Halloween 2012

Wrong date.  Current activities.

Elliot

And in case you are wondering what Elliot is up to these days (Tamarra, this means you), here you go:

Our current goal in soccer is to not run off the field crying every time the other team scores a goal.  It is hard to lose when you are five!

Harper Kate Turns 2

This little lady recently turned two. The day began with Minnie Mouse pancakes. Which was followed by present opening and Elliot's first soccer game. Harper insisted on wearing her tutu (from Grandma) and leaving the "Minnie bow" on her new scooter. She was quite the site scooting around the field. Then we finished up with a party with my Grandparents, Aunt Brenda, and Uncle Keith. We were so glad to have family to celebrate with! A few words about Harper: Harper is about the cutest, most obnoxious kid around. She is very demanding and has found yelling to be quite to her liking. She loves to sleep (and often asks to go down for a nap) and hates to eat. She has a great sense of humor and is often joking and being silly with us. She loves stuffed animals and soft things so much that Chris is often worried that she is going to suffocate herself with the pile of them she has in her crib. She thinks it is downright unfair that Elliot gets to go to school and she doesn't, so we have instituted "Girl Time." Basically that means that when Elliot leaves in the morning, I look at Harper and say, "Girl time!" and she smiles and says, "no Elliot! No Daddy!" And, generally, we enjoy our girl time.

 Harper is strong-willed, sweet, funny, and feisty -- and I am glad she is part of our family!

Our House

For my mom, who hasn't seen pictures yet.

Living Room:


Living Room/Entry:


View from the front door:


My painted thrift store buffet:


Kitchen/Empty Family Room:


Elliot's Not-So-Secret TV post-bedtime watching spot:

A Quick Weekend Away

Since Tamarra claimed today that "she was forgetting what my children look like," I thought it might be time to do a quick update on the blog.

First things first: we moved to Texas. So far, we like it. It is surprisingly more cosmopolitan than we expected and we haven't said "ya'll" once yet! Of course, we miss NY (especially the people!) like crazy. But it is safe to say, Elliot has gone native.

We also realized recently that, hey, we have a car now. We can go places! So this weekend we took a quick trip up to San Antonio. Here is how it played out.

Bonding in the hotel room over the iPad. Nothing brings siblings together faster than Apple products. Feeding the dolphins at Sea World. It is safe to say this is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was way, WAY more excited about it than the kids. Waiting in 99 degree heat for the seal and otter show. Totally worth it! The Alamo Testing to see if cacti are, in fact, prickly. (They are.)

Another Item for my List

6.  I will not miss the terrible customer service that pervades the city.  Today I was in the McDonald's on 71st and Broadway.  After waiting in the line for ten minutes with two crabby kids, desperate for happy meals, I got to the front of the line only to be told that they were out of ketchup.  McDonalds was out of ketchup.  McDonalds!  I looked at the check-out woman and said, "you have got to be kidding me."  At which point the woman looked at me, told me to quit whining and walked away.  And didn't come back!  She just left me standing there, until five minutes later, I decided she wasn't coming back and left.

(We ended up going to Patsy's instead.  I will miss Patsy's.)

Note to the employees of McDonald's, Fairway, Macy's, Duane Reade Pharmacy (especially you, 69th St. store), and countless other establishments: stop act like I am putting you out by bringing you my business.  I am trying to give you money.  And no, I should not have to bow and grovel before you deign to take it.

The Bad Things about New York

Someone recently told me that when you move away from the city, all you can remember are the good things about living here. Since I love NY, I am sure I will be guilty of this. So this list is for those days when I'm missing the city like crazy and can't remember why we ever left it.

1. Paying over $4k in rent. For a large one-bedroom apartment. Oh and that rent? Our management said it would have likely gone up 10% at the end of our lease in October due to the city's soaring rental market. (Funny -- I don't mind living in a large one-bedroom apartment. I just mind paying that much for it.)

2. Running down the street pushing a stroller and screaming "stop at the corner!" at the top of my lungs. 

3. Elliot sleeping in a closet. Yes, it's true.

4. One bathroom. There are few things less pleasant than being in the middle of something only to have Elliot knock on the door screaming, "I have to go PEE!"

 5. January and February.

 And that's all I can think of! Help me, people!

***Late Night Addition***

My friend, Christie, responded to my cry for help with this little gem: 8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize.  Be warned -- the language in it is truly terrible.  That said, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  My favorite part is about the slow walkers.  I have so been there.