Milkymilk

Settling Down

After five years of marriage and two kids, we did it.  Yes, we finally have decided to settle down.  We bought a house.

Of course we still have Skylar's house in Los Angeles, or our retirement home, as I like to call it.  Sure, it'd be nice to sell it someday, and maybe even make some money off of it so we could furnish this house.  But, hey, who needs furniture?  I hear most people don't use their formal living rooms any-who.

Really, we do plan to get some things for the house here and there as we go.  Currently we are looking for an outdoor couch and a light fixture for the dinning room.  This is a little adventure that has taken us deep deep down a rabbit whole of shopping that has become more painful than pleasurable.  If you have ever taken a 4 year old and a 2 year old into West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel in one night, you know our angst.  As does most of the population of Westport, CT.  Jam hands, dirty diapers, fine furnishings and fragile objects; it is all just not a good combination. 

Then there was tonight.  We took the girls to Lillian August in Norwalk.  (If have never been, you have to go.  Amazing.)  Harper walked in, stopped, looked around in awe, and said:

"This looks like my dreams."

Hopefully, one day she'll say that about her house, too.  And, hopefully, watching the house get to that point will be super fun, at least for you. 

Here are some pictures as it is now.  We moved in about 3 weeks ago.  It is a completely renovated cape, and we have the benefit of loving what the previous owners did.  It will just take some window dressing to make it feel like ours.

(Oh, and if anyone has any tips for hanging unmounted deer antlers, like the ones hanging out on top of our hutch, feel free to let me know.)

short and sweet

Between the big blow out party we had for Harper this year, and all the work we have been doing on our super secret (not that secret) surprise coming up soon, we decided to just have a little family party for Casey's birthday this year.  We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant, because we figured it’d be well over a decade before she'll actually ask to do that for her birthday.  Got to make those self-serving decisions for her while we can, right?  She loved it. 

I also made an icebox cake.  Yes, a no bake dessert.  It took about 15 minutes to make, and was amazing!  So delicious!

Casey loved every last bit of her special day.  She was over the moon for her super simple party, and two year olds will be the first to let you know when they are unhappy

Bo & No Thank You

Lately the girls have turned a corner.  Sometimes when I hear them screaming in the other room, and I come marching in prepared to chastise Harper, I find them playing.  TOGETHER.  Screaming screams of joy.  Other times, they are just tormenting each other, as usual.

Today, they played with their dolls.

Harper’s Baby

Name:  Bo

Favorite Drink:  Pineapple Juice  (Freshly squeezed from Bodega, for $6.  Damn you Bo, and your fabulous taste in Mexican food!)

 

Casey’s Baby

Name:  No Thank You

Favorite Drink:  Pepper 

Finish Line/Happy Birthday Baby

When we found out I was pregnant with Casey, we thought if we could just make it till the kids were two and four years old we'd have it made.  We did it!  It went by in a blink of an eye!  It was a whirlwind, but a squishy lovely wonderful cuddly whirlwind, um... most of the time.  As much as I adore the little girl Casey is becoming, I miss her itty-bitty baby days like crazy.

Any-who, Happy Birthday Baby Casey!  I made a cheesey slide show in your honor.*

Untitled from mary smith on Vimeo.

 

*Okay, so this is a day late due to glitches in my computer and, ummmm, a certain birthday girl who wanted to party late night.  What-cha-gonna-do?  Poor second child.

sight for sore eyes

Hello stranger.  It has been too long, much too long.  Sorry to have disappeared there.  My oldest brother, Will, passed away suddenly in October.  Well, that was not a terribly delicate way to break the news at all, was it?  Forgive me; telling people is one of the worst parts.  You’d think I’d get better at it, but not so much.  It is still really difficult to talk about, so I’ll skip strait to the kids.  Maybe one day I’ll find away to say more. 

They are growing up SO fast!  Casey will be two on Saturday.  TWO.  I look at her, still all itty bitty and baby fatty, and think: how in the world did we have kids two years apart?  At the time, it seemed like the best idea ever.  They’d be buddies, we’d have a little over four years strait of diapers and be done with it, and so on.  Not that we’d have done it any other way, but that was bananas.  Worth it, but bananas.

Harper turned four a few weeks ago.  Four is basically like a person, but smaller with terrible penmanship and a very short temper.  She was sitting on the couch with a book the other day with a book, and I asked her what she was doing. 

H:  Reading.

M:  Did you learn to do that is school, by sounding out the letters?

H:  It’s complicated, mom.

Really?  Already I’m too much of a fuddy-duddy to understand things, things like reading!?  Which, she cannot do, by the way.  Any-who, she is four, and should be writing her name.  For about five months I’ve been trying to get her to do this, on and off, with a variety or tactics, and have yet to get her past H.  Then she writes Toodee (from Yo Gabba Gabba), and attempted to write FOUR of her friend’s names, even kids with s-e-v-e-n letter names!  I swear, the girl is going to win a Pulitzer before she’ll write Harper.  It is my own fault for trying to lure her into doing it in the first place.  I should have just told her whatever you do, don’t ever ever write Harper!  And, don’t pick up all those toys!!  Put the veggies down, and step away slowly.  Someday I’ll learn… maybe.

Missed you guys.  Glad we are back together.