. I will be going back to work in mid-September and I anticipate introducing some amount of formula at that time.

But enough nitty gritty details. Zinnias are blooming, the humidity just broke, tomatoes are turning red, the Tour de France is in the Alps, Mr. SevPrez started a new gig doing what he loves, and our first born is about to turn four. Life is good.

Her* Room

Black and white and ballet slippers. Quilt by Granmda D. Hand-knit sweater with owl-cables by my Grammy. Humpty-Dumpty lamp has been in the family since my 45 year old brother's nursery!

*The newest her.

The Odyssey

I sit here watching Wimbledon waiting to go to the hospital for an 11am appointment to be induced. I don't need to pack a bag because my bag has been in the car for a week! I had no expectation that I'd be 10 days past my due date and counting. None whatsoever. But that's the way these things go. I've been hooked up to the baby monitor 4 times in the last two weeks and all reports are that the baby is doing great. Great heartbeat, great bloodflow. I've had 2 ultrasounds and she looks a little squished but otherwise seems to be enjoying herself, moving around doing dance routines as we get poked and prodded. A showoff. Apparently your amniotic fluid levels have to be above 5 to be considered safe... Mine were at a 10 yesterday. They estimate her to be 8 lbs 10 oz, but could be up to a pound off either way (yikes!).

But when my doctor came in yesterday examine me, after all this good news she said, "The baby is perfect, she's doing great. Much better than you are." Maybe the nurse had told her that I was clearly having a nervous breakdown when she came in to check on me. Or maybe she could just see it in my eyes.

I have been kidding that the baby knows I needed a vacation. I did, surely. And it's been really nice to have some time off to gather myself before her arrival. Our parents have been awesome about watching the Pipster and she has been super eager to have sleepovers, so I've been able to get a lot of R&R. Frankly I miss my little one a bit, clearly more than she does me. But it bodes well for her in this transition that she feels so comfortable out and about. But there are strategies to waiting. For a while I employed the "tomorrow, it'll definitely be tomorrow" tactic. That starts to wear on you after a week.

A few days ago I decided that if I felt good (some days are better than others) I would just go about my business as if I wasn't 41 weeks pregnant, and stop worrying about arrival times. But that puts you into a delusional state. There is no baby! Labor and delivery? What? I just wasn't feeling mentally prepared anymore, or in the frame of mind that we were about to become a family of 4. And that was unsettling. The other thing that pops into your head is that everything's just fine until it's not -- like you're waiting for something bad to happen.

I don't know what happened to me as I stared up at the fluorescent lights in the doctor's office, listening to her little heartbeat running around 160. I just lost it and it was hard to get back. I think maybe it was a way of the universe nudging me to communicate my wishes with my doctor when I might otherwise have told myself to buck up and keep waiting. What came out of my mouth was that I couldn't go any longer than Thursday. She recommended we schedule an induction because my body, in her opinion, was ready.

So I had orders to call the hospital this morning at 5am to confirm my 6am arrival time. I set my alarm for 4:45, hopped in the shower, and... They had a crazy night and there were no beds available (!!!). Call back at 9. Luckily the Mister only had 1 sip of coffee and was able to go back to bed to get some more sleep. After trying for about an hour to go back to sleep myself, I came downstairs and low and behold, "Sneakers," my favorite Robert Redford movie, was on. I used to have it on VHS! What luck. I feel asleep on the couch and woke up a couple hours later to Breakfast at Wimbledon. Called the hospital at 9. They promised me they'd have a bed ready and everything set for 11. A much more civilized time for my fashionably late baby.

I thought I'd take a few minutes to record this epic journey to the starting line before life totally changes and I don't remember what it's like to have two free hands.

Man I am excited to meet this little girl. Keep you posted.

Catching Up On Milestones

4th birthday party guest list with figure drawings!

One of the things I've realized on the doorstep of having a newborn again is how much I've forgotten. It's been a gift to be able to refer back to this blog to see the moments I recorded. So while I'm twiddling my thumbs at home, I figured I should take the time to reflect what it's been like to have a three year old, and everything that's been going on lately. 

Someone finished their first year of nursery school (although she couldn't attend her last day because of strep throat). She made lots of friends, had a great teacher (Mrs. Larsen), and even flirted with staying for lunch (basically glorified snack time). 

