me in a nutshell. (help! i'm in a nutshell!)

The home front...

Last night Haven and I picked up our new baby kitten. He is orange with pretty markings along his back. I didn't think I'd be happy to have a cat - I have enough people to clean up after, I don't need an animal - but since I am afraid of mice in the house, we got one. Turns out, he's a very sweet little guy. So, I love him. Took about 3 seconds.

The kitten came from a woman who I found on craigslist. She lives in an area with no highways. My friend Tara came with me when we went to meet the kitty and give a deposit (whatever happened to free to a good home?), but this time, I was on my own. We got there just fine; I had a death grip on my google directions. However, my brain cannot read directions backwards and I forgot to print out reverse directions. There are about 12 turns from the cat lady's house to the highway. Add a screaming, hungry baby in the backseat and a nervous kitten in my lap (forgot a bottle and a box). You do the math.

What's with my forgetting so much, by the way?

In school news ...

I've got the senioritis and I've got it bad. June is so close but so far away. I make weekly calculations on how many hours I still need to accumulate at my internship. I wait until after the last minute to write papers (um, can I email you that paper tomorrow?). I just want to be done!

In work news...

While I'm still not a huge fan of my job, I find that working 2 days a week suits me very well. Work is actually a break. There is so much to do at home and I always feel like I am behind. At work, I can easily keep up with my responsibilities. Haven seems to enjoy this schedule too. He lu-huvs one of his daycare teachers and follows her around the room with his eyes. He's very social so he enjoys all of the other babies too. I think he likes being home with me as well - some of his favorite things are when I make him into the bed (tuck all of the blankets around him) and sharing macaroni and cheese.

I guess that's about it for now. I will post pictures from Thanksgiving soon - Haven had a blast with his grandparents and aunts!

Welcome to my House.

Hi guys, it's me, Haven. Just thought I'd show you around our new house. Mommy and Daddy are still working on unpacking, but I thought I'd give you an idea of what's going on...



Here we have the kitchen. Daddy just put up that huge cabinet over the sink cause even with all this space, Mommy said she couldn't fit all the stuff. See those pots in the sink? Mommy claims she can't find the dish soap. Good one, Mom.








This is the office/guest room. Since Daddy painted it green, everything Mommy unpacks that is green goes straight to this room. That box is the one Mommy left for Daddy to unpack. I said I'd do it, but she said no (she knows how I am with wires). This expression is me trying to convince Mommy to let me at the box.



This is our living room. Notice the picture of me in the middle of the mantle. I'm famous.








This is the best room of the house. Mine. Sometimes Mommy reads to me in that chair (you can't see it too well) but mostly I just sleep and get dressed in my room. I love it. I have two huge windows.




No, wait! THIS is my favorite room. Mommy and Daddy's room. As you can see, Daddy hasn't put his drawers in the dresser yet and Mommy hasn't gotten that bedding set she wants, but I don't care. I just wish I could sleep here every single night of my life. I have no idea why they won't let me. See that gate by the bed? That's for the nights I do get in here!


That's about it! Thanks for visiting me. Hope to see you 'round my house sometime. I love company!

baby envy

I have this open, honest post about how this whole move thing has gone for me, but it is in the drafts. I think I'll just leave it tucked away there for another day.

Ever since Haven was born, Dave and I get no attention from our families. We are going to my Dad's for Thanksgiving and he is so excited to see ... Haven. We weren't sure if we'd be able to get there for Thanksgiving day and I joked that I could send Haven with my sister Jes and then Dave and I would come for the weekend. I think this would have been fine - I don't think anybody would realize Dave and I were missing. Like I would miss Haven's first Thanksgiving.

So, here are some childhood photos me so that you see how cute I was. At one point, I got a lot of attention myself. Jes is the younger one, with me in two of the photos (pretty cute herself, if I do say so).

Thanks guys!

Dave posted awards on his blog for people who helped us move, and I'm doing my own here. I endorse stealing ideas, how else do you think I've gotten through grad school (KIDDING).

We had so much help on moving day (14 people!), it was truly amazing. With how UNPREPARED I was for the gigantic job of moving, I was again reminded of how incredible the friendships are that we have.

You can see Dave's awards here. You will see that I have shamelessly stolen his idea, but made my own awards (mostly).

The Awards go to...

Kitchen Packing Award: Barb, who packed my entire kitchen one day when Haven would not take a nap and only wanted to be held.

Scrubbie Friend Award: Danna, who scrubbed the inside of some pretty grungy kitchen cabinets on her one full day home from a three-week business trip to Texas.

