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Cincinnati Babies
Katie: 1/16/08 2lbs. 15oz.
Abby & Emily: 12/31/10 6lbs. 2oz. & 5lbs. 7oz.
Series of questions and stories...
Posting and running as I have a million things on my plate and mind:
1. I have to start packing lunches for Katie for daycare. Ugh! They are removing their lunch program. One more thing for me to remember every morning now. Anyway, I need suggestions on a lunch box that will keep things warm. Katie loves pasta and I want to send that for lunch. Also, any other suggestiongs that are lunchbox friendly? I NEVER packed lunch at school and always bought. I typically bring leftovers to work. I hate the taste of bread touching meat with soggy lettuce that sat in the fridge overnight. Disgusting. Ideas?
Funny story: This morning Katie struts into the twins room and says, "Good Morning Babes! Rise and shine it's a beautiful morning!" She then proceeds to go to each crib to give each baby a kiss hello. Adorable!
2. We are in the process of selling our house. Yes, I've entered the looney bin. Right now the deck is covered with her playhouse, sandbox, picnic table, and our grill. Should I remove all items or leave? Not sure what would make a better impression - an empty deck or a deck full of toddler toys. We don't want to purchase a patio set since we are planning to get a nice one for our new house.
Cute story: Abby & Emily are starting to realize each other. I will put them in their bumbos facing each other and they will begin to goo and babble back and forth. ADORABLE! I have a video that I need to post to facebook.
3. Easter question - yes I realize its after Easter. Anyway, Joe and I disagree on whether or not the Easter bunny bring toys or just candy. Joe says, just candy. I say, toys. And by toys I mean, the Easter bunny brought bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sprinkler, and outside play toys. Items I would be purchasing anyway since the kids birthdays are all within 2 weeks of Christmas. No one gets them summer items at that timeframe. When they are older, they will get flip flops and maybe a summer outfit. Your thoughts - just candy or summer items. Help settle this dispute.
4. Abby starts physical therapy and is being fitted for her helmet on Friday. She has to wear it 23 hours a day for 3 months. I want to decorate/bedazzle her helmet. Ha! Any ideas or themes? Also, what color should I order? I think I get a choice.
5. Katie is starting soccer on Saturday at the YMCA in Boone County. Any other bumpies sign their kids up? Just wondering if we will be playing each other.
Milestone: Abby & Emily are just now starting to sleep through the night! Wahoo! They are waking up at 6:30 every morning now. Thank goodness!
6. Another moving question. I need the recommendation for a mover. We are packing everything ourselves into boxes, I just need someone to come over and move all of our furniture. Any ideas and prices?
7. House question. Which house would you choose. 5 year old house, loaded and basically your dream house, but its at the bottom of a very steep hill. Thinking of bad winters. Would that be a deal breaker? Or another house that is very close to your dream house, 18 years old, level neighborhood, but the entrance is a commerical developement that never took off. The neighborhood is quaint with mature trees, but the entrance is not finished and unsightly. What would you choose? We are undecided on which house we want to put an offer on.
Okay - I will check back later, but I have to prepare 8 bottles for daycare, run the dishwasher, throw in a load of laundry, and get my house ready for the realtor to come and list it this weekend. Have I told you that I nuts and losing my mind?
Katie: 1/16/08 2lbs. 15oz.
Abby & Emily: 12/31/10 6lbs. 2oz. & 5lbs. 7oz.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Series of questions and stories...
Lots going on!
The lunch dilemma: that sucks. I can't imagine having to deal with that, but you could pack her pasta with some kind of warm pack next to it to keep it warm until lunch time. Like, the opposite of one of those ice packs. I know they make them, but I don't know where. I hate leftovers (your description of the sandwich made me shudder). Will Katie eat Lunchables?
The deck dilemma: Clear it off. Most people probably won't care, but it may give off the look of clutter, and that's the last thing you want. People like to see a large, expansive deck.