We discovered that the two best ways to get a toddler to take amoxicillin twice a day for 10 days was 1) mix with chocolate milk and 2) take straight up in the shot glass that Tylenol is taken. Whatever you do, do not dispense in the dispenser they give you. 

We got much better at going to the doctor because of Doc McStuffins and giving regular check ups at home. But thankfully, we didn't have to go very often. 

Still, Curious George reigns in this house. Narrated by William H. Macy, with a theme song by Dr. John and beautiful traditional cartoon illustration, it's a blessing. I'm pretty sure we feel we've all learned a few things from George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

The dentist was made more pleasant by having a lady dentist.

We experienced our first dance recital. It was 2 days before my due date, and I actually checked into the hospital with a false alarm that morning. But luckily we made it and our little ballerina did great. She didn't even complain about the itchiness of the costume on the day of -- but the dress rehearsal was a different story.  I was the "backstage mom" which meant I got to stay with the girls and reapply lipstick. We ordered the DVD so we'll be able to watch for years to come. 

Nightime pullups (diapers) were finally cast off for good in March this year. Once again, it was 100% due to the little one deciding it was time. 

We discovered that the best way to put off neighbors that just don't know when to stop coming over to play (and invite the whole neighborhood with them) is to look them in the eye and say "Now's not a good time." You only have to do it once. And then you can plant a hedge for good measure. And then get a fence (to be installed by mid-August). 

The Benjamin Moore paint color Ballet Slippers is not at all the color of actual ballet slippers (we are now experts, see above). For that, you must choose Peach Cloud. 

We love our new house so much we want to haunt it after we are gone. The nesting period of pregnancy was good for us here. Inside and outside, the house is shaping up to be more and more ours. I am currently planning our kitchen reno as a way to think about something else besides the arrival of our newest addition. Who knows when we'll do it, but I'll be thoroughly ready!

"Game of Thrones" is addicting. "True Detective" was brilliant. Once I figured out how to get HBO Go on Roku it was on!

Due dates are suggested arrival times. 

Grandparents that live close are godsends. 

Cousins continue to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Knock Knock

Just waiting around for this baby girl: three days past due and three pretty good false alarms in. I'm handling the wait much better this time around, trying to enjoy myself and my time. Yesterday we saw "Dope" at 2 in the afternoon because why not? And today we took the little one to see "Inside Out" at 3. Her first movie. Trying to get in as much quality family-of-three time as possible while the fourth takes her time.

About halfway through the movie I started getting contractions, about 5 minutes apart. Without thinking too hard about it, I really thought that was it! When we got home I put my phone charger in my bag, packed my toiletries, started timing my contractions on the app on my phone... And that's the kiss of death. I should really never do that again. I know that if I'm really going into labor I will know because the contractions will get more and more intense. But I can't help myself. Technology! It's a temptress.

Tomorrow morning is first day of gymnastics lessons. Then maybe some free time as the kiddo hangs out with her gram. What to do, what to do? I feel like I've gotten almost everything done that I can conceive of. Maybe I'll finish my book (The Lighthouse by P.D. James), go pick up an Ergo baby carrier at Babies'R'Us (aka the worst store), wash the curtains in P's room, see another movie?!!!
There's a new "Terminator" out!

New Perspectives

My daughter likes to look at pictures on my phone, and this weekend, after a few minutes of flipping through them, she said, "Mommy, you have a lot of pictures of me!" Understatement of the year.

On Monday she decided she wanted to turn the camera around and take some pictures -- like a gazillion. What follows are the selects.

Sunroom with tomato crop (and finger).

"Belle" the creepy doll head ornament that my mom felt bad for and won at a Chinese auction. 

Curious George 2 starring Kayla the elephant.

Did you know:? The Man with the Yellow Hat's name is Ted!

Mom's belly at 30 weeks.

New pink heart sandals!!!

She is at once fascinated and offended by the whoopie cushion that came home with us in a goody bag.

Frankie's Institute

Last week we went on a girls-only overnight trip to Philadelphia to visit the Franklin Institute in honor of my niece's 13th birthday. The big show stopping exhibit was The Art of the Brick, Lego artwork by Nathan Sawaya (an NYU graduate). For some reason I expected everything to be made out of legos -- the floor, the walls, the lights. Instead it was recreations of classic artwork and original lego sculptures. It was pretty cool, but when you are expecting a Lego house, it was slightly underwhelming.

