Our Hamden House

Well I've officially entered hyper-nesting phase.  A few early fake-out contraction sessions put me in initial panic productive mode, and after getting my excitement and hopes up, I now continue to push on in this mode to both distract myself and make sure "everything is perfect" for when the baby comes!

As a result, the house is quite organized and clean these days.  So, I am documenting our current set up on camera and blog.  Again, I love the charm of the crown molding and character of this 1909 duplex!  From top to bottom:

3rd floor= John's room and eaves storage

In his big-boy twin bed!

2nd floor= 2 bedrooms and the bathroom

Eliza's room!  

More will be up on the walls eventually and the swing will be downstairs.

I LOVE the windows and wood in this room.

The one and only bathroom... which means only one to clean!

Our room, with one side being used as our "office"

Main floor= living room, dining room, kitchen, and "play room"

Living room= what you see when you walk in the front door

Dining room= central to the whole floor

Kitchen

 Greatest space ever: the play room off of the dining room. 

 There is also a clean but unfinished basement that is basically storage and laundry.  

We sure love it!

Pregnant Photography, Round 2

Alright, 38 weeks, round 2.

I can't wait to see what she looks like!  I can't wait to get to know her little personality.

I vacillate constantly between wanting her now and wanting her to wait longer.  I'm due in 2 weeks, so we'll see when she decides to make her grand entrance.  

Overall, I'm just praying like crazy for her health and hoping we all transition smoothly to a family of four!

Baby Shower!

I am so grateful for good friends!  The demographic of young, resident/PhD families in Hamden has been so amazing for me.  In the past I largely relied on school or work avenues to meet people, but this time I have been tremendously blessed with a great LDS ward and very kind and friendly women at the park!  I was anticipating being so anxious about having anyone to ask to watch John when I go into labor and friends to invite over when I'm feeling restless/cagey with a newborn.  Luckily there is an abundance of women in similar circumstances as me, and so many new friends have deeply touched me by offering just the two things I was most nervous about (labor help and newborn play dates).

Another new resident momma, Sara, threw a baby shower for me on Saturday.  It was a great gathering of friends, with lighthearted baby advice, fun socializing and eating, and setting me up with some really adorable girl clothes and accessories!

It was such a fun and touching party!  Again, I'm so grateful to have a solid support group here.

And now I'm set with cute baby girl clothes, so bring on the baby!!

Rhode Island Road Trip

Matt's vacation weeks are assigned to him and fall on rather random times, like the third week of September. My new perspective: We will celebrate the holidays however we can, so these assigned weeks just present the opportunity for more fun!    

We started the week off with a social bang, with dinners with friends and Matt hosted a late-night football viewing party for the Utah-BYU game.  John, the resident cookie monster, found a whole new level of enthusiasm when we combined already fabulous cookies with the ever so exciting BYU Cougars.

BYU Cookies!

We also took the opportunity to hike in a nearby park that is just barely outside of the "call zone" and has been very high on our bucket list since we moved here.  Sleeping Giant is full of sloping greenery and beautiful views; a great hiking venue to have nearby!

View from the top of the Tower

Two-year-old portraits are a big deal in my family, so we set a photography appointment for the first time ever and planned out an adorable outfit and shot.  Then the Curse of the Portrait hit.  John's face seemed drawn to every rough surface, he fell down (part of) the stairs, and then morning of the portrait he took a drastic turn for the lethargic and unenthusiastic (after the portrait we measured a 103 degree fever).  Despite all the scuffs and lethargy, we thankfully managed to get some really cute pictures that capture his happy personality.

Cuddly John? 

(I hate feeling helpless and sad for him when he is sick but I do love the cuddliness)

The portraits!

       

 

Fall Vacation 2012 happened to land within the "full-term" limitations, so we weren't up for traveling far.  The weather in New England is so beautiful right now, and we hadn't explored the Eastern part of Connecticut yet, so we planned a fun 2.5 day road trip to soak up the coastal towns of Eastern CT and Rhode Island.

First stop: Mystic, CT

Olde Mistick Village 

(So fun to walk around!  Many cute shops, a duck pond, and a great pedestrian layout)

Downtown Mystic

(Complete with delicious ice cream and fun boat watching)

Second stop: Our random "home base" hotel in Coventry, RI.  We found a great deal on a Fairfield Inn, which served its purpose as a central location with beds, breakfast, and a pool :)

Third stop: Providence, RI

We walked around Brown University, drove through downtown, and ate in their Little Italy (Federal Hill).  We met up with the Higbees, friends from dental school that are in Providence for a Pediatric residency, and it was so fun to see familiar faces!  We ate at a highly recommended Italian spot called Angelo's, which just so happens to be a new Guy Fieri favorite and will be featured on tomorrow night's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives!