The Easter bunny dilemma: I say he brings both. Leah got a combo of candy and a few toys-- a Pillow Pet, a game, some bubbles, and then some jellybeans. I don't see anything wrong with toys if you're going to buy them anyway.
The moving dilemma: Do you belong to Angie's List? They have a pretty extensive list of movers. We didn't use one when we moved this weekend and I was SO sorry we didn't. Most of the ones I found basically said, you pack it up, and then pay us by the hour to move it. You could rent your own truck or use theirs for more money. You could hire a team of two people, three people, four people, or more, then they charge by the hour. We wanted to rent a two-man team for five hours, using our truck, and it would have been $150. We chose not to and I wish we hadn't.
New house dilemma: Bottom of the hill would make me nervous. We are sort of at the bottom of the hill in our new house and neighbors on both sides have had flooded basements due to sump pumps going out unexpectedly. This rain has really proven how vulnerable basements can be to rain. I wouldn't worry as much about the development at the front of the other neighborhood unless you can't stand seeing it every day. We almost bought a house in a neighborhood where you had to drive past an icky apartment complex to get into the neighborhood. I hated it, but not enough to not want the house. Also, I like the mature trees. If it's a wash either way, choose by price/taxes.
All the cute moments you mentioned....all I can say is, you are making me want twins!!!
good luck with the crazy busy life right now!
My vote for easter bunny is candy and some summer stuff... I agree since the girls birthdays are all winter... it's a good excuse to get things they will need for summer.
congrats on sttn! we still aren't there and i'm totally jealous!
Wow, sounds like there's a lot of exciting stuff going on for your family!
1. Thermos Foogo containers are popular in DD's preschool.
2. I'd clear out the kid toys. If the grill and picnic table look okay, I'd be tempted to keep those out there. I'd ask your Realtor what s/he thinks.
3. The Easter Bunny brings candy and toys for our kids, but it all must fit inside their baskets. I don't want it to become another Christmas, but I also don't want tons and tons of candy around.
4. I think I'd go for purple. I'm no help other than that.
5. Not us!
I'm so jealous they're sleeping through the night! Could they please talk to my DS who still hasn't mastered that trick?
6. Sorry, I'm no help on this one.
7. Can you afford to keep looking? It's such an important and longterm decision, and honestly, both would absolutely be deal breakers for me. I would rather live in a rental for a few months than have to go through the whole buying/selling process again if I were unhappy in a couple years.
1. I'm no help with the warm lunch box thing, but will she eat other things besides pasta? I'm just thinking it can't be fun/easy to cook pasta in the morning to send with her, unless you're planning on making it the night before and reheating in the morning and then sending it in some sort of warmer. You've already got your hands full, so I'd rather be packing stuff that I could pack the night before and just grab on my way out. Does she like pb&j, or does that still fit into your yucky sandwhich thing?
2. I'd leave the grill and maybe one toy
3. We did both toys/candy this year for Easter. My reasoning was that I don't want him eating a ton of candy anyways so I wanted to have other things that would excite him. I think as they get older will increase the candy a bit and decrease the other stuff.
4. I'd put her name, or maybe just her initials on it and something summery...flowers, butterflies.
7. Tough choice, but I think I'd go with the older house. The possible problems from the rain/snow would probably be enough to scare me aware.
BTW I sent your coupons out today.
2. Depending on the size of your deck, I would move a few things, maybe put the play house in the yard or something. If your deck is large and doesn't look cluttered, leave them
3. We don't like Ethan to have a lot of candy/sweets, usually just m&m's for a reward or a small dessert for special occasions (although he loves ice cream). So I like other things for Easter. He got a Thomas train and accessory, stickers, a kite and wiffle ball/bat from the dollar store, some Lightning McQueen containers with natural fruit snacks and Easter eggs with m&m's. MIL got him a huge basket with tons of candy and some other things but he won't really eat it. I would definitely go with the summer things and a few candy things.
