We're Here!

Remember when the back of an SUV used to be more than enough room to transport yourself plus everything you owned for a move?  Say back-and-forth to college, or as newlyweds, for instance? 

Five years, two (and a half) kids, and a couple of apartments later, and it takes the back of an SUV, a 15-foot truck (packed to the brim), the back of a Prius, and the back of another SUV to haul all your stuff.

(I blame the kids.)

But we're here!

And we've got us some exploring to do.

 

In case you were wondering about the neighborhood playground:

It checks out.

 As does our own, personal, playground in the back yard.

(Their little minds = blown.)

 

And possibly my favorite part?  THE PLAYROOM.  We have a playroom.  It needs to be fun-ed up a bit, but for now I'm happy that the toys are (relatively) CONTAINED.  It's a new home miracle!

(Also, I would like to point out that from the first picture to the second picture above, a bookshelf has been moved in with things on it that have started to be ORGANIZED.  That's called PROGRESS, people!)

House tour to come!  Though don't hold your breath.  When you move from an apartment that's almost exactly half the size, and then put some money down on a house, well, I haven't taken a math class for a solid decade here but add a few rooms, subtract the changes you want to make, realize how much furniture it will take to fill said rooms, multiply by the number of boxes that still need to be unpacked, remember that you're an interior designer so you have IDEAS, DAMMIT, carry the one and...you're going to need to save up some money for quite some time before things are "done".

But we're here (well, Tyson is gone again to work, BUT for all intents and purposes WE ARE HERE) and we love it.

BONUS!

Because there might be boxes to unpack, but it's still fall.

A Week of Lasts

When you know you're not going to stay someplace forever, you view the place differently. Madison has always been a fun sort of adventure, and yet we (or at least I) never truly allowed myself to settle in here.  And yet, it still feels like home.  Five years-half a decade!-in a place and of course it is going to become familiar, you get settled into routines.  I have my grocery store and my doctor and the kids have their school, we know our way around, have favorite places and don't even get me started on our favorite restaurants.  Things have happened while we've been here.  I moved here one week and one day after we got married, I've had three jobs here, Tyson earned his PhD, we've lost two grandparents, one cousin, one of our dads had cancer, the other had open-heart surgery, and we've had two babies.

And even though this has all been temporary-we knew that Madison would be temporary-it's weird and strangely emotional when the "last" week is here.

The last time at the playground.

 

The last time at this restaurant.  

The last time at this coffee shop.

The last time at the library.

The last time shopping at this store.

The last time going to this school, to this church, seeing these people.  Yikes. 

It's a different move than graduating high school, than leaving college.  Everyone else is dispersing at the same time.  So many of the things and people we know are staying and making their lives right here.  We're what's different, what's changing.

And as excited as we are for this new stage, new adventure, new home, and soon-to-be new baby, what I'm trying to say is...we're really going to miss you, Madison.

Projects: Plaid Blanket Scarf

I want a plaid blanket scarf.

The craving hit me suddenly, immediately.  I was going through my clothes (I called it packing, but it was more figuring out what I can still wear in that annoying Most-of-My-Regular-Clothes-Don't-Fit-But-I'm-Not-Big-Enough-to-Fill-Out-the-Maternity-Ones-Yet Stage) and realized that I had a couple of sweaters that simply Could Not Be Worn without a blanket scarf.  A plaid blanket scarf, to be specific.

The online search commenced.  However, it quickly became clear that this was not going to be easy.  My problem was twofold:

1. Most of the ones I really liked were more than I cared to spend.  Which wouldn't be the end of the world, except...
2. I wanted it now.  NOW, now.  Like, as of yesterday now.  When this bug hits, INSTANTLY is not soon enough for me.  And unfortunately the ones that I found online,  at least the ones that I liked, regardless of price, were not available in any stores near me.  Did I mention that I wanted one NOW?

Commence Project Plaid Blanket Scarf.

Never mind that there is packing to do, that we close on our house in a mere one week and five days, that there are toddlers around.  PRIORITIES, people.  I simply cannot live another fall day without one.

So I made two.

Here goes:

1. Purchase 2-2.5 yards of flannel.  If you get lucky, your fabric store of choice (Jo Ann Fabric, in my case) will have a special display of "Fall Flannel", 50% off, to make it even better.  Note that in the above photos, the scarf on the left is closer to 2 yards, the scarf on the right is closer to 2.5 yards (+ a little extra on the end of the roll).  If you buy much more than 2.5 yards, you will end up not with a blanket scarf but an actual blanket, and will suffocate or at least sweat profusely if you try to tie it around your neck.
2. Cut off all 4 edges of fabric (bonus: plaid flannel comes with built-in lines for you to cut on!).  It's not the end of the world if your cut isn't perfectly straight (like say if you already packed your good fabric scissors so you use a not particularly sharp scissors instead), since you will be fraying the edges.  Speaking of...
3. Fray the edges.  Pull loose threads on all edges until you get the amount of fringe you desire.  Find something interesting on Netflix to binge watch; this step was more time-consuming than I expected.
4. Put on a fabulously fall sweater and accessorize with your scarf.  There are plenty of tutorials online about ways to tie a blanket scarf, so I'm not going to go there.  Note that a 2-yard scarf will have much less "tying" possibilities than a 2.5 yard one.  2 yards is enough to loop around your neck once or twice, and looks cute with some fluffing and puffing.  2.5 yards will give you more leeway in tying options, such as braiding, knotting, etc.
5. Add hot beverage of choice (coffee, tea, cider), grab the closest pair of suede boots, and find some leaves to frolic in.  Your fall can now commence.

Five

Five years ago we planned to take a vacation, like our honeymoon to Jamaica, for every fifth anniversary as a rejuvenating getaway.  In theory, that sounds absolutely, totally, ridiculously doable.

Then, as it does, life happened.

That vacation is going to have to be postponed for awhile.

Instead, this year you graduated with your PhD (YAY!!!) and started a new job.

We have a move juuuuuuuust over the horizon.

To our very own (first!) home.

We have the most adorable twin toddlers.

And...another on the way.

Last year, our four year anniversary...it seemed so appropriate that four years also marked the first year we celebrated being a family of four.  When writing last year, I never dreamed that the five year mark would see us soon expanding to a family of five.

(Note: this number of years married = number of people in our family has really gotta slow down.  It's not gonna be sustainable for too much longer.)

So...that vacation?

 

Maybe next year.

(I see us going to bed at 10, sleeping "in" until 8, watching anything but PBS on TV, eating several consecutive meals without once having to get up to refill a cup or deal with spilled (aka thrown) food, with no babies or babies on the way, so we can indulge in all the fruity, girly drinks we can handle.  Deal?  Deal.)

2nd Pregnancy, 3rd Baby

There's something strange and curious about having pregnancy number two equal baby number three.  From doctor's visits with a new nurse ("So this is your second baby." "Third." "But you've only had one other pregnancy?"  "Twins." *blank look* "Ohhhh...") to that first ultrasound ("Is this your first?"  "No, third."  Holy crap that sounds like a lot of kids, it sounds like I know what I'm doing and I really have no idea) to articles and blog posts that seem to pop up at least once a week about how to balance a (singular) toddler with a newborn and adding a second child to the family after parenting just one for oh so long!

(Practice!)

In fact, it was and still is kind of hard to relate to other people's posts about their pregnancies since, y'know, the usual is to add (just!) one baby at a time.  We've always had to balance two.  That's just the reality of twins...you're thrown to the wolves and expected to swim.  (I...may be mixing metaphors here.  Whatever. Seems accurate.)  While seemingly everyone else I know is concerned with adding baby #2 to the mix and OMG how to I manage TWO KIDS?!?  Well...I've just always had to deal with that.  In most ways, I don't really worry about how adding another baby to the mix will effect Caden and Brooklyn. They've always had to deal with another little person around and having my attention divided between them.  Come to think of it, I don't really worry how adding a baby to the mix will effect them at all.  I'm more concerned with keeping them occupied while I'm nursing without fighting for the eleventeenth time over the same toy (which we probably have two of, anyway) and that I'll manage to get them fed on a somewhat regular schedule with something resembling actual, real food.

Not to diminish anyone (i.e. everyone else) who is adding a baby to the chaos that is already having a toddler.  If I only had a Caden or a Brooklyn, I'd be worrying about all the same things.  And in a lot of ways, I can relate so much more this time to articles about baby's development and whatnot, since there is only one baby in there, and my timeline as far as actual due date, doctor's appiontments, etc. actually matches what it's "supposed" to.  It was a shocker to me last pregnancy when I opened What to Expect When You're Expecting (aka the pregnancy Bible) and found no more than three pages on twins/multiples pregnancy.  (I recommend this book if you're looking for something multiples-specific.)  Or when we went to the labor and delivery class and approached the seasoned nurse who was instructing with several of our twin-specific questions and got mostly answers of "I'm not sure".  (How reassuring!).  (It went fine.)  Now when I open WTEWYE (Which, second pregnancy, so-HA!  Not that often.) it actually more or less all seems relevant, which is...nice.

Second pregnancy with only one baby after twin pregnancy BONUS: while everyone else is complaining about showing much sooner and gaining weight faster in their subsequent pregnancies, there is NO WAY I'm showing as much as I was at 17 weeks last time.  Forget second pregnancy...one baby/placenta/amniotic sac takes up WAY LESS room than TWO babies/placentas/amniotic sacs.  I'm pretty sure I was trying on maternity pants at the 7-8 week mark last time, and I held off until the 12-14 week point this time.  Whoo-hoo!