Firsts

Everyone loves pictures! Here are some snaps of a few "firsts" for our kids this month:

Josiah's first time on the beach. We were in Michigan at the beginning of the month for a family reunion. We hit Lake Michigan's sand dunes for about 45 minutes and Joey loved the sand and was grabbing it by the fistful. He wasn't so fond of the frigid water. (Note the look of betrayal on his face as daddy dips his toes.)




Josiah's first swim. It was kind of crowded at our pool this particular afternoon. And splashy. So he wasn't real fond of it the first time, but he got used to the idea after a bit and we did get a couple smiles out of him.



Lucy's first bike ride! We got this wonderful hand-me-down bike last fall (thank you, Chart girls!) complete with training wheels and sparkly tassles. We figured Lucy was finally tall enough to give it a try, so we bought a helmet last weekend and she's made wonderful progress this week, riding almost every single day.

We converted

Please, before you get the idea that we had some radical religious experience, and before you settle in to read some drama about how we are going to be ostracized by our families, read on. I'm not talking about spiritual conversion; I'm talking digital conversion.

Everyone knows that I'm married to the cheapest man alive (he calls himself that!), so having gone our whole married life without cable TV or satellite isn't a big deal to me. We've managed pretty well with our rabbit ears and it has probably even helped us keep our TV viewing time to a relative minimum. You would think that our favorite shows that we watch on NBC and FOX are our choices, but it's really because those are the only two networks that come in with any semblance of clarity. ABC and CBS take some serious rabbit ear manipulation, and PBS is pretty much always a mess -- always fuzzy, and many times without color -- or the most annoying flashing-back-and-forth-between-snowy-color-and-snowy-black-and-white.

But last night we got our government coupon in the mail for one of those new fancy-schmancy digital TV tuner converter boxes. He went out right away, got one, and installed it as soon as the kids were in bed.

I was told that the picture would improve, but honestly I had no idea. I was amazed.

And our dear sweet Lucy, who gets to watch only those horribly fuzzy PBS programs, said to John when he turned it on this morning for her to see: "Daddy, I can see ALL the colors!"

His reply: "Yes, honey, your Daddy is so cheap. Welcome to color TV 48 years after everyone else."

Smarty pants

Josiah made his way to the top of the stairs completely by himself this afternoon. He was following Lucy, who had gone up there to play with some enticing toys.

I told John when he got home about this new development, and that we’d have to think of some kind of solution to keep him off the stairs since our baby gate is conveniently in the back of our storage unit. He brought down a couple of our huge 24" square pillows from upstairs and laid them across the bottom steps.

He said, “Maybe this will buy us some time. It might take him a week or so to figure out how to get through them.”

Joey promptly crawled over to the pillows, grabbed one and yanked it off the stairs, granting him perfect access. It took him all of about 15 seconds and left us laughing out loud at our underestimation of our little stinker!

(Don't underestimate those thunder thighs -- they are solid, strong, and speedy!) :)

Dr. Magic

There's a certain man I see only twice each year. He's kind, gentle, smart, and probably rich, and if I'm lucky I only see him for four or five minutes at a time. I can't say I look forward to seeing him, but I almost always leave his presence smiling and feeling good about myself. He's my dentist.

This past week he became much more than just my dentist -- he became my hero.

Despite our original plan to take Lucy for her first dentist appointment when she turned three, a whole year went by before we finally were able to schedule a visit and take her in. She came with me one time last year just to watch and see what happens during a check-up. And when the time came this past week for her to sit in that chair, she was brave and confident and did far better than I had hoped for. The hygienist was so proud of her, especially for a four-year-old, and so was I!

But after the fun part--riding up and down in the lounge chair, wearing the funny bib, counting her teeth and "tickling" them and polishing them--the dentist came to take a look. And then there was The Talk--the talk about sucking her thumb.

I just remember standing behind the chair where Lucy sat, unable to see her face, but cringing as I waited for her to cry. But there were no tears. Just some nods of her head and a couple of cheerful "okay's" as he told her she should try to stop, and blah, blah, blah. I can't tell you what exactly he said, and I bet that Lucy doesn't remember his specific words either, but the impact has been huge. I mean HUGE. And John and I continue to be amazed.

