January 8th, 2011
Y is for Youthful
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Fishing with the Mirena
So without getting too graphic or anything, I'll simply say that I recently decided to get a Mirena IUD. Its a device to prevent pregnancy temporarily (though decently long term 5-7 years). If you want to check out the website, here it is.
I went to the doctor just to discuss options/risks/etc. and she had a demonstration version of the device to show me what the procedure would be like. Bella was, understandably, very interested in the whole thing and asked me what it was. I'm not a parent to mince my words. At the dentist, the suction tube is a suction tube, not Mr. Thirsty...and so when she asked, I told her it was a Mirena. The doctor chimed in and said, 'Or a fishing pole!' because of the way the Mirena hangs by a string at the end. So Bella got to go fishing with the Mirena...
I went to the doctor just to discuss options/risks/etc. and she had a demonstration version of the device to show me what the procedure would be like. Bella was, understandably, very interested in the whole thing and asked me what it was. I'm not a parent to mince my words. At the dentist, the suction tube is a suction tube, not Mr. Thirsty...and so when she asked, I told her it was a Mirena. The doctor chimed in and said, 'Or a fishing pole!' because of the way the Mirena hangs by a string at the end. So Bella got to go fishing with the Mirena...
For some reason this whole thing struck me as totally hilarious because it's another example of "Only in OUR family!"
Monday, June 6, 2011
Things we're looking forward to
Just so you don't think we're leaving Rhode Island sobbing about where our life is heading, we should counter those posts last week about what we'll miss with a post about what we're looking forward to.
1. Shorter Winters. Including but not limited to: not snowblowing, and being warmer than 50 degrees in June
2. Being near my family. I'm looking forward to Bella getting to know and learn from her Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Joseph, Pawpaw, Nanny, Papa, and all of our NC relatives
3. Living on the water in a bigger house! This view says it all:
1. Shorter Winters. Including but not limited to: not snowblowing, and being warmer than 50 degrees in June
2. Being near my family. I'm looking forward to Bella getting to know and learn from her Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Joseph, Pawpaw, Nanny, Papa, and all of our NC relatives
3. Living on the water in a bigger house! This view says it all:
4. A chance to make new friends
5. Vinny having shorter work hours
6. The opportunity to experience being a military family and the pride that comes from knowing we're helping our country
We're so excited to begin this new chapter of our lives!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Wired: Rewiring an Outlet In the Dark
The move is less than a week away and we're in a frenzy of last minute things to get done around the house. Fixing a fan pull, replacing a toilet handle, lots of little things that we've put off but need to be done before we leave it in the hands of tenants. One of those things is rewiring the outlets in the laundry room.
We've rewired the outlets in most of the house over the past few years, mainly because they looked old and we replaced them with nice new shiny ones.
I primed the laundry room a while back and I removed the outlet covers. (I eventually decided since we were close to selling it to just leave it primed instead of choosing a color so the new owners had it ready for whatever color they wanted) I tossed out the covers because I knew that I wanted to replace the dark brown outlets with nice new white ones. So for the past few months (it might be closer to a year), the hideous brown outlets have been staring me down from the white walls.
Exhibit A:
For most of the outlet rewiring, it gets put off because we have to kill the power and we usually don't get around to it til night time and then there is no natural light to rewire with. In the laundry room, which is in the basement...this is a constant excuse and one that isn't going away.
So step one was to kill the power. Luckily a while back my mom helped me label some of the circuit breakers, but the wiring in this house is still wonky. For instance, the kitchen is on 3 different breakers. One breaker does the outlets on one wall of the kitchen, plus the overhead lights in the garage. Another does the overhead lights, plus the outlets in the dining room and 1 outlet in the bathroom. Weird. You get the picture. So I clicked off the breaker labeled 'laundry room,' went back to the laundry room and sure enough the lights were out. I pulled out my flashlight and started unscrewing the outlet and thought, "You know...maybe I should check this specific outlet." So I plugged in the iron and it lit up like always. ARG. So back to the circuit box. Clicked another one that was a likely candidate...no luck. This went on and on til I got fed up and just killed power to the whole house. Finally...the outlet was off.
So I unscrewed the screws holding it in place at either end, took a look at which wire was where on the old outlet. You don't have to be an electrical genius to just replicate what is already there. So take note of which wire goes where...exactly, and replicate it with the new outlet.
Here is that step:
OK, that's me being funny...it was dark after all. Truthfully, I was too busy holding the flashlight and the outlet and the screwdriver to take pictures in the dark. But I put all the wires back where they belonged on the new outlet, screwed the new outlet into the wall with the screws at either end, and then put the nice shiny new white cover over it.
The finished product:
And of course then I had to go around the house resetting all the clocks. Too bad I still have 2 more to do. I did that one during nap time and with all the circuit breaker nonsense I only had time for 1. The procedure for changing a light switch is pretty much identical.
So do you do wiring projects around your house or do you leave that stuff up to the professionals?
We've rewired the outlets in most of the house over the past few years, mainly because they looked old and we replaced them with nice new shiny ones.