It also had the effect of reminding me how much I love art museums. My favorite part about visiting the Franklin Institute with my mom, nieces (ages 16, 13, 7), and daughter was seeing how much the kids enjoyed all the interactive exhibits. Art museums don't always translate to a younger audience (no touching!). Still, next time we go back to Philly I plan on finally visiting the Art Museum or the Barnes Foundation. We can take the Pip for a lollipop and carousel ride after. 

The Best Things That Happened To Us Today

When I asked my daughter before bed, she said "When we called Carly in the car ." (Carly is her awesome cousin who turns 16 today.) I should mention that today being Valentines Day, we had ballet class, went to the bakery, went shopping (got Frozen socks), went to a pizzeria for lunch, exchanged gifts, and played played played. Love is strong. 

When putting her to bed, we sang nursery rhymes together (usually I sing alone) she told me she was singing for the baby in my belly. Tear. 

She then asked me to leave and go get her dad because he's "comfy-cozy and doesn't breathe on me like you do." Them she said something about how I should take a shower in the morning because I smell, and eat a good dinner and get sleep so I have a lot of energy for Carly's birthday party. 

Parenthood is a mirror that tells no lies. 

Pre-school Valentines

With the Little One starting school, this time of year means school valentines. But nothing sugary! Drats. The days of going to the grocery store and getting a box of Looney Tunes Valentines are gone, I'm pretty sure of it. These are Pinterest times we are living in. 

That said, I wasn't all that inspired by Pinterest's non-sweet valentine projects. I thought I'd give each child a balloon so they could go home and blow it up and have something fun to play with that wasn't permanent junk. But I was home all day with the Little One and and thought she wouldn't enjoy that project very much. So I opened up my completely disorganized (and downright scary) closet of lost and sundry items and found a gaggle of little pompoms left over from her 3rd birthday party. I thought I'd cut shapes for ice cream cones and the Little One could glue them down with her fancy blue glitter glue, and we could use pompoms for cherries on top. But of course she had the best idea and wanted to use as many pompoms as possible, so we made the pompoms the ice cream. Collaboration is where it's at!

I should say that she was done after we completed about 3 of 15, and retired to watch "Curious George." But if I was going to slave over a craft project by myself for an hour, at least the idea came from her.

From The Mouth Of The Babe

Tiara = tinara

She loves to preface her conversations (even when she has just woken up) with "Can I ask you something?" or "Can I tell you something?"

Strawberry = Starberry (my personal favorite).

Kristof, Anna's love interest from "Frozen = Criss Cross.

Heartbeat = heart beep.

Saturn is her favorite planet because of its "jewelry" ("rings and necklaces").

Yesterday = Any day that has already happened.

Yesterday (actually yesterday) we were walking down the sidewalk in Asbury Park and upon seeing bits of litter she told me that "throwing things on the ground is not nice and not appropriate!" This really made my day as I'm always telling her when her behavior is not appropriate, and then thinking I should probably use an easier word.

Her favorite Christmas gifts: Lollipop nutcracker, mermaids for the bath, Doc McStuffins doctor's kits (2, both cherished!), Frozen bike with training wheels, dress up clothes from her cousins. She takes the shadow box approach with her favorite stuff, which is that she wants it around and out to look at, but she doesn't necessarily want to use/wear it. So we have big piles of stuff around the house, but she is so happy.

Cheer In Progress

I'm happy to report that after our second weekend of recouping from wicked colds, we scraped ourselves off the couch, unglued our eyeballs from "Frozen" (yes, the freeze has finally descended upon our household), and made some Christmas ornaments out of baking soda/corn starch dough. 

It was pretty simple, except working the the press cookie cutters, like the snowman... Those are tricky but ultimately gratifying. We really got into poking holes in each ornament with straws and then blowing the little plug out like a spitball... When you hang out with a 3-year-old it's the little things that really get you going.

We feel slightly elfy and are excited to tie ribbons on these suckers and give them to friends, family, and teachers as tokens of our love and appreciation. Pippa was quoted at school at Thanksgiving saying that how you cook a turkey is to "Make a triangle and a heart. Then make a star. I'd cook it with hearts and stars so I don't burn my hands." So it only seems appropriate to give heart and star ornaments to her teachers. Please note: all the other kids still answered like pre-schoolers but were much more literal. My little dreamer.

