Den {Update}

Almost nine months ago to the day, I posted about the disorganized and non-functional den space that occupied the bottom floor of our tri-level home.  Here's the initial floor plan I had thrown together:

At the time, the den looked like this:

And this:

And drumroll...it still looks that way, except instead of boxes and random baby paraphernalia there is a play kitchen and a whole fleet of garbage trucks. 

House projects were re-prioritized, investments in curtains and shutters and grass for the mud pit in the backyard were made.  The chimney was repaired and multiple trees and were cut down or pruned.  We spent most daylight hours over the Spring, Summer and Fall outside...so the den continued to get pushed down the to-do list. 

Don't get me wrong; any trip to Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Crate&Barell, IKEA all included sitting on the same couches over and over again, asking the same questions about lead times and fabric swatches.  Almost pulling the trigger a half dozen times.  But about a month ago, when winter truly set in, I started to get itchy feet about revisiting that to-do list.  It was time to start pulling the trigger.

Given my continuous struggle and hesitation about which couch to purchase, the first thing I did was hire an interior decorator that provided virtual design services.  The weekend before Christmas, I found this on my porch:

I was curious to see how a professional would lay out the room for maximum use based on the brief I provided.  Looks like my amatuer ideas weren't too far off!

{Option 1} Sectional Sofa Sleeper

{Option 2} Standard Sofa Sleeper

Furniture, Case goods, Soft furnishings...Paint!

We are still undecided on a couch and rugs (the foundation of the room) - perhaps a separate post with the contenders is in order...we did have a contractor come to bid on lighting and painting today, so things are certainly underway, finally!

Cyprus {Day 5 and Many More}

When you enter Fasouri Water Park, you truly have entered water park heaven.  Rows and rows of sunbeds, shaded by aged thatched roofs surround different pool attractions for all ages.  The speakers blare "Fasouri Water Park, the biggest and the best" while the smell of mini donuts and french fries waft through the air.  A bell rings intermittently, signaling the ceremonial dumping of the "bucket" and causing those of all ages to dash in its direction with the hopes of getting hit by its spray.

It's a place you can spend all day; and we did.  For several days during our holiday.  It's the first year that C truly found it fun - case in point...here's the look we got the first time we brought him (age: approx 8 months)



Are my parents serious right now?  I mean, really.  It is HOT and I am 8 months old and this is NOT fun for this 85 year old stuck in an infants body.



This place is a blast.

It's been a while since I've looked through these photos and I'm being dead serious when I say of the just over 50 pictures during this particular day of fun in the sun, the look on C's face is exactly the same, regardless of the activity.  Exactly.

He warmed up a bit during our next visit in 2010 (age: approx 18 months):

This place might be OK.

But 2012...this was his year.  And N's (to no ones surprise, at all -- that kid hears running water and immediately tries to rip off his shirt.)  He went for everything...the water mushroom, the lazy river, the BUCKKKEEETTTT, the water slides (!!), the fountains...

Water mushroom with Papou

Taking a break in the dolphin swing.

Heading to the water slide with dad. 

N was so overwhelmed by his options, he didn't know which way to go...

OK, so we've got the elephant slide, fountains, water mushroom, lazy river and swings this way...hmmm (oh, apologies to the random woman who photo bombed this pic.)

OR, we have the bucket, the paddle boats, and the water slides THIS way...or food.  Maybe I need food.

And for all the build up I created around the bucket...I realized I didn't take any pictures of it this year...or the other years.  Whoops.  Well, here's the stock photo from Fasouri's website:

A lot of people don't realize the force of this water will take your bathing suit right off.  Ya gotta hold on tight. 

Our next big adventure was what we affectionately call going on holiday, "on holiday", with a trip to the resort town of Protaras.  I may break up these posts  with some house updates though....yes?

Cyprus {Days 3 & 4}

We'll start off with a few pictures, which I'll call "Dressing Toddlers with Jet Lag:"

Step 1:  Approach sleeping toddlers.  Try to wake them up, I dare you.  Jet lag is toddler sleep elixir!  Trust me.  I tried to wake them up for a good ten minutes.  Don't bother.

Step 2:  Take off pj's and put on clothes.  Congratulate yourself on not waking them up so you can actually get ready  in complete silence. Then feel for a pulse just to make sure they're breathing. #momsknowwhatimtalkingabout

From here we did a reverse journey from the day before and headed back to the airport.  Shockingly early.  Check-in was delightful!  Not.  But we made it on the plane, happy to be on our last leg of air travel for a couple of weeks.