6. For moving, we rented a Uhaul and used Move Cheap Cincinnati to move the furniture/boxes. One of the guys were really good, but two of the others not so much. They let one of our garage cabinets fall over as they were rolling it out of the garage, it fell and busted one of our end tables (which they replaced but it was a hassle), and they didn't cover the breakage of the garage cabinet because it was made of MDF. Only a corner broke of it but still. I would not use them again. They didn't set up any furniture in the new house and I would rather use someone else.
7. I would probably keep looking. If there don't seem to be water issues for the newer house at the bottom of the hill, I would be more inclined to go for it. Our old house sat in a neighborhood behind a bustling shopping area, but there were portions of the outlots that took years to develop. I hated driving through it every day, and didn't like that we didn't have an entrance to our neighborhood. I love our new neighborhood and it's relaxing driving into it
You are one busy lady!
1. When I was little my mom often packed me pasta and she would put it in a thermos like this. She would heat it up pretty hot and it was always still warm by lunch time. Plus you can put it in a lunch box with other cold items and it should still stay warm. As for a sandwich, I pack DH's sandwich the night before and the trick is to not put any condiments on the bread, for example do 1 piece bread, lunch meat, pickles, cheese, condiment, lunch meat 1 piece of bread if that makes sense. It keeps stuff from getting too soggy, plus I've found if you use a bun or a thicker bread and wrap it in saran wrap (vs. plastic baggy) it gets less soggy (think the pre-made sub sandwiches you see at the grocery store. DH is really picky about his sandwiches so I've worked on perfecting the art ;-)
2. Empty deck-- everything looks bigger when it's empty plus if a buyer doesnt have a family it wont help them to picture a bunch of kids stuff vs a family buying the house that might appreciate the frame of reference. Clean slate is always best IMO.
3. Nick's easter basket had both-- swiss cake rolls and zebra cakes (he is still a little young to be eating candy and these are easier for him to handle, next year it will definitely be traditional easter candy) plus I put in a puzzle, toy microphone (my parents have one that he loves), new jammies, and some of those fruit & veggie pouches. I think sidewalk chalk, bubbles, etc. is perfectly acceptable....with candy of course!
4. I am surprised you are asking this....UK of course!
5. No comment other than little kids playing soccer is probably the most adorable thing ever :-)
6. ?? no idea sorry
7. I would go for the level neighborhood. It would scare me to death to have a steep hill and I would worry about getting up and down it during snow and ice season-- but I worry about these kind of things. How long do you think you will stay in this house? Do you forsee it being your forever home? If you think you will be there for a while I would hope that in time the entrance to the neighborhood will improve and get more aesthetically pleasing. Maybe once the market changes it a bit someone will want to buy that property and do something nice with it.
Definitely take the toys off the deck. You want the house to be void of all things personal.
We do a small amount of candy and small toys in the basket and small pieces of candy and coins in the eggs. That's what I had when I was a kid too.
We had awesome movers. They were beyond wonderful and worked with us during a major issue we had with our move. Valley Moving and Storage.
Jennie
I can only help with the moving type/house questions.
DH and I just made an offer on a house. The deck was a huge selling point for us- and it was very decluttered. It makes it easier to see how much you can fit on there, or how many people. We preferred that look for sure. Perhaps put it down in the yard? The people we offered on did and it didn't detract, for us anyway.
As for which to buy- we liked one house a lot, but the back had a steep hill that ended in a stream. Didn't want to risk the kids getting hurt trying to get down there and also makes it difficult to relax while the kids are outside playing (for me anyway).
The entrance to a subdivision may change, so if all else is PERFECT I'd go for it.
2. Selling the house and toddler toys on deck. We are selling our house too and I am leaving most the toys, all the outside ones. Cedric needs his toys and I figure it isn't too bad looking.
3. Easter question -I put in tons of toys. He had 2 baskets filled with toys and a few candies. There were also toys hidden around the downstairs too:) I love the toys for Easter, being that it is the perfect time to give them to him for Spring/Summertime.
7. House question. Which house would you choose. 5 year old house, loaded and basically your dream house, but its at the bottom of a very steep hill. This is the house I would probably choose, but that is a hard choice.