Baby K is two!

Monday was the second anniversary of Baby K coming into our world.
Y’all, I’m just as awestruck, just as joyful, just as SQUEE as I was that day.
This little girl is more than I could ever hope for!

YBW and I went out to their house in the early afternoon timing our arrival with her waking from her nap.
Three things happened all at once: Baby K woke kind of grouchy, Aunt Gaga (Thing 2) called, and Papa pulled M&M’s out of his pocket.

When she heard her Auntie’s voice, Baby K was all smiles even though she was grouchy. Then suddenly, she climbed out of her mommy’s lap and ran to her Papa.
I was over there like WTF?
That’s when I realized he bribed her with candy.
Classic grandfather move. (imagine me shaking my fist, while also being slightly amused)

Well, it turns out talking to your Aunt and sharing chocolate with your Papa is just what a grouchy-wake-up birthday girl needs.

Presents were tricky, as she really didn’t understand exactly what was going on, but she loves to rip paper, so it evens out. However, she does rip the teeniest little pieces of paper off stuff, so it takes about forty-seven-thousand (possible exaggeration) separate rips to actually unwrap a gift.
Papa and I solved that problem with gift bags, though she pulls out each piece of tissue one at a time so it’s a similar process. (oh, that girl!)

This backpack was a hit.
She said, “A clue! A clue!”
The moment she got it on her back, she waved and said, “Bye!” before turning and walking to the front door.

That girl was ready to go!
Um…peace out, chicken.

My offspring are notorious for their ambivalence toward cake, and it seems to have carried on to the next generation too. So, instead of cake Baby K had ice cream as her birthday treat! A chocolate shake to be exact. From this delicious little frozen custard place not too far from their house.

How it started:

Where we finally put a stop to it:

Birdie took her straight to the tubby while her Daddy and Papa cleaned the mess, and her Mommy started a load of laundry.

Y’all it was spectacular!
She became one with that ice cream and it was an absolute joy to watch. Even when she splashed it all over the rest of us, we couldn’t help but laugh!

This was Baby K’s second birthday in the time of covid. Even though she didn’t get a big ol’ party, we had big ol’ fun!

My daughter’s daughter is precious and beloved.
I’m grateful she was born.
I’m grateful to celebrate her birthday with her.
I’m grateful to be her Birdie.

Categories: love, me | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 121

What do you get when you put producer Benny Blanco, DJ Marshmello, and singer Vance Joy together?
You get the song You.
And I gotta tell y’all, I absolutely love this tune!
Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sunday morning at the home site 4.25.21

On the way to the house I told YBW I was hopeful there would be cabinets in the house. He reminded me of proposed timing and dates and surmised there may not be cabinets. He didn’t want me to get my hopes up and be disappointed. I agreed with his point but reassured him I would remain hopeful. I looked at it this way, if cabinets were in I’d be happy, if they weren’t it didn’t hurt me to be hopeful about it, because they’d probably be in the following week.

G U E S S!! W H A T!!
Y’all! I came up the stairs and squealed! YBW was behind me but I simply couldn’t move. He said, “Stop squealing and take a picture!”
Oh yeah, he wanted to get up the stairs too.

The photo below is from the dining room, you can see the fridge cabinet in the foreground and the oven cabinet in the back.
The island sides aren’t painted because they’ll be covered with the quartz waterfall.

Each of the bathrooms have cabinets too. Only, the loft floor powder room’s white cabinet is down in the ground floor bath and that gray one is up in the loft. And y’all, I need that loft loo to be all white, I have big wallpaper plans for that space.

Our conundrum was how to report the news without spilling the beans that we’re there trespassing each week?
We began to talk it out, YBW was like, so we know we’re not supposed to be on property without and escort. He stopped and looked at me, I’m over here like, nope nope. I know eventually we’ll be locked out of the house and our Sunday morning ritual will have to end, but I’m not ready for that to happen just yet.
What we decided on was simply stating facts and I wrote an email to the building manager that looked a bit like: Hey, these cabinets are in the wrong place. Thanks.
(I wrote the email because YBW was driving)
We haven’t heard anything…yet.