My happy boys.

This flight was only ~5 hours long, which seemed like nothing after our first long haul.  And we had an entire middle row to ourselves, which allowed us to trap control N a lot easier.  After landing and tearful hellos in the Arrivals Hall, we set off towards Limassol.

T-minus two minutes before N passes out.

T-minus four minutes until C passes out....for the next twelve hours (!!)  I told you - jet lag is truly toddler sleep elixir.

N woke when we reached the house...C did not.  And would not.  We hauled in suitcases, unpacked, lights on and off and the kid would.not.wake.up.  Not for a snack, not for dinner, not for anything.  So we slapped a pull-up and a pair of pj's on him, called it a day/night, and braced ourselves for the inevitable 4am omg-i-am-STARVING wake-up.

While I unpacked, N relished in undivided attention from his Papou and Yiayia.

"Is this what it feels like to be an only child?"

Right on cue, C woke up at 4am. After a sandwich and banana, he promptly fell back to sleep. Oh yeah.  Except that all my years of "anti jet-lag training" had disappeared and I laid awake until 7am.  Ugh.  But we took it easy the next day, getting the boys settled into their surroundings and spending quality time with their grandparents.

We bought this plane for C the last time we visited in 2010...pre-N.  You know it was pre-N because the wings are still intact.  Five minutes after N got a hold of it...no more wings.  Papou went out and bought him three more.  Just in case of future wing breakages and all.

"We totally must be on vacation - I never get to play with play dough at home!"

Our trip to Cyprus wasn't all play...we did have a bit of work to do - specifically, getting the last bits together for N's Christening, to be held in England in a few weeks time.  Traditionally the god parents purchase the christening outfit, but they weren't sure of his shoe size, so off we went to seek out shoes that could withstand feet dripping with olive oil (OK!  Maybe not dripping.  Don't worry, there will be a whole post dedicated to Greek Orthodox Christenings.  Try to contain your excitement.)

I'm still bummed they didn't have these in his size.

Next up:  THE Waterpark.  Which waterpark you ask?  Fasouri Waterpark,  featuring the one and only "bucket."  Oh yes.

Summery Holiday 2012 {Day 1..and 2}

It's taken me a long time to start writing posts about our summer holiday this year.  There was a lot jam packed into the three weeks we were gone and frankly,  I had a bit of the PTSD up until now from flying over 30 hours with two kids.  And two car seats.  And two strollers.  And four suitcases.  And three carry on's.  And a good thirty pounds of allergy friendly foods that don't exist in Cyprus.

A bit about traveling with two toddlers on long haul flights:  don't do it.

I kid! 

Sorta.

Leading up to our departure day, C had numerous questions - "How long are we going to be in the airplane?"  "Where will we be when we land?"  "Where will I sleep?".  Very cute.  N on the other hand ran around pulling everything out of the suitcases I had just packed.  He's so helpful.

I'll now leave you with a few pictures from day one and two...

Departure day!  They are convinced they can see our plane from their bedroom window.  This bought me a good 20 minutes of extra time to pack {traveling with toddlers, aka TWT, tip #1}

C doing his part to help carry our baggage.  This lasted all of two minutes before we heard "um mom, this backpack is SO heavy on my back."  We had been at the airport a total of five minutes at this point.  {TWT foreshadowing moment #1}

Check-in line.  Guess who's smiles are genuine and guess who's are hiding complete panic.

Post check-in and clearing security.  Dear TSA, thank you for family dedicated security lines.

Ooohhhhh plllaanneeess.  

Settling in for flight #1.  Water, check.  Paci acting as protection against ear issues, check.  Parents sweating due to stuffing carry-on's into awkward overhead bin space, check.

 And then we flew for ten hours.  The kiddos slept for five of those ten hours.  The other five hours went something like this:

"What can I dooooooooooooo mommy?" -- C
"N!  Stop pressing on C's controller!"  -- Me, then A, then Me, etc.100x
"N!  Stay still!" (aka, please stop trying to grab things off the tray of the quadriplegic man they sat next to us -- he was a good sport.) -- Me, me, me, me, me, basically all of N's waking hours.
And of course....
"How much longer until we get there?" -- C, then me, then A, then all of us.

