Is this really MY house?

OK, so I "borrowed" these photos from our builder's website, a necessary step given the fact that my house will never again be this clean. Any photos I take from herein out will likely include the requisite piles of artwork/school reports/mail/artwork/camp newsletters/artwork...you get the picture. Noah may have built us a big fancy house, but that didn't make me any more of a housekeeper. Next time we'll have to add that requirement to the contract.

Actually, I'm surprised (pleasantly so) that our builder was able to get photographs of the house given that it was being finished AS we moved in. Well, finished enough for us to move in. It's still not entirely done. Welcome to the land of the multi-page punch list!

These will have to tide you over for the time being. You see, even after gazing at the drawings of this house for some 18 months, I am surprisingly at a loss as to where I'm going to place furniture (and what furniture that will be...), what colors we're going to paint on the walls, what window treatments we're going to hang...again, you get the picture. Welcome also to the land of indecision!!

For now, though, please enjoy the kitchen, family room and master bath (perhaps my favorite room in the house).

Found footage

It's been a little over two weeks since we moved in to the new house, and I'm avoiding posting photos of it just yet because that would require getting rid of the last of the boxes (my ROCK STAR aunt flew to town for three days of very intense unpacking...and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't touched a box since she left).

That being said, I shouldn't deprive the Life with Lily and Anna archives just because I'm in unpacking denial.

So I hit YouTube and found these two short clips of Anna, taken about two months ago. They were filmed probably around 9:30 at night. Lily was sound asleep and, in the rental house, her bedroom was right next to the bathroom. Anna had woken up to go potty, and although I was trying to get a few of her tricks on camera she was trying to keep things quiet so as not to wake Lily up.





Note that these videos were taken a week or two before she started preschool. With a month and a half of preschool under her belt now, it's AMAZING the difference. The little girl in the videos is just that. Little. Mind boggling how quickly they change at this age...

New York Wedding Weekend (the outtakes)

Although we spent the majority of our relatively limited time in New York ensconced in planned pre- or post-wedding activities, there were two very important stops that we had to make that involved (1) shoes and (2) candy (two exceptionally important things!).

I've got to hand it to Sara and Leon, who planned this NYC wedding with parents as "close" as New England and as far away as overseas. And since the third flower girl, darling Sophia, falls in to the latter category, we had to coordinate dresses and shoes via email and FedEx.

When I struck out trying to find little girl shoes in Ivory state-side (OMG who would have thought the one of the major dramas of the summer would involve little girl shoes!?!), Leon's mother jumped to the rescue and found darling shoes in her neck of the woods. I converted the girls' sizes to European sizes and emailed them off. And then I crossed my fingers that the shoes would fit...or at least fit well enough to get down the aisle.

Anna's shoes were a home run. They fit. Perfectly. And she loved them. Tons.

Lily's shoes...not so much. Somehow they ended up 3 sizes too big. So errand #1 on the day of the wedding was to hit as many children's shoe stores as it would take to find a pair that would work. Our luck turned around because the first store we walked in to had a pair that would work just fine. In her size. On sale. Bingo!

The Lennon memorial (Strawberry Fields) was right by the shoe store...and the second the girls hit the "Imagine" circle, a crowd of Japanese tourists ran over and started photographing them...

So then it was on to errand #2...to find candy for the girls, a reward for the promise of good behavior during the wedding (yes, we are those kinds of parents...). And where else would we go while in NYC but to Dylan's Candy Bar. Disappoint it did not. We managed to leave with a "paltry" tab of $36...we were the only ones in line within earshot who walked out of the store without dropping at least $100 (not to mention the post-Dylan's dentist bills!).




I wish that it hadn't taken us 8.5 hours to get there. I wish that we could have made the rehearsal dinner. I wish that we could have had more time in the city to spend with family and friends. But we got to participate in the wedding, the beginning of something very special. And I know we'll be back in NYC before too long!

Big Love in the Big Apple (AKA Sara and Leon tie the knot!)

Weddings are special. They always are. But when especially wonderful people get married, they're magical.

Last weekend, Noah's little sister got married. Sara's a remarkable person. She's wise beyond her years. Creative beyond belief. Beautiful inside and out. And she's got a heart of gold. Amazingly, a few years ago she met her match...someone whose "joie de vivre" matches hers. And on July 10th, she and Leon walked down the aisle.


While it rained over the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens on their wedding day, I was reminded by Leon's mother that "Rainy Wedding = Happy Marriage." I'm happy to say that it rained on my wedding day too.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens -- The Palm House

I wish that I were eloquent enough in my writing to do the wedding justice. I wish that I could retype the toasts that were given by two of Sara's friends and two of Leon's -- they were funny and sentimental and full of love. I wish that I could bottle the scent of the stunningly beautiful flowers...or capture the magic of the sun beams that cut through the dark rain clouds just as the ceremony ended. I also wish I could erase the two giant blisters that I got from dancing. But, hey, they were well worth it; the band was AWESOME!

I can say that, amazingly, Anna walked down the aisle this time. Her thumb was in her mouth, but down the aisle she went. I was proud of my two girls, and I was thrilled for Sara and Leon.