I’m hopeful they don’t start locking us out now, but if they do, at least I’ve seen those gorgeous kitchen cabinets!
I grabbed his hand in the car and was like, do you have even a teeny bit of squee? I mean I don’t expect you to be on my level of squee, but are you excited?
He said, “Yes, I am excited, but what is a single light compared to the sun?”
He totally gets me!

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 120

I dig this almost monday song.
The chorus rings true in me.

‘Cause we’re all just broken people, and we don’t know why
But we’re keeping it together ’cause we gotta try

We are all broken in one way or another, and I to me, that’s what makes us beautiful.

Check out broken people from their record don’t say you’re ordinary and let me know what you think.

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , , | 8 Comments

Sunday morning at the home site 4.18.21

When we rolled up to the house this week I had a little squee moment!


The railings for the front roof deck were in the garage.
The railing on the right goes along the front of the house, the left one goes along the side.

The trim and interior doors are in and painted too.
These doors are pantry, coat closet, and powder room on the main living level.

Railing for the back roof deck is ready to go in.

And the doors have their first coat of paint.

There was a hard hat sitting in the gravel out in front of the house, and I mean, what else was I going to do but pick it up and bring it home for Baby K to play with.

I sent this pic to Thing 1 and this was our exchange.

I actually cackled.
But here’s the thing, the garage door remains unlocked. So, while I may or may not have committed petty theft, we did not break and enter, we merely trespassed.
YBW said, “Not only did you admit your crime to your daughter, but now you’re blogging about it. Don’t you know you’re supposed to leave no evidence and just walk away?”

He made me laugh too, but it doesn’t really matter either way, the house (and it’s yard) are going to be ours soon enough.

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 119

I freaking LOVE this Neighborhood song!
This is Stargazing from the record, Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones
I’m curious what y’all think about it, so have a listen and let me know.

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday morning at the home site 4.11.21

As you can see, we’re still waiting for windows on the second and fourth floors. Apparently the black ones for the front of the house are on backorder.
But, we do have a ton of interior doors and trim in our garage, and they fixed the lights in the dining room. So that’s a win.


We have a stoop now, that means people can come visit us and get easily into the house.

First coat of paint is on the walls and I couldn’t be happier about how bright the space looks!
Navy cabinets will ground the space and we’ll bring in color and texture into our house with furniture, art, textiles, and plant life.

And the excitement builds!

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Birdie water is best water, or pros and cons of Baby K living at her own house

Thing 1, Husband N, and Baby K came to have dinner with us yesterday.
After hugs and kisses, the first thing that kid did was grab my water and chug it.
Apparently Birdie water is best water.

This lead to a bit of a joke that I’d make a pro and con list about Baby K living at her own house. Throughout the evening, each of the adults would randomly say “Pro” or “Con” and what began as an off the cuff remark became a reality.
Yep, I made a list.

Let me say this before I share it with y’all, my heart has disappointment that I don’t get to see my grandbaby every single day. But, there is a completely new kind of joy in seeing her.
A perfect example: last night, she and I played a game in which she ‘put me to bed’. She placed a pillow on the floor and gently pushed me and said, “Go to sleep.” When I laid my head on the pillow she squatted down and kissed me. Then I pretended to snore. My signal to wake was her tickling my foot. I giggled dramatically and sat up, saying “You tickled my foot to wake me up!”
She laughed and the game started all over again.
At one point her gentle pushes to get me to lie on the pillow became rough and then she was pushing my on my face. I told her, “I don’t like when you push so hard on my face. I will play with you, but please stop pushing me.”
She stopped and looked at me then went around me to point at the pillow and said, “Go to sleep!”
We had an accord.
A bit later I shifted the way my body was ‘sleeping’. I rolled onto my belly and bent my knees, touching my feet together then I fake snored my ass off.
Apparently me moving my body changed the game because she began walking around me going, “Hmm.”
Then she pulled my feet apart and began to climb up my back starting at my bottom. She did this several times, ‘falling’ off me at different places and in different ways.
Her giggles were off the charts, and she was mad as hell when her mommy told her it was time to go home.