Handyman Award: Joey, who found more things wrong with our house than did our inspector (what?!) and fixed most of them.

Manager Extraordinare: Manny, who directed everybody on moving day while Dave was finishing a few things at the house (and put in long hours the week prior to moving to help Dave get the house ready).

Brute Strength Award: Dan, Nikko & Nate, who hauled countless gigantic things down and up many, many stairs without a single complaint.

Going the Distance Award: Terry, who, with Nate, came all the way from Long Island and made sure our junk was packed securely in the truck (among many other things).

Tough Stuff Award: Tara, who cleaned crusty cabinet handles in our new house, the bathroom and stove in our old house and held Haven into the late hours of the night while we did our final junk haul.

Carpenter Award: Bill, who took apart the desk and crib and once they were in shambles, assured me, "This day includes me putting the stuff back together."

Specialize in Small Stuff Award: Jes, for taking Haven out for a few hours and for somehow fitting all of that bathroom stuff in our bathroom cabints (living in Manhattan makes you a pro at small spaces).

Good Friends Award: to Melissa and Kevin, for coming out and working hard!

last but not least......
My Favorite Person Award: Dave, for making our house beautiful by painting and fixing things up late into several nights last week, and for keeping me sane when I'm just not.

THANKS.

notes to myself on future moves.

This was my first time moving an entire family. It went well, but I'd like to remember the following next time:

• Try to avoid moving when your child is going through the separation anxiety phase.
• Pack everything before moving day.
• Start packing at least 6 weeks before moving day, no matter how much you can't believe that you're getting a new house.
• Pack a bag of stuff you will need right away (e.g. toothbrush, clean underwear, diapers) so that you are not digging through the mound of boxes for the bare necessities.
• Hire somebody to clean the old place, you won't feel like doing it yourself at all.
• Ask somebody to babysit your child/children for the entire day.
• Get a Rx for Xanax in advance (just kidding, mostly).
• Plan to feed everyone lunch and dinner, moving takes a while.
• Schedule a full massage for a couple of days after moving.
• Schedule a vacation for about a month after moving.
• Say yes to everyone who offers to help. Beg people who don't offer.
• Don't be a pack rat.
• Keep your eye on the prize.
• Be nice, even when you're tired and stressed.

happy places.

Two days to M-day. I have not even started Haven's room/the office. We have furniture to give away, donate or kick to the curb. Half of the attic is organized and ready ... which means half of the attic is not. Tomorrow will be a whirlwind.

This might sound weird, but sometimes if I'm having a hard time with something, I think about what I would say to a client in a similar situation. It helps me to be a objective. Also, it helps me to remember how easy it is to rattle off suggestions when I'm not the one who has to follow through with them.

So, therapist-me to client-me would suggest focussing on the goal and on peaceful things. I might suggest taking a few minutes to relax before tackling the overwhelming situation. I might suggest deep breathing, because breathing is important. So, here are some relaxing images for me...

This was taken during a camping trip with Jim, Patti, Rachel, Joey, Kevin, Melissa, Jes, Danna, Manuel, Kevin and Abbagael. That's a happy time to remember.






I took this picture of my sisters one day last year while we were at the park.

Of course, I can always go back to this moment for a bit of tranquility.

As for the goal, I can think about the time when we are moved in and we are sitting in front of the fire and Haven is playing and everything is in order and neat and in one house. That sounds nice.

Whatchernameagain?

We gave Haven a unique name on purpose. We wanted him to have a name that stood out from all of the John S.'s. We also love the meaning of the word haven and think that it is a masculine thing to be a shelter and safe place for others. What I'm trying to say is that a lot of thought went into his name. And I barely use it.

These are the things I call him instead of Haven:

Babycakes
Little H
Lovey
Little Love
Baby Love
Popsicle
Popsicle Stick
Munchkin
Munchkin Boy
The Babes
Pumpkin
Pumps
Pops
Popsey
The Love
Big Strong Man

And any variation of the above including, The Little Popsicle Lovey boy. It gets out of hand. You'd think I would stick to the 2-syllable word that is his name.

What do you call your babies (pets and friends and loves included!)?

Working hard!

Since we closed on Tuesday, we've been working hard on our new house. So far our big projects are painting and cleaning and Dave hopes to refinish the wood floors sometime this week. Here are some pictures ....





Dave painted this cool stripe pattern in Haven's room.





Haven's been a pretty good sport while Dave and I are at work. I don't think he looks too miserable in this picture.










Our first meal in the new house ...take out bbq ribs and fries. Dave is kind of involved in the food and I barely made it back in time for the timer.






That's it for now! More photos to come.