Outside In

Slowly, slowly, we are making our home. The vibe is there - a pleasant, relaxing feel that the house somehow wraps around us as we lounge and cook and eat and sleep. I'm not exaggerating - the kids have each been sleeping an hour longer here in the mornings (and I have to say that 6:30 is a more pleasant wake-up time than 5:30). I love it here. It just feels good to be inside.

A few days ago, we made our way to Terrain at Styer's, a beautiful nursery, cafe, and garden shop owned by Anthropologie. There, we saw these:



And we bought these:



Our windowsills are happy.

Jakey-isms

It's a little hard to believe it's only been a month since Jakey turned 2. I know the general cliche is that childhood flies by if you're watching from a parental height, but what I experience instead is the daily shock of realizing just how little he actually is. It feels like he has been here, with me, in my thoughts and memories and heart forever - for my whole life. How could it have only been two years? I do not exaggerate when I say that every time I think about, I am struck anew.

He is a laughing, demanding, impish, affectionate, warm, mischievous, loving, and cranky delight. Usually all at the same time.

Some recent moments:

Jakey watches TV on the couch with Misha.
Misha: Ok, I think it's about time to turn it off.
Jakey: No! I want to watch for a while!
Misha: Well, how about a little while?
Jakey: [in an ominous voice] I. Want. To. Watch. For. A. While.

Jakey sees a younger boy with a pacifier in the park.
Jakey: What's that?
Me: It's a pacifier.
Jakey: But why?
Me: Well, I think it's making that little boy happy.
Jakey: Why? Because it's for a fire!
[Took me a second - sound out "pacifier" in your head.]

Jakey sees a convertible driving down the street.
Jakey: Look! That's a broken car!

In the Back Yard

Part of the reason we fell in love with this house is the glorious outdoor space. It's not as giant as in our rental last year, but it's adorable and cozy, just like the rest of this place. Every day now involves a hearty dose of "back-ard" as Jakey calls it.







Curious what's up the stairs?



Oh, and - no post would be complete without a craft! Yes, that's right, I guess that means most of my posts are incomplete. But behold - I built the kids a water play table by screwing a couple of under-bed drawers to a plastic kids table from IKEA (it's key to get drawers with lids so you can close up shop after playing - otherwise these things are mosquito heaven). This came after a failed attempt to glue the drawers on with Epoxy, which failed to adhere. I then caulked around the screws to avoid rust. So fun in the heat!

Benched

First project of our very first house? Redoing an extant bench to become the seating part of our entry. The house doesn't have an entryway - you just walk right into the living room - which means that one has to be created by artificial means. So far, this is the element that we have:



As you can from the "before" inset, this used to be painted blue and faux-distressed, kind of a shabby-chic thing. We weren't huge fans and kept it in our bedroom, so I decided to sand off the paint and stain it a dark color to match our coffee table. It was great to find that under the paint was a really nice wood grain (I think it's maple, but don't quote me) that came alive beautifully with the walnut stain. Three coats of water-based sealer later, it's a combination seat and shoe containment field!

Laptop charger to the left of me
Clean laundry to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you... popping the bubble wrap left over from packing for our move!

That's right, folks - we are now the proud owners of a tiny adorable house in the city. We moved on Thursday, which means that by today the major life areas (bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms) are semi-done, and everything else is still boxed up all around us. Just for the record? I love - LOVE - this house. The rooms still need to be painted, and there are things we'll be updating/changing/redoing, of course, but... well, I'm sitting in the living room now while the kids are napping upstairs, and as I look around, I am filled with calm and happiness. It feels like us in here, you know?

The Newest Graduate

So I have to admit, if you told the me of 10 years ago that some day I would be beaming with near-excessive pride at a pre-K graduation? But just look at that beautiful kid!



Lara's class prize was for Creativity and the Performing Arts, which is very appropriate for our tiny dramactress. When she walked up the steps to get her diploma, Jakey called out from the audience, "Yay Wawa!" totally uncoached.



Girls, girls, girls. They were giggly and serious, and mostly just very, very excited.



Then we went outside, and I got to take a few shots of the fam. Ah, my three loves!