Because I didn’t spend the entire day with her I had so much more energy to really play with her!
That is worth every single minute of us living in two different houses. Well, that and the fact that the drive is now forty-five minutes instead of eleven hours.

Here’s my pro and con list.
PROS
things that can be left out and remain safe:
drinks
remotes
reading glasses
pens
notebooks
bookmarks remain in books
(for the most part) everything remains tidy
reading more
doing less laundry
lack of flying food and dishes
folded laundry remains folded
more energy for play

CONS
not hearing toddler feet running down the hall
lack of random hugs and kisses
not having legit excuse for watching a shit-ton of Disney
hearing her say, “Papa”
watching YBW’s face when she says, “Papa”
not playing
not reading to her
not rocking with her before bed
not snuggling
not hearing new words as they come
not watching new skills as they develop
she has to leave to go home
I have to leave to go home

Truth be told, there is more good, more joy, and more opportunity for a new and different sort of closeness because my daughter and her family live in their own house, but I sure do miss receiving random kisses throughout my days.

Categories: me | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

adapting here and adapting there

Thing 1, Husband N, Baby K, and their two dogs officially began living in their new house April first. (no foolin’)
YBW took the day off work. We loaded up four vehicles with the last of their things, and off we went.

Baby K has a big girl bed with the most amazing (to her) Moana duvet cover! She’s so tiny in that full size bed, but it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.
In the few days they’ve been there, Thing 1 and Husband N are getting settled in their room, and setting up work space for Husband N who only goes into the office two days a week.
Thing 1 built a kitchen table and chairs and a small storage island too.

After being at the house, YBW and I went out Easter Sunday for a visit.
Baby K came out of her house squealing and shouting, PAPA! BEEEE! (for Birdie) and running to hug us. That did YBW’s heart good, he’s missed his little granddaughter.

That girl had such fun hunting for eggs for the first time out in her brand new yard.

Her mommy found eggs big enough to hold Bluey characters, Moana and Frozen stickers, and even toddler-safe nail polish

color: Berry Sweet

It was so beautiful outside, we just had to sit on the porch and check out her loot! She’s holding her Bluey and singing to her.

After her egg hunt, she sat snuggled in her Papa’s lap before letting him take her to bed for her nap.
They’re coming to our house Wednesday afternoon and staying for dinner. If y’all could have seen the grin on my husband’s face!

My Momma heart is chock full of joy for my girl setting up her home.
I honestly think unpacking and getting settled is harder and more stressful than actually moving all your things. They’re making it work. Husband N goes through a space and cleans it well before Thing 1 begins to unpack. They’re working together to create their home in that precious little house.
My Birdie heart is chock full of joy that my grandbaby is so excited to see me that she runs into my arms when I arrive at her new house.

I thought I would feel so sad when they moved. I don’t really.
I mean, I miss seeing them every day, but I know they’re just a forty-five minute drive away. And when I see them in their new space, creating a home that works for them, I feel pride and joy.
When I’m home and I don’t hear a little voice saying, “Papa!” as she runs down the hall, I’m not sad like I expected, I’m grateful we had that time. Of course, when I’ve got a drink on the table and she doesn’t come over and snag it and chug it down as fast as she can then run away, I’m super happy she’s at her house.

We’re adapting here.
They’re adapting there.
It is as it is.
It is as is should be.
And I am content in my grateful life.

Categories: me | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 118

My love of Vampire Weekend is loud and proud. Rostam Batmanglij is a founding member and produced their first three albums before he went on to other things.
Some of these other things include Changephobia a new record with a June 4 release date.
Check out this track and let me know what you think.
Here’s 4Runner by Rostam.

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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