And of course we'll save a few for our tree. ; )

Three And A Quarter

She tells me about her dreams. A lot of time she dreams about swimming with her cousins in a big pool. She'll tell me in the morning when I wake up. The other day we were on our way to the grocery store and she started telling me about a scary dream involving the boys at school, and kicking and yelling. I had to suss out the fact that it was just a dream (she forgot to mention that part in the telling).

She makes up her own songs "We are friends! We are friends! We are friends!" and makes up funny lyrics to the songs we know "Old McDonald had a farm and a microphone here and a rainbow there" etc. 

A week ago when I dropped her off at nursery school she said hello to all the kids she saw in the cubby room -- "Hi Audrey," "Hi Charlie." All of the sudden. She has really taken to nursery school. I'm glad we sent her five days. The first week was rough but as soon as I learned to leave as soon as possible, it didn't take long for her to adjust. I stopped by her school the other morning around 9:15 to drop off something that she had forgotten, and both parents of a little girl who only goes on Thursdays and Fridays were in the doorway doing to goodbye dance with their daughter. I think it's hard for the little ones when they are not in their routines.

She always wants a say in her outfits and almost always picks out her clothes. She almost always prefers dresses, preferably super fancy girl tutu dresses. 

We recently got her some gold boots that she is really pumped about, I think because they remind her of my boots. 

She has been talking about wanting to get her ears pierced but I'm not sure she's ready for the reality of it -- the piercing and the upkeep. I think I'll try and hold her off til next year at least.

We stopped napping her around 2 or 3 weeks after school started. She would nap unpredictably -- maybe every other day -- and when she did, she'd go to bed around 10. It was brutal! Now that she's not napping she turns into a crazy person around 6:30 every day, then gets her second wind and is off to the races. We've slowly been dialing back her bedtime from 8:30, with a target of around 7:30.

She loves chicken nuggets, carrots, pasta, bagels and lox, waffles, and fruit. And of course candy. 

After really, really rough visits with her doctor and dentist for her 2 year well visits (she just screamed and cried and resisted, it was really so terrible), she was a perfect angel for both her doctor (same) and dentist (new). I was so proud of her for being brave and so relieved.

I negotiated a new schedule and now work only 4 days a week, which is a real blessing. Having a whole day with her is quality mom time. I get to plan what we are going to do, make her lunch, and think of special outings that we can do together. The first week, after her dentist appointment, we got our nails done (her first manicure!). Last week we went to the mall and got her an outfit for her school picture. It really feels like stolen time. Not to mention that I get to do whatever I want while she's at school in the morning! What a luxury.

This is a lot of tedious information for probably anyone but myself and Pip's grandmothers, but I want to write it down so I can look back and remember what she was doing right now. Time goes by so quick.

Fruits Of The Weekend

Current Events

Went to the U.S. Open the Tuesday after Labor Day to see the mens' 4th round and women's quarters in a night session. Federer and Wozniacki both won in straight sets, so we got out at a reasonable hour which is nice in my old age, but slightly disappointing compared to 2005 when I saw Agassi beat Blake in a barn burner. Still glad I went and my date declared we should make it a yearly tradition, which is exactly what I've been wanting someone to say to me since I was 14. Victory tastes sweet.

Now I can work on getting to Wimbledon.

Did a sketch for a friend's birthday card yesterday. I need to revive my hobbies or I'm in danger of dissolving into a hybrid couch potato/barfly in my free time. Right now it feels like I'm dabbling in everything and it's not sticking. I've got a Le Carre book languishing on the bed stand, a stalled needlepoint project (I told you, I'm old), and a twice a week running schedule. Ugh.

While waiting for the train home from the Open, my friend and I were talking about current events. I admitted I don't really follow the news anymore. I read the New Yorker and follow NPR via my Facebook feed (it hurts me to come clean about that, I usually refer to it as a "news feed."). It took a long time for me to inquire more about ISIS. Because really, do I want to know more about these people? It's disgusting.

I spent most of my twenties engaged and enraged about the death and suffering caused by the ignorance and righteousness of this country -- that's your takeaway when you study American History at NYU. But at about seve months pregnant with my daughter my fascination and anger turned to sadness, and I realized in order for me to live powerfully I couldn't do it anymore. I've transferred that over to Mr. SevPrez and now he fights the good fight on that front.