Since that day, we have not even one single time had to ask Lucy to stop sucking her thumb, or caught her doing it when she knows she shouldn't! Even a few days ago when she was falling asleep on a longer car trip and it would have been so second-nature--so natural--for her to slip her hand up near her face and pop it in. Even when she was watching (what she considers to be) a scary part of one of her favorite DVDs. Even sitting on the couch to read a book with one of us when her hands have nothing better to do.

It's been almost a week now, and still no thumb.

A year's worth of both Mommy and Daddy nagging and begging and reasoning did nothing. A three-minute talk with Dr. Magic was all it took. He has certainly achieved hero status in my eyes.

The reality of living "on the market"

Here's the update on selling our condo:
Days on the market: 13
Number of showings: 8!

As I get ready for another showing later this afternoon, I am so grateful for the amount of interest that people have had in our property! So far I haven't felt that it's been too much of a burden to get the place ready before we get out of the way for prospective buyers. But I have discovered some of the real drawbacks in my daily life to having our home on the market:

There is no stash-n-dash. When we host people in our home, we can make a last minute effort to clean up by throwing things into closets or shoving them into the cabinets under the sink because we know they won't look. But that doesn't work right now! People look in your closets and cabinets! They want to see empty space and organization. The phrase "a place for everything and everything in its place" has never meant more to me than these last few weeks!

So-called "quick errands" require much more planning and preparation. As I was getting ready to load the kids up and make a quick run to Walmart this morning, I suddenly had this thought: "What if I get a call while we are there? Will I abandon my cart, speed home, and tidy the place up before they come?" I realized that this was silly, and that I had to walk out the door with the place ready for someone to walk in. Even if I was only going to be gone for a half hour, as was my plan this morning, I had to leave everything in perfect condition, just in case. Ugh. I think it took me longer to get the place ready than it did to actually run our errand. And wouldn't you know, it was shortly after I got home that I received a call to schedule a showing for later this afternoon. Murphy's Law! (But at least everything is ready now!)

Making clean-up fun is essential. Before Lucy goes to bed each night she is required to help clean up her toys and other belongings. This part of her routine is usually met with whining and sudden lethargy from a previously energetic girl. To help combat this dread, I developed "Operation Whirlwind." When I yell out those magic words, Lucy's energy suddenly picks up as she tears through the house like a Tasmanian devil in an effort to clean up quickly. I cheer her on, as I'm wiping counters or pulling up the window shades, and she's done in a matter of minutes. Her job is then to put on her shoes and try to keep her brother on the mat by the front door. She seems to enjoy this responsibility and understands that Operation Whirlwind is important to me. (I tried it at bedtime and the magic just wasn't there.)

Showings create a bit of a time warp in life. It's great that we are given plenty of warning when a buyer wants to visit. As of yet, we haven't had anything less than about two hours to prepare for a showing. But we also realize that it takes about ten minutes to see our entire condo. Twice. Their ten-minute visit takes two hours of our lives. It's too bad they don't tell us when they have gone in the same way they tell us they are coming. Knowing this is a completely unrealistic expectation, we burn the 5 pm to 7 pm time slot away from home not knowing if our visitors have come and gone at 5:05 or 6:55.

But overall I am so grateful to have to be gone for those windows of time! And I'm so grateful that the kids have been cooperative and cheerful in all of this, even when it means a missed or delayed nap. So we clean, we tidy, and we get out of the way in the hopes that one of these visits will bring someone who will fall in love with our home the way we did six years ago.

The waiting is...hard

Welcome to our home! It's a beautiful two-story condo with two bedrooms, a spacious loft (or 3rd bedroom), three full baths and large walk-in closets. It is bright and open with vaulted ceilings, over 1400 sq ft of living space, two balconies, and a lovely view of the greenbelt/courtyard.








On Tuesday, May 27th we officially listed our condo for sale. The following morning we left town for a visit with our families in the Midwest. (Let me tell you what's not fun: packing our bags and getting us out the door on time to catch a plane while also leaving our home spotless and immaculate for potential buyers!) We were, of course, optimistic that we'd have a flourish of visitors and showings in that week, especially since we weren't here to have to clean up after ourselves or interrupt naps or abandon dinners for the random calls.

We had two showings.

I'm not complaining, as two is definitely better than none. The feedback our realtor received was this: from the first showing, they wanted a garage (which we do not have); from the second showing, they looked at so many properties that day they didn't remember ours.

So, for those wanting an update on where we stand in this fickle process of selling, there you have it. Now we wait. And check my cell phone every ten minutes to be sure I didn't miss a call from the realtor.