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Something to be Thankful For
11.26.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Something to be Thankful For
Gig: I am thankful for my family, my mommy and daddy and I’m thankful for Thanksgiving.
Jude: Nigh-nigh (his blankie) and Gigi (his sister)
Bradley: I am thankful for my family, our new house, and everybody who has been helping me to build our new home.
Tamara: I am thankful for my beautiful children, my amazing and capable husband, my parents and for Disneyland.
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My Friend Sleep (did we break up?)
11.22.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on My Friend Sleep (did we break up?)Lately we are tired. Tired because of all that is happening in our lives: working, building our house and living life with a six year old and 20 month old. Usually, just that would be the tipping point for most people. Life is tiring. But then, the inevitable happened.
Yes, the Judle-Noodle, The Judlebop and now the Very Early Riser has some autonomy. He figured out how to climb out of his crib, and the first couple of tries were kind of scary. One day I walked into his room after he had woken from his nap and he had tried unsuccessfully to climb out of his crib. When I say the attempt was unsuccessful, that’s because he tried to climb out on the wrong side, the side by the wall, and had lodged his head in such a way that he was hanging by his head between the crib and wall. I quickly decided that there was no time for a picture and got him loose. That was a little bit scary (and admittedly funny) so we made the decision that safety was priority one. We would lower the side of the crib to make it easier to climb out, thus a smaller chance of injury.
The first few nights were great. He slept fine, we slept fine, and everybody was safe. Then came the night when, at about 5:00, we heard the padding of little feet. Jude nuzzled his way into the bed and fell asleep, sprawled out between us. If you have ever shared a bed with a small child, you know that instead of taking up the proportion of room on a bed that makes up their relatively small body, they spread their arms and legs out and either kick at you with their feet or butt at you with their head in an attempt to get more space. Covers will be kicked off as the child usually brings his own blanket, and you will be sent of errands to retrieve sippies of milk, crackers or pacifiers. And you do it all. Why? Because all you want is sleep and you will do whatever it takes to keep the kid quiet enough to catch a few winks. As parents, you cling, shivering with cold, to the edge of the bed, trying not to get pushed off, all the while telling yourself that this is okay. Who needs six hours? Three or four will get you through the day, right? RIGHT?
So, as the nights have gone on, we have been blessed with Jude’s presence as early as 12:30 AM and as late as 4:00 AM. We have tried and tried unsuccessfully to put him back in his own bed, but as soon as we get settled and cozy, here he comes again. When he officially wakes up in the wee wee hours, he tries to rouse us with kisses and pats, pushes and calls of ‘Mama!’ or ‘Dada!’ We are always up and about by 5:00 AM, blindly fumbling about the house with exhaustion, sucking down coffee and diet Coke in an attempt to clear the clouds from our eyes. I am already ready for Jude to get over this and sleep the whole night through in his own bed – just like he did ALL SUMMER LONG, but our previous experience with his sister tells me that won’t happen for some time, perhaps even years. Love that boy, love parenting, don’t so much love this. Sigh. I am ready for sleep to return to our bed.
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From Commoner to Princess
11.21.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on From Commoner to PrincessGigi is a princess. She may not live in a castle and blue blood may not flow through her veins, but she is a princess. Did you know that all princesses have REALLY REALLY long hair? Commoners have short hair. Gigi’s goal is to grow her hair as long as Rapunzel’s locks. Did you know that princess hair also has to be curly? Commoners have straight hair. And not the wavy curls that come naturally to our dear Guinevere, no, they have to be springy ringlets that bounce and swirl around her face. That’s what real princesses have.
We have borrowed Grandma Sheri Baby’s hot rollers on a number of occasions when curly princess hair is needed, as in the case of a wedding, funeral, or other important event. When Gigi brought up the idea of adding hot rollers to her Christmas list, I decided that the price of 40.00 is too hefty for princess curls. As a commoner mother of a princess with not so much gold in her purse, we headed to the most commoner store there is: Goodwill where we found a nice set for 3.99. Much better. We brought them home, washed them and started heating them up. She sat patiently while I wound her very very long (her hair is down to her bottom) hair round and round and round the curlers. At the end, she looked like some weird combination of little girl and old woman.
But, sweet sweet victory! When we took them out, she had the piles of curls that she finds so becoming, so necessary to her princesshood. She felt so much like a princess that she had to go put this on:
The perfect princess.
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Man at Work
Jude is in LOVE with the job site. He loves to be there, he loves to handle the hammer, the dirt is a marvel and any tool he can get his little chubby hands on is enthralling.
He has a method to his madness. When he has a hammer, he also needs a nail and a chunk of wood to complete the trio.
The shovel must be repeatedly beaten into the nearest soil patch and things must be measured when the measuring tape is in hand. Many many things.
And when the boys convene to make a decision, you know who has to be in the middle of it all. That’s right, the little man himself, Jude Littlejohn.
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House Progress
There’s been nary a post on the progress of the house for a while, and I thought it was time to update the folks who are interested with a picture post, so I grabbed the handy dandy camera and took some shots of Bradley’s siding progress today.
This is the front of the house. Bradley has finished framing the windows but we were waiting a while for the front door to come in before he started framing.
The front doors arrived and were installed on Thursday. They are completely untreated, thus coated in plastic for now to protect them from getting dirt and smudges all over them.
Here is the southwest side of the house. It is completely lap sided and just needs the shingle siding above the belly band.
And here is the northeast side. You can see at the top a bit of the shingle siding.
The smaller photo shows this better. This is the side that we consider to be the renter’s side, as the second floor is the apartment that takes up half of the second story.
Here is the inside of the first story of the house, looking from the rumpus room into the kitchen/living/dining room.
As you can see, we are still at studs and posts for the inside of the house.  This is the second floor of the house, looking from the hallway, through our closet, master bathroom, master bedroom and into the apartment.
This is the skeletal apartment, looking from our bedroom. The wall there will be the kitchen and the stairs lead down to the renter’s garage and entry door.
Bradley’s Uncle Don has been an angel during the siding process. Without fail or complaint he has been up at the property every weekend as Bradley’s siding companion. We are ever so grateful for his freezing fingers and sunny disposition!