I confessed to my friend that I went through old journals and correspondence when we moved and found evidence of a smarter, wittier, more relevant, firecracker version of myself. I was so sure of myself and my opinions! I used to write better. I was unabashed.

Am I a complete milquetoast? Does that come with the territory of marriage, motherhood, and mid-thirtydom? It's disorienting to feel you've lost your shine, but with that comes humility, and with humility comes the opportunity for grace. I do slightly less embarrassing things and make much better sartorial decisions. I can finally cook. Everyday my daughter eats, sleeps, and dances. So if I'm a bit of a dud, at least there's that.

Still. Gotta finish that book, sign up for a race, learn needlepoint, and get to Wimbledon. These are great projects and I should keep them alive. Never give up.

Three!

We celebrated the Little One's 3rd birthday with a big birthday/housewarming party at our new house. We had about 35 men women and children over, and thankfully the weather cooperated, again! Three years in a row. We are really testing fate with the late July birthday parties.

I had my baking apprentice niece come sleep over to help me decorate and power bake. We got some fun banners at Target (which I plan on keeping up in lieu of window treatments, for now) and made balloon garlands for outside, inspired by Pinterest. We tried to stay with theme colors from the Paperless Post invite but the selection at the store really threw us off. Pippa wanted green plates, surprisingly, and we ended up just buying what inspired us and having a multi-colorful party that was no shortage of festive.


The birthday girl had asked for a "SPRINKLE CAKE WITH SPRINKLES!!!" (shouted loudly, always). So we baked a funfetti cake from scratch -- turns out you just add a cup of sprinkles to your cake batter -- and made a buttercream icing with a massive amount of sprinkles on top that just happen to reveal a 3.

It was sooo awesome to have everyone we love together in our new home, especially since having a big birthday party in our big new house was the thing that finally got our little girl excited about our move. It was also very strategic timing, as the party really motivated us to get the house to a "showable" state. That said, I've definitely been in overdrive for two weeks, so much so that today when I got home from work the day after the party, it felt like our first night. I had something like house amnesia. I don't really remember what our nights were last week… But I'm really glad to be able to take a breath and make memories together.

Photos by the lovely and talented Amanda Kane! That's what friends are for!

Rhubarb Pie

A stucco Arts & Crafts house built in 1926.

It's not for everyone, but rhubarb pie is the favorite of a select group of adamant pie lovers. It's also the code name of my new house project, chosen because any house I was going to move into would feel warm and homemade, and be suited for not just anyone. My brother coached me on the project and just giving it a name that resonated for me was a huge help in keeping my excitement going and my motivations present while confronting the fear of uprooting into the unknown. And the paperwork, don't forget the paperwork!

My brother, who gets paid large amounts of money to coach Fortune 500 executives, will always tell you, you have to know the future -- what you want -- and leave figuring out "how to" for later. We created an aggressive date of July 1st when we'd be in our new house. And we came pretty damn close. Our house was on the market on April 21st, we closed on our new place on July 11th, and were sleeping there a day later. The house we are selling is currently under contract and *fingers crossed* will be sold before September is out!

And it's awesome! There is still a lot to do, but Mr. SevPrez and I both feel like we found our dream home. We each got what we wanted. I got a historic home with architectural detail and good bones in a nice neighborhood. He got a huge yard (it's a triple lot -- so much to landscape and room for a big garden) and a town that he feels is keeping it real. 

I was really nervous about moving the Little One. Every time I brought it up she would say "NO! We are NOT moving to a new house!" Seriously, for weeks I tried. My mom (the child whisperer) recommended we find a library book about moving, then upped the ante and said she was going to write a book about us, with pictures and everything. Only my mother.

I gave it one more try, before we started packing boxes on the 4th of July, and told her that her birthday party would be at the big new house. And don't you know it, she changed her tune! I gave her a box to decorate and she became part of the process. My mom delivered the book a few days later and she was filled with authentic excitement and a better understanding of what was about to happen.

She had a brief moment of yearning for the old house before bed on our first night, but when she woke up on Sunday morning, we heard her step into the hallway and say to no one in particular, "I love my new house!" 

And the project was complete.

Summer Day of Fun 2014

Adventure attire: check. 

Elberon > Belmar: choo choo!

Kleins to watch the boats go by. 

Strollos for an ice cream cone with sprinkles!

And back again.