When we were very young

Earlier this year, when we were ready to move Malcolm into the crib in the nursery and Michael into a big bed, we thought that it might be too much to move Michael into a new bed and a new room all at once.  We'd tried last summer and it didn't work.  Mike had the great idea to get bunk beds and put them into Michael's "Nemo" room, so he could stay in his room while still moving to a bigger bed.  We dismantled the day bed in the middle room and put it in the garage (I'm sure to Theresa's approval ... she has laughed at me moving that bed from apartment to apartment and room to room over the last 8 years, but hey, it's been a good bed! :).  That room became the new nursery.  Michael did a GREAT job transitioning to the new bed in his own room -- in spite of my concerns, he never rolled off the side, started waking up in the middle of the night again, or refused to go to sleep.  And Malcolm did well moving to the crib, too.  But his room's had bare walls ever since then -- until this past weekend.  My mom was able to come in for the birthday party and to paint the new nursery.  Mike picked the classic Pooh theme, so we found some library books and picked out a few scenes.  It looks so wonderful!  The boys love it -- they keep checking out the new pictures and telling me about them.  When my mom was here, Michael kept telling me, "Lita paint Winnie-the-Pooh, just like Nemo!"  Since she left, he said, "Lita's all done painting!"

Thanks to Theresa for the paint supplies and to my mom for the awesome artwork -- we love the new room!

A River Runs Through It

We had a nice little storm pass over Dallas on our way home from work. Below is the effect:

That's the runoff behind our house. Usually, the water trickles out from the rest of the neighborhood, but today's storm made it swell to just 3 feet below ground level.

Minor issue

When we rearranged the media room to make it more childproof for Michael, I had to move the fake ficus tree in the back corner because it wouldn't fit behind Mike's desk. I tried putting it in the other corner, but Michael would try to pull it over and pull out all the moss. So I had to move it out of the room back to our bedroom for now.

The thing is, though, it's driving me NUTS not to have that green in this room. Every time I look back in the corner where Mike's desk is, I think, "There needs to be a plant there." It throws off the whole feel of the room. If the tree was there, everything would feel settled and I wouldn't give it much of another thought. But it's driving me nuts. So, I may have to go to Target this weekend and either get a regular hanging plant or a corner shelf and put a little potted plant on it. (All fake, of course.) I think there really is something to feng shui...

Things I found on Craigslist this year

• A crib and dresser for the baby.


• An electrician to install ceiling fans.


• An awesome Dutailier glider rocker chair.


• Coffee table and two matching end tables for the living room.


• Tree and lawn care service people.


• A baby bouncy seat.


• Our realtor.

On eBay I found the baby's changing table, nursing bras and a couple of nursing tops, and my pump.  The Internet rocks.

Fancy new bathroom!

[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Old bathroom - not bad, but yellowish with teeny shower."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_160" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Point of no return!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Fancy new shower!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Fancy new bathtub!"][/caption]

Last steps should be shower door, mirrors and lights by the bathroom sinks, and clean up.

Home at Last

• We are about 95% moved in after the weekend. Many thanks to Theresa and Chris for packing and delivering many of our things on Saturday.


• The new water heater was delivered and installed on Saturday afternoon. It looks a lot better than the old one.


• The area initially flooded by the water leak is completely dry now. The only thing left to be done is a carpet cleaning, which will take place sometime this week.


• Our new sofas and buffet/hutch china cabinet was delivered on Saturday. They look even better in our new house. The china cabinet even matches the new dining room chandelier, which we picked up at Lowe's.


• To do for this week: unpacking, grill, lawnmower, patio furniture, painting closets, basketball hoop installation, security system installation.


• To do near future: window installation, master bathroom remodel, painting baby's room.

We will post some before/after pictures once we finish unpacking and cleaning.

ARGH!

So it turns out home warranties are completely meaningless documents. After notifying the home warranty company on Wednesday night that our water heater had started leaking, flooding the closet and part of the media room, they waited until midday Thursday to call a plumber to come take a look at it.

The plumber was scheduled to come between 9-1 this morning and came at the tail end of that time block. After he inspected the water heater he proceeded to reveal to Kim that the water heater had a hole in it. REALLY?1? A HOLE?!? HOW SHOCKING!!!

But, of course, he couldn't fix the hole, and he couldn't schedule an appointment to replace the water heater because they don't do same-day installation. The earliest he could schedule it would be Monday. His only solution was to go outside and turn off the water for the ENTIRE house, which according to his plan, would leave us without water all weekend.

I received a follow-up call from the warranty company almost immediately. The representative was not very helpful. It turns out that if you do the installation yourself (or have another company do it) they only pay out $300. She seemed that we would be without water all weekend and continue to have water leak all weekend. (How long does it take for a 50-gallon tank to drain?)

After I talked to her, I immediately got on the horn with Lowe's, which is just around the corner. They were extremely helpful. They will be able to come out tomorrow morning between 8-11 to install a brand new 12-year water heater. The total cost will be just under $900. So, thanks to the generosity of the home warranty company, we will only be responsible for 2/3 of that. All because their plumber wouldn't do same day install.

Of course, we also have the movers coming to the townhouse between 8-11 to get our furniture, and we have Rooms to Go coming between 9-1 to deliver our sofas and cabinet, so Kim and I will each be manning our respective properties. Our hope is to have the water back on by midday, and we can end this ridiculous week on a note of calm.

On a personal note, thanks to Jones Day for finally finding an assignment that would keep Kim occupied 18 hours each day this week. It only took you 8 months to do that, and you guys have impeccable timing. I bet they'll try to call her while she's giving birth to see if she can draft a quick lease in between pushes.

/end sarcasm