Christos Anesti!

Alithos Anesti!

 

 

 

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Egg Decorating

Grandma A may be the most patient woman in the world. I would not have been willing to go through this process with an 18-month-old myself, but as you can see by the photos and videos, Isaac had a blast. This experiment was very exciting for him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Here is a flan cake that we paired with Grandpa's favorite Asian fare.

 

 

 

Isaac copied everything that he heard.

 

 

 

He was very excited about the balloon we got for Grandpa. He stood at the door and greeted "Gaa Pah" and "Gaa Mah" when they arrived.

 

 

 

He was even invited to help open the gift. Happy birthday, Grandpa!

 

 

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Home Improvement: Good Friday Edition

This post really has nothing to do with Good Friday, except for some pictures I posted of Isaac feasting away at the end. (Ironically, Rich is the only person in our home tonight -- including the grandparents -- who is bound by the rules of fasting and abstinence. I will abstain, but trust me, preggos should not fast.) But I didn't want you to think that I had forgotten about this solemn day.

 

Easter lily from mom.

 

 

This week has been politically charged because of the Supreme Court hearings on same sex marriage. They coincided with a book study some mom friends and I did on Casti Connubii, which was suggested here. There are so many articles on the hearings and the public rally, few of which focus on the rights of children. These three articles offer a nice balance to what you may have read.

 

This lily fills our entire bedroom with it's beautiful aroma. I put it on the floor to catch the sun rays.

 

 

Okay. Back to home improvement. I haven't been posting as much because I've been purging and home-improving. Big project #1 was to finally put rugs and pads on 80% of our wood floors (condo rules). This is supposed to really help with the noise we cause below. The project was supposed to take a few hours (haha!). I should know by now that there is no fast and easy way to invest in things for our home. Our wood floors were refinished fewer than two years ago. We really wanted to protect them. Somewhere in the middle of this project, Rich clarified that we needed rugs and pads. (It's bolded, underlined, and italicized in our condo bylaws.) As it turns out, we need pads to protect the floors anyway.

 

 

 

I had to measure each of the rooms because we didn't have a floor plan easily accessible. The trick was to figure the best rug size and orientation for each room. We chose a "gold" pile-high shag rug on Overstock.com for our bedroom. I confess I have a little crush on these shag rugs. I mean, who wouldn't want to walk on this?:

 

 

 

I used to associate shag with the 70's, but sticking with a neutral color like this somehow makes it seem fresh and modern without too much of an edge.

 

 

 

We bought the best version of 3/8" 100% recycled felt pads we could find and the best price. These came from Amazon. They have and R-Value of 2.12, a 15 year warranty, and are mold, mildew, and moth resistant. Because we have heavy furniture in this room, we did not need to worry about a rubber gripper. This article was helpful to me in choosing which kind of pad to use for which room.

 

 

 

One surprise I discovered is that most glues and adhesives will ruin the finish of hardwood over time. Most rubbers have glues in them. Apparently, when rubber is needed to hold pads in place, natural, sewn-in rubber is best. As you might imagine, those pads were a little pricier. The best deal again was found on Amazon. I did need to trim down the ends a bit to fit correctly under these rugs. For rugs here, we decided on $20 rugs from Target and placed a quality pad underneath them. They match our living room area color scheme: gold, burgundy, and brown; which is visible from this area.

 

 

 

Rich made the suggestion of using the rug previously in our living room for Isaac's room. It would have been too challenging to find something that matched this rug for the adjoining common rooms (entry, hall, dining). It turned out to be a fantastic idea, brightening Isaac's room a bit. The hardwood isn't that dark, but this lighter rug made a notable difference. This room is 100 times cozier now. Isaac has been playing in here much more since we put this rug down. The nicest part about it is that it reaches almost to the walls on all sides. It has really cut down on sound transmission. We bought this one at a discount oriental rug shop when we moved. It was loaded with dust (LOADED with dust), which Rich and our friend, Vince, beat out before placing back down here. Seriously, I think Rich burned 1,000 calories cleaning this rug. Thank you!

 

 

 

Our unit lets in a lot of light in the morning. It's one of my favorite things about our home. You can see the difference in light reflected if you compare this to the hardwood in the halls.

 

 

 

I'm really happy with our common area rugs. We bought them at Lowe's. I scoured online providers and the whole carpet section at Lowe's until I found this pretty rug, which matched our furniture. (I've never been into oriental rug designs. I'm sure there's a reason many people like them, but I've never found them to be particularly pretty. And they are pricey to boot!) I really liked how this one incorporates burgundy without making the entire room dark. Once Rich saw it laid out here, he wanted me to get one for the dining room.

 

 

 

Home decorating is so much fun! Thanks for humoring me.

 

 

 

Something about this rug seems very Marriott-ish to me. And that makes me happy.

 

 

 

 

 

Isaac favorite part of the whole process was watching the pads be placed. He regularly lifts up the smalls rugs, walks on the pads, and says, "soft."

 

 

 

Totally unrelated, except that it happened today, is this pigeon that landed outside our window (shamefully dirty windows, yes!). Isaac called it a "seagull." We seldom see any birds like this one hanging around. It was kind of eerie -- like in The Raven. I was glad when Isaac scared him away.

 

 

 

Here are a few "purging" projects. I've given away four boxes of clothes and pitched four boxes of junk, which I think is pretty good for 800 square feet of living space. I still have a few things to toss. There is so much we don't use -- or haven't touched in more than two years. Like that set of drawers at the bottom there. It's full of little pieces of supplies -- half useful, half not. There is one in the bathroom as well. When I'm in an extremely patient mood, I will tackle both of them.

