Nesting Chaos

I've frequently noticed that when trying to clean up, you sometimes have to make a mess of things first. I am experiencing that first-hand these days. We've got a number of home improvement projects in various stages of completion these days, and it is driving me a tiny bit totally honking insane.

We finally cleared all of the clutter out of our attic and gave it a good scrub. Now it's being painted a vibrant yellow and will have various FLOR tiles in bright colors installed over the old linoleum. Carpet is being installed on the attic staircase on friday.



I can't wait for all of the toys to go up there, into the various storage cubbies we bought from Peepa's company, who makes furnishings for pre-schools. (Bonus points if you can spot Jake on the homepage!) I've been busily planning and mentally decorating the playroom for months now, in anticipation of having a kid zone where I don't have to worry about the adult spaces getting cluttered with toys and baby swings and the like.



The hardwood floor in my office is being stained ebony, and it stinks to no end. I know the results will be beautiful, but right now I am in Starbucks escaping the smell rather than lounging in my living room. I came downstairs yesterday morning to see the reveal of the color on the floor, only to find the ceiling leaking in my office onto the newly stained floor. Yes, my heart sank. Luckily, we caught it early, it didn't ruin the floors, and the next coat of stain was able to be applied the same day. The roofer should be coming this week to repair the roof. My office is located on a small former sunporch, the roof over this section of the house is very small (my office is 8x15) and according to the roofer, it shouldn't be a huge job to fix - thank God!

The office is also being repainted a soft gray, as are three walls in Jake's room, the last wall being a deep tomato-y red. His red accent wall in his bedroom is about to get outfitted with four life-size vinyl wall stickers of guitars. He picked the theme (guitars/rock star), I went to town on designing it - not an easy task, but a fun one. The new big boy room will be pretty darn cool if I do say so myself.

His sheet set:


At least the mess/chaos isn't as bad as it was back in our last round of changes in 2007:


Jake will be moving out of his "baby room", and little sis will be moving in. I'm switching out a few blue gingham accessories for new red gingham accessories in the baby's room, but for the most part, the decor was unisex to begin with (by design).

Pics from the old nursery in Delaware, but it is virtually the same here now:



So there is dust and clutter and paint fumes and displaced furniture on each and every level of our house (except the basement, but that's a whole 'nother post). I *KNOW* these projects will totally be worthwhile once they are completed, but for now the chaos, coupled with my nesting instincts, are driving me insane. Just ask Ralph ;)

As seen on MckMama's blog

You may have seen Jake-a-boops on another blog this week - I was a guest blogger on MckMama's blog while she was on vacation. Click here to read the full story, and a big "Welcome!" to any new readers visiting from her site.

Five More Weeks

Five tiny little weeks. That's it. Then life as we know it will change forever. Five more weeks until we are holding our baby girl. Five more weeks until we are a family of four. Five more weeks to paint the playroom, stock up on little newborn diapers, get Jake's big boy room ready, finish up any big work projects before maternity leave, meet with last minute clients, wash all the clothes and towels we have been buying for her. I'm actually surprised I'm not freaking out a little bit more.

The doctor told me yesterday that if I were to go into labor right now, they wouldn't stop me. Oh dear. Maybe I should start freaking out.


(ABOVE: Can you see her face?)

What we do have ready to go is a name (still keeping it a secret til she is born), a place for her to sleep, some basic baby girl clothes to wear, and all of Jake's hand-me-down accessories that just need to be taken out of storage, cleaned up and put into place.

Our due date has been changed a few times, but I am telling everyone who asks that it's Valentine's Day. Which is one of the dates I've been given (as early as Feb 5th and as late as Feb 18th). According to my calculations, the 17th will be 40 weeks. I won't be a bit surprised if she is born on my birthday, which is the 23rd. She will come out when she is good and ready. Which, if her parents are any indication, will be "fashionably late."

Jake is pretty excited about having a baby sister. He talks to my belly, gives it kisses, and yells into my belly button to communicate with her: "It's me, Jake. Your big brother! Remember me?". He has mostly gotten over the disappointment of her not being a boy, but it comes up every so often. He is anxious for February to be here.


Recently, Jake has been very interested in human anatomy, and can identify all kinds of body parts. He is fully aware that the baby is growing in mommy's uterus, that she is fed through her "umbilican" cord, and that the placenta supplies her with nutrients. I am so proud of my almost-four-year-old's thirst for knowledge. We have to read the "skeleton book" nightly before bedtime. And this is no kid's book, it is a full-on medical tome. He loves it! I've been meaning to make a video of him identifying his favorite organs. But don't hold me to that - I've got a few (million) things on my plate right now....

Fake Smile, First Pictures

Jake's resolution for 2010? Apparently it's to adopt a new fake smile whenever I take his picture. It's like a squinty smirk thing. Where did this come from??