And then we finally land!  Loaded our carry-on's on A like a pack mule (the least of which included 3 laptops and 2 iPads), shove N into the Ergo and off we go.  To baggage claim.  Then we realize we have no idea how to get 2 toddlers, 2 car seats, 2 strollers, 4 suitcases, 3 carry-on's and (now) 25lbs. of food to terminal 5, where our hotel was located.

Thus we started our version of jenga...the baggage cart version.  We were VERY good at baggage cart jenga by the end of this trip.  C agrees because it meant he got to sit on top of the suitcases on one of our carts.  Super safe.

We start the precarious journey through customs...the throngs of people in the arrivals area...a quick stop for soy hot chocolates...and then convince a black cab to take our piddly fair over to terminal 5.

We kick off our arrival at the hotel with C slow motion falling out of the cab, hot chocolate in hand.  He was CONVINCED he could jump out on his own.  Poor guy.  Hot chocolate all over the walkway to the hotel.  The cab driver was even more impressed with us at this point. 

In our room, we summon our last thread of energy and shower the kids, throw on PJ's and basically all four of us pass out for three hours.  That was so awesome.  I felt almost human again when I woke up.  So much so I was like "yeahhhhhh, come on guys, let's go to Paddington Station for dinner!"

Terminal 5, making our way to Heathrow Express.  

I'm so tired, I really have no idea why I'm smiling, but I'm on a train, so I'm going with it.

Proof that N smiles.

Paddington Station.

Food photographer I am not, but damn I had missed good ol' fish n' chips. And...mushy peas!!

For posterity, only (there will be a lot of these, my apologies in advance.)

I have no idea where they got these flags, but jet lag makes toddlers do funny things.

Thus we adjourn our travel adventure to England.  Next up, we wake the next morning and do it all over again for our flight to Cyprus (wince).

2013

The first day of 2013 was exactly what I had hoped, starting with a trip to my hometown to spend time with  my parents, siblings and nephews.

Bike and scooter rides along the coast with stops to watch the amazing waves.

Discovering beach teepees with cousins.

Driftwood teeter-tottering near sunset.  These two then went big and ran into the freezing water with only their skivvies on.

Every year I make a few resolutions. I never remember them by the end of the year, but I stay true to my  Capricorn/Type A persona and start out January with a list...a very mish-mash of a list.  Maybe documenting them is the trick?

1.  Revert to using a "paper" planner.  For many years I have relied on electronic tools to schedule life.  It's not working out that well.  There is something about crossing off an action item with a nice, sharp pencil versus using the back arrow key to virtually delete it that's so much more...motivating.  The paper version worked awesome for me in college...then came the invention of the Palm Pilot.  On so forth.  Sorry software programs, my personal life called and said you're FIRED.

I have always loved the Greenroom products (sold at Target) for office organization.  The other day I was cruising the back aisle end caps at Target (where the BEST deals are) and came across the cutest planners I've seen in years.  AND....and...the planner portion is actually functional - it jives with how I like to view my schedule.

I ended up with the tangerine + gold dots.

I highly recommend.  And for less than $10, it's not a huge loss if you ditch it in February. (Unlike these customer planners, recently reaching cult status from what I understand.)

2.  Pull together disaster emergency kit.  Time to buy that garbage can and stuff it with water, canned food, batteries, medical supplies and such.

3.  Finalize Living Will.  aka "Shock our Estate Lawyer".  I think he's given up on us.

4.  Remember and recognize birthdays.  Time to become best friends with Hallmark again.

5.  Spend and save more intentionally.  Plan and focus savings goals.  More grocery shopping at Safeway//less money at Whole Foods.  Prioritize home improvement projects.  Etc.

6.  More sleep.  More water.  More running.  Enough said.  (At least this year I was able to write "more" running...instead of "start" running!)

7.  Blogging.  A lot more. 

8.  Less dreaming.  More doing.  Dust off the ol' craft closet.  Make baby blankets when they are still babies...not kindergarteners.  That sort of thing.

9.  Be more connected.  Nurture the personal relationships that help support and make me who I am.

I'll stop with nine, an odd number in honor of this odd numbered year.

Welcome 2013!

Halloween 2012

Before it's six months from now and I still haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera, a few snaps from tonight in their pre-trick or treating glory.

