Monday, July 30, 2012

Project Nesting

 My plan for moving Liv to a toddler bed and out of the nursery to make room for the twins was to never do it.  I figured I would just let my perfect little sleeper sleep away in there until I absolutely had to move them in (which I figured would be months after they were born).  However, just over the last week or so Liv has discovered how to climb out of (or fall out of) her crib which has necessitated the switch to a toddler bed.

Ummm, is there a support group for this kind of thing?  Seriously?  My kiddo who I used to lay down at night without a peep and didn't hear from until the morning or put in bed for a nap and didn't hear another sound for two hours suddenly doesn't sleep.  And this pregnant lady is not excited about the lack of sleep.  Liv's crib actually converts to a toddler bed.  The front side comes off and gets replaced by a half rail.  I figured this would make the transition easy.  WRONG!

The first night in her toddler bed, she got out, opened her door, and was at the side of our bed every two hours!  Since then, that has improved a little.  She only wakes up once in the night and sometimes not at all, but putting her down is a nightmare.  Gone are the days when I could leave her with any young woman or family member or friend and they could throw her in bed and she would sleep.  Putting this girl to bed in basically the same bed but somehow so terrifyingly different to her is horrible.  You either have to wait until she is utterly exhausted and basically already asleep outside the bed and then just relocate to bed, or sing her songs and rub her back until she falls asleep, or spend an hour putting her back in bed every 2 minutes after she crawls out and comes out screaming (at which point I usually give in and rub her back until she goes to sleep because that only takes 5-10 mins vs and hour of putting her back in bed after she keeps getting out- and this pregnant lady is exhausted).

Also talk about frightening...I will be dead asleep then all the sudden a diaper crinkle at the side of my bed shocks me awake to see Liv quietly standing next to my bed staring at me.  Anyways, all of this spurred in me the motivation to get the replacement room for Liv ready for when the twins need her room.  (When was I gonna have time to do that after the twins were here anyways?)  She is still in her room for now, but whenever she or I am ready for her to move in this room is now ready and waiting.

Now this was some undertaking for a pregnant lady, and I recruited lots of helpers.  Derek's parents had saved the day bedroom set that he slept on as a kid and gave it to us when we moved in this house.  I decided to paint it white.  Sounds easy enough.  Wrong!  It was wood with this thick layer or clear coating over top.  I sanded the whole bedroom set, then it needed two coats of primer and 3 coats of paint to finally look white instead its original color.  Then, I repainted the closet in the room (for some reason all the closets in this house are this weird peachy color and don't even seem painted more primed).  The closet needed a coat of primer before any paint would go over, and then we painted it white.  We repainted all the trim and some parts of the ceiling that had dark blue paint on it from the previous paint color (which was already there when we moved in).  Then finally, we repainted her room this bright lighter teal color.

I had already purchased some darker teal with white polka dot sheets and a multicolor polka dotted bed spread.  Took off the horrible accordian doors off the closet and replaced it with a shower rod and curtain.  I still need to find new handles for the drawers because the huge gold swing out handles really do not go, and I want to put up some blinds but otherwise the room is mostly done.  Phew!


Monday, July 16, 2012

Chicago

Ridiculous I know, but over two weeks ago now Liv and I braved a plane flight out to Chicago to play with Babi and Papau.  I was so nervous about the 3.5 hour flight alone with Liv sitting on my lap the whole way, but she was beyond fabulous.  On the way out there were thunderstorms in Chicago and after circling for a while they decided we couldn't land, so they diverted us to Madison, WI (where we waited for 2 hours) and then got the ok to go back to Chicago.  This made the 3 hour trip more like 6 hours.  Nonetheless, Liv was amazing.  I was the one who was going stir crazy.   (Derek likes to take all the credit for that because he found this trip made it a necessity to buy her an Ipad and load it up with movies--it worked, but I have also lost my husband to the world of the Ipad now that we are home). 

In preparation for our visit, Babi barrowed a bunch of toys from her neighbors.  Liv loved this little ride on truck which she tried to ride down the hard wood stairs to Babi's mortification.   Probably her favorite surprise was the one Babi was holding at the airport when we arrived (one of those old tickle me Elmos).  That Elmo went everywhere with her and did everything with her.  He has remained in Chicago, but we get to skype with him occasionally. 
Babi got a bottle of bubbles that was practically bigger than Liv to Liv's delight.  She pretty much insisted on blowing the bubbles all by herself (which is how she insists on doing everything these days)...




this usually actually ended in her eating more bubbles than blowing them.  Which has unfortunately also resulted in a bad habit that I now have to break.  I taught her how to drink water and then spit it out on the ground to get the bubble taste out of her mouth.  Should have just let her deal with the bubble taste.  Whoops.
 One morning Babi, Liv, and I went to the Lincoln Park zoo.  It's free!  We had a great time.

 And, Liv got to go to the beach for the first time (if you count Lake Michigan as the beach).  This is her with Babi's make-shift sand toys.  Liv didn't know the difference.
Here she is with Papau in the lake.  Liv really took a liking to Papau this trip.  She wanted him to go everywhere and do everything with her.




 
 And, I can't believe I am posting this one of me pregnant in a swim suit, but here is where I hung out most of the time.  In the shade!






 Babi and Liv also hit this little swimming pool in the back yard and we went swimming one night at my Mom's condo-- a lot of swimming, but Liv loves the water, so she was in heaven!

This is probably my favorite picture.  My nice Mom bought me some maternity clothes (who likes to buy those? I certainly don't).  At the mall, they had this cute little train you could ride.  So, I let Babi and Liv go for a ride and was the designated picture taker.  Liv freaked out that I wasn't on the train with her when it left, she screamed for me the whole time.  The conductor had mercy and stopped to let me on (for free!!! And then all the kids got two extra loops out of it with the now happy Liv).  Silly girl.
 My Mom threw the nicest little (or big) brunch to celebrate the up-coming twin boys.  All of George's family was there (reminder--he's Greek so that means he's some how related to every Greek person in the Chicago area--there were like 40 people at this brunch), and some of their neighbors and close friends.  I was stoked that Ashley just happened to be in town visiting her parents at the same time I was because she swung by as well.  So fun to see her--in Chicago!

 Now the random left over pics.  I love this one.  Liv is so infatuated with babies lately.  She always wants one to either come visit us or she wants to go visit them.  I love this pic of her holding her friend Baby Ruth.  She was so excited!  (I hope this enthusiasm remains when two new babies invade her kingdom in a few months).


 And this is strictly for bragging purposes.  My peach tree is ripe and this pregnant lady canned 24 jars of peaches this morning!!!  (Thanks so much to my good buddy Julie for helping me do it).