View of Downtown from Prospect Park

Fourth stop: Newport, RI

We loved Newport! The coast is so gorgeous there, dotted with truly incredible houses.  We walked the Cliff Walk, toured The Breakers (Cornelius Vanderbilt's "summer cottage" that captures his effort to build a stronger appreciation of European architecture and decor during the "guilded age"), drove Ocean Drive, and ate in downtown Newport (amazing sandwich spot- Rosemary and Thyme).

The Cliff Walk, 

with waves crashing against gorgeous cliffs to your left

And stunning mansions to your right!

The Breakers, from the side

Ocean Drive, 

possibly the prettiest drive I've ever done on the East Coast

Fifth stop: Warwick, RI

Warwick was convenient, near our hotel, and full of good seafood options, so we dined at The Crow's Nest for dinner and watched the sunset at the Warwick Marina.

Then enjoyed really delicious ice cream at Hill Top Creamery in East Greenwich.

Sixth stop: Watch Hill, RI

Unfortunately many things close down after Labor Day, so our post-season visit was mostly for the pictures and views.  It is a very charming town with a great-looking beach!

The Ocean House, 

a beautiful Victorian hotel

 The Flying Horse Merry-Go-Round

This is the oldest operating merry-go-round in the country.  The horse manes are made of real horse hair and the horses are "flying"- no posts attached to the ground.

Seventh stop: Groton, CT

On our way home, we stopped by a great little submarine museum.  Best part: it's free!  John went to town in the little control room, pushing levers and buttons and making very important phone calls to Grandpa and Cookie Monster.

Then we toured the USS Nautilus, which is featured in the history books for numerous reasons, for its nuclear capacities, first boat to travel over the North Pole, etc.  The self-guided audio tour was great, and John imitated us well and really enjoyed exploring the sub!

Final stop: Back in Hamden, Brooksvale Park

This beautiful park has chickens, bunnies, goats, sheep, and horses, in addition to the usual park equipment and walking trails.  Again, just barely outside of "call zone", so it was nice to share it with Matt!

The rest of our week has been filled with lots of projects, movies, and friends.  It has been so nice to regroup and recharge together, and the best treat of all has been watching John's total adoration of his dad.  Overall, such a great vacation!

Here are more of our pictures.

Just John

As I'm sweeping the kitchen this morning, John pulls out a cookbook and approaches me with his favorite proposition of late, "Mama, make cookies."  He holds up the cookbook as if reading the ingredients and starts saying, "Chocolate, butter, library, cookies, Cookie Monster, cheese," then looks up at me and confirms, "Okay?"  I dropped the broom, asked him to find another recipe, and caught this on camera:

Yes, avacado and tomato were the first two ingredients mentioned in this recipe of his.  My favorite is the obvious, "Get a bowl; make cookies."

John is such a fun age, two years and two months!

After his last swim class

After his summer haircut                        

He is able to express his personality more and more, and his comments crack me up.  Here are some of his more frequent verbalizations:

*Many unprompted "Thank you, Mommy"s throughout the day (love that!).
*Everything circular is a cookie. "Mmmm, that delicious cookie.  Ommm nommm nommm nommm." The problem is we're going through a whole second round of wanting to put everything in his mouth.
*"No no mom, by myself"
*"Oh no" over any drop, spill, etc.
*Singing "C is for Cookie" with his peppy little head bob dance
*Frequently requesting a "Story bout Cookie Monmoh" ('Monster' said in an especially low and husky voice)
*Making jokes about nonsense words, particularly "appleday" and "badubah".  These words are clearly hilarious.
*Checking my comprehension constantly with an emphatic, "Okay?"  Once he's sure I get it, he often repeats with a more satisfied and determined, "Okay."

Here's a random 2 minute glimpse into his personality, ABC's included:

He gets that there is a tune, and he knows the letters well, but it's fun to see what order he decides to sing them in each day.

Here's another clip, showing his mastery of the iPad.  Here he opened Skype and tried to call his cousin Emma, all on his own.  I once said if someone is not online, they are "sleeping", so he now assumes that if the receiver doesn't pick up, they must be asleep.


Here are a few pictures capturing his favorite things:

Cookie Monster (Matt sent me this picture from a hospital lunch; it is now John's favorite thing to see on my phone, "Blueberry Cookie Monmoh")

Getting cookies out of our teeth; he is quite the avid tooth brusher (making his dad quite proud).  He knew just what to do when he saw this toothbrush at a nearby kids' museum.

And he loves outings.  We went apple picking yesterday with Sarah and Miles, and John devoured this choice apple, stem and all, before we even got back to the car.

I am so excited to see John step up to the role of big brother.  He is such an animated, curious, and kind little boy, so I'm hoping the transition of sharing the spotlight goes fairly smoothly.  John is a two year old, so we have plenty of testing limits, but the rest of his expressiveness is so fun!  Sure love you, little man.