Is there an equivalent of "cat got your tongue" with photos? The kids stopped smiling the second I got the camera out, but I still couldn't resist getting Sara and the little ones.

Lily playing bride -- somehow she managed to get Sara's bouquet!

Leave it to Lily to make a new best friend, 5 minutes after meeting Saskia (who traveled to the wedding from London!).

Lily running through the gardens -- what a BREATHTAKING venue!

The girls partied for as long as they could...and although Lily was determined to make it to the cake cutting, they couldn't quite keep up.

So, Sara and Leon...we didn't need the rain to foreshadow the happiness that we know will be ripe in your marriage. Although we had to navigate past three auto accidents to get there, nothing could have kept us away! Lots and lots of love to you two!!

PS -- not only do my word not do this wedding justice, but neither do my photos. Click HERE to see some from the photographer!

Under Construction (Still)

No sooner had I clicked "publish post" on the last house update...the one where I was actually bold enough to write down a move date (silly me -- I learned my lesson!)...and the date had slipped.

For those who don't know about this, be you in the DC area or beyond, I'm surprised that you couldn't hear me YELLING at my builder. I've earned a nickname on the job site. Given that it's a four letter word, I'll leave it to your imagination. Hint, "nice" isn't exactly it.

Geothermal...

drilling...

rig.

I am sad to report that I've once again discovered that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So I've been incessantly squeaky, and not "nice," ever since. I am happy to report that our builder has largely done right by us and has made concessions that most wouldn't ever consider. Like paying our July rent in the rental house. Props to them for that.

That being said, we're still in our rental. Although we're moving this month. They've promised. Pinky promised. I told our builder that I was moving in with him if the move date slipped beyond July 31st. Now if THAT doesn't scare him, I don't know what will...

"Delicatus" granite

Turned. Out. Great!

We are getting close though. Very, very close.

My grandmother's chandelier. Found in some 300,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space by my fabulous aunt Marilyn!! The lighting restoration guy starts in a few days...cannot wait to see it again after 18 years.

Future home of said chandelier -- our dining room.

Gotcha!

My bathroom may be my new favorite room in the house.

A glimpse in to Lily's new room...

The stone wall drama continues. Enough said.

Angels

For a number of reasons, 19 months ago I found myself in a tizzy trying to find a new daycare for Anna. 19 months ago I was told, time and again, about daycare center waiting lists a mile long. Seriously. Anna was 7.5 months old, and one center told me that...maybe...they might have a spot for her when she turned four. I'm not even joking. You can't make that insanity up.

19 months ago, I happened to call a friend of a friend. Someone who had a son in Lily's then new school. Someone who I thought might be able to help me circumvent one of the many ridiculously long center waiting lists. Someone who, instead, encouraged me away from daycare centers and got me to consider an in-home daycare. Someone who told me about Mabel, a wonderfully kind woman who had run a daycare out of her home for the last 18 years.

I can't say that, at first, I was even cautiously optimistic. In fact, I was fairly dead-set against an in-home arrangement. But when I met Mabel and her team of caregivers, all my reasoning in favor of a "corporate" daycare center flew out the window. What I discovered was a group of lovely and loving women who cared for a small group of children, treating them as if they were their own. What I found was a wonderful, large addition to a home in our neighborhood, with lots of room for kids to play...bedrooms for them to sleep in...outside areas for them to run around. What I found was the perfect combination of all possible scenarios -- home environment that we would get with a nanny with enough children (but not too many) that there's also the socialization you get from a daycare center. And over the past 19 months, they've become a part of our extended family.

Meet Carmen, Maria and Mabel...

...and Rosemary.

These four amazing women care for nine lucky kids. I couldn't be more grateful that Anna was amongst the ranks for the past 19 months. But like all wonderful things, they eventually come to an end. Part of what makes this place so fantastic is that all they specialize in babies and toddlers...and while the daycare license goes to age 3, many kids "age out" sooner. Anna's last day was Friday.

Mabel, Rosemary, Maria and Carmen have been a major influence on Anna. Thanks to them, she knows almost as much Spanish as she does English. Thanks to them, she's as sweet as she is sneaky...she's become a dancer (she'll drop what she's doing to dance when she hears music and always, ALWAYS, claps for herself afterwards, shouting out "BRAVO!")...she's got an amazing repertory of animal sounds (my favorite is her fish, which you'll see in a post in the near future)...she can stun you with the things that she knows...and at 2 years and 2 months she is pretty darned potty trained. Thanks to them, Anna has been loved, supported and encouraged each and every day for the past 19 months. To those who scoff at putting kids in daycare I say...my child has been blessed by having so much extra love, and four additional angels in her life, for the past 19 months.

I'm excited for Anna and what awaits her at preschool (a bilingual school) come Tuesday. But I'm so, so sad that we've all had to say goodbye to Mabel et. al. And while they will always be a part of our extended family, it's hard to believe that we won't see them on a daily basis. I'm not sure who is more devastated...Anna or me (ok, I know...I'll admit...it's me!).

It wasn't easy saying goodbye to her friends either.






And her two BFFs...William (aka "Willie") and Ryan. Every single day, since the day she started talking, our 7 block ride home was filled with recitations of "Anna played with Willie and Ryan" over and over and over (and over and over).




Man...saying goodbye sure is hard.