Just a little background on N's costume.  He WAS going to be a raccoon.  I bought his costume a month ago, feeling just slightly smug with myself for not falling into the whole youngest child always gets the hand me down costume cycle (ahem, like I do with all his other clothes.)  I then pulled it out a couple weeks later and realized that despite the hanger clearly stating "18 months", the tag in the costume showed "6-9 months"

[commence cursing]

So!  With a couple weeks left before Halloween, I took it back and bought him a new one I decided C's old lion costume was good enough.  It's an improvement on the former given it was size 6-12 months after all.  Doesn't he look thrilled to be squished into it?  True story: he kept the hood on the entire time.  I'm still somewhat shocked by this.

In true N fashion, he dragged that bucket behind him the entire time.  Even when it was full of (full size!) candy bars.  And he always had to be holding a candy bar in his other hand.  When we got home, the boys dumped out their candy in the middle of the kitchen, but have no fear, you could clearly identify N's treats by those with the big teeth marks puncturing the wrappers.

C took his costume very seriously.  Because he is a serious child.  And fighting fires is serious business.  Which makes trick or treating dressed as a fire fighter VERY serious business.



See?  Serious.

So after making a candy pile in the middle of the kitchen floor and me weeding out anything with peanuts and/or eggs, the boys picked M&M's for their post trick or treating snack.  C's dairy allergy is still going strong (we still are unsure about N, but are waiting until he's more verbal to introduce full dairy), but a bit here or there doesn't hurt.  I hand them each  two M&M's to start with and the following reactions occur:

N:  Attempts to tackle me in order to get at the bag and pour the entire thing in his mouth.
C:  Gingerly chews one, then places the other one in his mouth.  Swallows like he just sucked on a lemon and tells me immediately he needs his water because, "Mom, those things are REALLY SPICY" 

Yes, he said spicy.  And then asked for pretzels.

Happy Halloween everyone; I'm going to check that my pumpkins haven't been smashed because we were the only house to not givve out full size candy bars (!!!)

I Have to Park These Conversations Here

The last few days have really underscored how C is firmly out of the toddler stage and hurtling towards being a proper little boy.  Case in point, a few of the conversations I've had with him in the past day or so.

I tend to lean into the catagory of a "fall-cleaner" vs "spring-cleaner" and made C's room my project yesterday; a ginormous map from IKEA put together, new "nice" bedding for the bunk beds that I bought two years ago (before N was born) got washed, and actual nails went into the walls to hang pictures and momentos.  It looks 100% better albeit a bit psychotic from a decorating perspective as I try to pull together a Nautical/Hockey theme (yikes - it looks as interesting as it sounds.) 

He ran upstairs when we get home.  I walk into his room and he says "So.......where is my surprise?"

Sigh.

E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g has changed in his room.  Including the massive map that now takes up a whole wall.  And a shrine to his favorite hockey players by his bed.  So as I deliberately point out these things (through gritted teeth), I ask "So what do you think, do you love it?"

He thinks about it for a couple of seconds and says to me-

C:  (pointing to the top bunk of his bed) "Mom, so like, when I'm 5 or maybe 6 will I sleep up there?"
Me:  "Yes honey, sure, 5 or 6, whenever you are ready."
C:  (pointing to the bottom bunk) "And N will sleep down there?"
Me:  "Yes, exactly."
C:  (thinking some more) "Mom, if N cries when he first sleeps there, is it ok if I get down from my bed and go into his bed to give him snuggies?  And then when he stops crying, I'll go back into my bed.  Is that ok?"
Me:  (stunned)  "Yes, absolutely."
C:  "Ok, good."

So.Adorable.

Now, let's contrast this heart melting story with the conversation I had with him tonight as I was putting him to bed.  C wants to be a fireman (again) for halloween, but wants to add fireman "accessories" to his costume from last year -

Me:  "Tell me again what you want for your halloween costume?"
C:  "Oh, ok, sooooooooo I want fireman pants, fireman boots, a fireman hose and a fireplace."
Me:  "Ok - wait, a fireplace?"
C:  "Yes, a fireplace mom, I need one."
Me:  "Uhhh, why?"
C:  "Well, I'll explain it to you next time we're on a plane."
Me:  "WHAT?  Why do I have to wait!"
*cue enormous set of giggles*

Annnnnnnnnnnnndddddd it wasn't until I was writing this post that I realized by fireplace, he meant a fire PLANE (which is derived from the fact my brother used to be on the CDF Helitac crew.)

I wish there was a way to go back to thinking like an almost four year old.  Pure awesomeness (most of the time.)