Although I have to admit he totally redeemed himself by taking my old Rebel XT and playing photographer with Ruthie. He was given a single rule: Never. Drop. Mommy's. Camera.


And what did Jake produce his first time with a nice camera? 28 shots in 5 minutes. This one is my favorite:

Jake Meets Santa!

This is a great pic that my parents got while Jake was visiting last weekend. Jake was happy to come out of the frigid temperatures to sit by the fire with this great Santa Claus! Our happy little boy can't wait for Christmas, and keeps asking where the snow is. Apparently to him, it's not Christmas unless it's a White Christmas!



EDIT 1/15/10- New Santa picture from when Mema Mary and Uncle Greg took Jake to see Santa in Connecticut:

Mema Peggy

I'm so sad to report that Ralph's grandmother, Margaret (Mema Peggy) passed away the day after Thanksgiving. The past few days have been very hard, but we have been surrounded by family, just as Mema Peggy was in her final hours on earth, which has made it a little easier. I am so glad that Jake got to know Mema Peggy and has fond memories of her, which I hope and pray will stay with him. I know she adored her great-grandson. Here is a very old post of the two of them together, when Jake was just four months old. It breaks my heart to know that our baby girl will never have had the chance to meet any of my grandparents, or any of Ralph's grandparents. I know they are all watching over us.


We miss you and love you Mema Peggy.

Some updates...

I feel like I haven't posted in ages. Which is probably true. The pictures are from a session we had with my good friend and fellow photographer Rosemary the day after Halloween. She photographed my family, I photographed hers. These are out-takes, the final one will be on our Christmas card once I get around to designing it.

Jake just told me he was trying to "HIP-TUH-TIZE" our dog Ruthie. He was swinging a water bottle near her face. "You're getting SLEEEEPY!" He cracks me up on a daily basis.

So what's new in our world? The wedding season is finally over but I'm still hard at work trying to finish up all of the editing of the sessions and working on wedding albums and trying to submit weddings to The Knot to be (hopefully) published in their magazine. I'm glad the major photography sessions are over for the year because this pregnancy has been very difficult on my body. I have had lots of pain from the baby sitting on my sciatic nerve; at the worst times, I am hardly able to walk. Recently, she has dropped a lot lower in my pelvis, which is an odd sensation. I am six months in and the pregnancy is flying by. I can't believe in 3 months, our daughter will be here.


Jake continues to enjoy pre-school. He attends three days a week, and seems to enjoy Ms. Peggy and her class. He makes friends easily, and loves the girls in his class the best. He tells me about the "bad" kids in his class, and I try to give him suggestions for how to deal with the one kid who pushes him, and the other kid who takes off his shoes. I wish these were the biggest problems my kid ever has to deal with in school. As the saying goes: "Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems."

He is currently inexplicably paranoid about two-year-olds, and any time something goes wrong, he blames it on one. "My toothbrush is missing! I think a two year old took it!"

This week's obsession is dough. He got a hunk of raw dough from a pizza place a few weeks ago, and now any time we go out to eat, he expects a new hunk of uncooked dough. Surprisingly, a few places actually oblige. Jake wants to be a "dougher" - one who makes and works with pizza dough for a living. Lol. I'm constantly mixing up flour and water to entertain him, only to have it disappear a few hours later when he becomes bored and leaves it within reach of the dog.


Jake's funniest talent, to me at least, seems to be his imitation skills. He's quite a good mimic! He imitates the facial expressions and the voice inflection of our neighbor (his good friend Gabby) and some of the kids in his class. He's surprisingly accurate in his imitations!

Jake still continues to role-play. It's hard to keep up with who I am talking to in a given day, hour, or even minute to minute. Jake's cast of characters includes every original member of Van Halen (Eddie, Alex, David Lee Roth and sometimes Michael Anthony, but he usually doles out the role of Sammy Hagar to others) as well as other rock stars. He will pretend to be all of the different characters from his various TV shows; members of the New York Yankees starting line-up (Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, etc), and will imitate the entire batting order, complete with who hits lefty and who hits righty, and even the switch hitters; he will pretend to be friends from class ("I'm Sofia! You're Sofia's mommy!"), and even pretend to be random people he sees out in public or on TV ("I'm that boy with the rocket ship. You can be the other boy."). He is an absolute riot and his imagination is just extraordinary.


Lately, I'm just enjoying this time that I know is fleeting. Work is good and steady, family life is stable and relatively calm, we are getting plenty of sleep (mine being less restful than the boys since I am being attacked from the inside by the fetus who auditions for Soul Train on a nightly basis), and we have settled into a nice routine. All that is about to change, but for now I just want to record it before it all morphs into the wonderful chaos of having a new baby in the house.