 

 

 

Pantry reorganization. We are seriously debating updating our kitchen, though we've had questions about whether the renovation would pay for itself in terms of increased home sale value -- especially as a condo unit. This condo was rented for years, which is mostly obvious in the kitchen. It's otherwise a really nice unit. So, don't judge the tacky shelf paper hanging down here. We did not install it. ;)

 

 

 

This was a very much-need project: cleaning the fridge! I am happier just looking at this photo.

 

 

 

Toast with butter and raspberry jelly -- oh so messy and good!

 

 

 

I like this picture a lot because it shows a bit of conversation in his eyes. He's definitely not a baby anymore!

 

 

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A Week's Worth of Videos

We've been busy doing our taxes, replacing carpets, going outside, and visiting with friends (everyone had cabin fever. It snowed again this morning -- sigh!) Here are a few clips I took with the iPhone.

 

This should give you a taste of our daily ritual:

 

 

 

This is what Isaac calls "Fall Purpose."

 

 

 

This child loves to jump! It's a good thing he has a carpet and a pad on his bedroom floor now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking advantage of a nice day:

 

 

 

 

A message from Isaac:

 

 

 

 

This is how he says, "I love you," which he repeats and repeats these days. I don't think he knows what it means, but he always says it back:

 

 

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Watching, Waiting, Rejoicing

About two seconds after I posted about our morning yesterday, my sister, Julie, called to tell me that there were reports of white smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel chimney. While I was on the phone with her, Theresa texted "white smoke." I logged onto Facebook to find a newsfeed freaking out with pope updates. I called Rich to tell him and glued myself to the computer screen until we had a name, which we received in Latin -- blast! That is the only time Latin is useful.

 

 

 

Isaac was a pretty good sport, even though he dislikes the attention that the laptop takes away from him. I tried to explain the process so that he was a little more interested. He now understands that the old man in the white garb is "Papa." This morning while checking the news, he saw a picture of Pope Francis and said, "PAPA!" in his excited, 18-month-old voice.

 

 

Lamb and Feta Lasagna.

 

I switched our menu at the last minute because the boys here love pasta. We pulled out some wine (wish we had had a Malbec on hand!) and chocolate and toasted our new pope. It's beautiful to see how great men still rise in the Church. It's so different than how politicians rise, largely conforming to the opinions and times of the people. Not surprisingly, we have another pope who affirms the issues that the Church has considered moral and immoral since the time of Jesus. Watching and waiting for the name to be given was so much more peaceful than watching the November election results! I was very curious to see who the cardinals felt could best serve the Church -- with the guidance of the Holy Spirit -- in 2013. Their decision was made so quickly, and reading all about Pope Francis makes that seem like no surprise. I read many Facebook statuses and news articles about him, but I think our own bishop says it the best:

 

This is a very exciting and hope-filled time for Catholics the world over, and most assuredly for our brothers and sisters in Latin America who cannot but take great delight in the election of a native son from Argentina.  Throughout my life, I have become increasingly aware how the Lord has provided for the Church the shepherd best suited to the particular needs and challenges of the time. I know that this is the case once more. I ask our diocesan family of faith to join me in continued prayers for the pontificate of Pope Francis and for the entire Church.

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Spring Is Nigh (FINALLY!)

I pulled this from WKTB Storm Team 8 Weather in Lacrosse, WI. It's not Virginia, but the same thing happened (is happening) here. If last year was unseasonably warm, this year is unseasonably cold (Rich and I checked the records -- we've experienced below average temps this year). I trained for a 5K from December through March of last year. All of my runs and walks were outside. And I took Isaac with me without hesitation. He absolutely LOVED it. This year, that is unthinkable (not only because I'm pregnant). Check out these drastic differences:

 

 

 

That said, we enjoyed a very nice weekend (in the 60's) and are having nice weather this week. It's been so good for Isaac to get outside and run around. The indoor time was really getting to him.

 

 

 

We went out early today to have my blood drawn for the 28 week glucose test. Thankfully, we beat most of the traffic and were in and out in five minutes. (I just LOVE early morning appointments! They make me feel like we live in a normal city -- not one with the worst traffic in the US.)

 



He was in the picture, but holding still is not his forte.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went out for breakfast at IHOP afterward because, hey, IHOP is economical. And we've been spending lots of time together as Rich puts in 12 and 14 hour days lately. (Can I say I'm so glad we took that vacation when we had the chance?) After breakfast we took a long walk outside and went to the playground. In case you ever wondered why no one swims in the water out here, take a look:

 

 

 

It doesn't seem to bother the ducks at all, though. Isaac loves these two. They are out every day. Just the two of them. He finds their quacking hilarious.

 

 

 

They were peacefully paddling along, so we followed them along the creek for a while.

 

 

 

 

Isaac pointed out all of the birds and squirrels and airplanes and trucks and dogs that he saw along the way. The robins have been very active in the mornings this week. They are my favorite: pretty and familiar. And something about that hopping makes me happy.

 

 

 

Of course, Isaac picked up a bunch of sticks. Some were roots, which he pulled with all of his might before giving up on them. (I just love that little personality, haha.)

 

 

 

Testing his strength:

 

 

  

 

 

This child would do everything on his own if I let him. He's taken on a new independence. It's kind of cute and scary at the same time. We've been very firm and consistent about boundaries lately. And we often feel him pushing up against them. I'm guessing that's a good sign that he's learning how things operate. We won't protest when it comes to learning.

 

 

 

I'm really looking forward to getting down on the ground with my camera snapping our two boys!

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Something Cheerful for Your Sunday

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