I primed the laundry room a while back and I removed the outlet covers. (I eventually decided since we were close to selling it to just leave it primed instead of choosing a color so the new owners had it ready for whatever color they wanted) I tossed out the covers because I knew that I wanted to replace the dark brown outlets with nice new white ones. So for the past few months (it might be closer to a year), the hideous brown outlets have been staring me down from the white walls.
Exhibit A:
For most of the outlet rewiring, it gets put off because we have to kill the power and we usually don't get around to it til night time and then there is no natural light to rewire with. In the laundry room, which is in the basement...this is a constant excuse and one that isn't going away.
So step one was to kill the power. Luckily a while back my mom helped me label some of the circuit breakers, but the wiring in this house is still wonky. For instance, the kitchen is on 3 different breakers. One breaker does the outlets on one wall of the kitchen, plus the overhead lights in the garage. Another does the overhead lights, plus the outlets in the dining room and 1 outlet in the bathroom. Weird. You get the picture. So I clicked off the breaker labeled 'laundry room,' went back to the laundry room and sure enough the lights were out. I pulled out my flashlight and started unscrewing the outlet and thought, "You know...maybe I should check this specific outlet." So I plugged in the iron and it lit up like always. ARG. So back to the circuit box. Clicked another one that was a likely candidate...no luck. This went on and on til I got fed up and just killed power to the whole house. Finally...the outlet was off.
So I unscrewed the screws holding it in place at either end, took a look at which wire was where on the old outlet. You don't have to be an electrical genius to just replicate what is already there. So take note of which wire goes where...exactly, and replicate it with the new outlet.
Here is that step:
OK, that's me being funny...it was dark after all. Truthfully, I was too busy holding the flashlight and the outlet and the screwdriver to take pictures in the dark. But I put all the wires back where they belonged on the new outlet, screwed the new outlet into the wall with the screws at either end, and then put the nice shiny new white cover over it.
The finished product:
And of course then I had to go around the house resetting all the clocks. Too bad I still have 2 more to do. I did that one during nap time and with all the circuit breaker nonsense I only had time for 1. The procedure for changing a light switch is pretty much identical.
So do you do wiring projects around your house or do you leave that stuff up to the professionals?
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Things we'll miss about living in RI - Part 2, Friends and Family
We've made so many wonderful friends in our 4 years here in Rhode Island. And being near Vinny's family has been great. I don't want to wax philosophic too much, but I do want to pay a bit of homage to these people who have been such a huge part of our lives for the past 4 years.
We're a little over an hour from Vinny's family here, but being able to attend family functions, and being surrounded by their support has been very nice. I've learned how to host a function properly, I've learned to relax and parent without hovering, and I know Bella is growing up knowing how many people love her.
So to the Champions, and the Varallos, and the Ippolitos, and the Biziers, and the Bolgers, and the Dudleys, and the Valentes, and the many family friends....thank you. We will miss you and we hope you come to visit (just maybe not all at the same time).
We also have great friends, some whom we've known since day one, and some who we met just recently: The Gradys, the Clarks, the Glovers, the Adams, the Monaghans, the Alschulers, Dr. Everage, Mr. Ndumele, Mr. Koestler, Ms. Viscidi....you will all be missed.
I'd say that, by far, our best friends in Rhode Island have been the Howells. Perhaps an unlikely friendship, or rather a friendship that occurred in an unlikely place. We met them in a class at the hospital about how to take care of your infant when we were both pregnant with our first children. Then they turned up again in the class about breastfeeding and it seemed like maybe we should at least exchange contact info. Three years later, Bella and their son Xander are still best buddies. We have been on trips together, shared many meals, uncountable laughs, and the ups and downs of parenting. We will miss you guys more than you could imagine. And, as we have said before, you are required to keep in touch because it's obvious that Xander and Bella are destined to get married one day :)
We're a little over an hour from Vinny's family here, but being able to attend family functions, and being surrounded by their support has been very nice. I've learned how to host a function properly, I've learned to relax and parent without hovering, and I know Bella is growing up knowing how many people love her.
So to the Champions, and the Varallos, and the Ippolitos, and the Biziers, and the Bolgers, and the Dudleys, and the Valentes, and the many family friends....thank you. We will miss you and we hope you come to visit (just maybe not all at the same time).
We also have great friends, some whom we've known since day one, and some who we met just recently: The Gradys, the Clarks, the Glovers, the Adams, the Monaghans, the Alschulers, Dr. Everage, Mr. Ndumele, Mr. Koestler, Ms. Viscidi....you will all be missed.
I'd say that, by far, our best friends in Rhode Island have been the Howells. Perhaps an unlikely friendship, or rather a friendship that occurred in an unlikely place. We met them in a class at the hospital about how to take care of your infant when we were both pregnant with our first children. Then they turned up again in the class about breastfeeding and it seemed like maybe we should at least exchange contact info. Three years later, Bella and their son Xander are still best buddies. We have been on trips together, shared many meals, uncountable laughs, and the ups and downs of parenting. We will miss you guys more than you could imagine. And, as we have said before, you are required to keep in touch because it's obvious that Xander and Bella are destined to get married one day :)
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| Bella and Xander at 3 months |
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| Bella and Xander at 3 years |
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| They already look like an old married couple don't they? |
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Object Boxes
Thanks to some very creative and generous friends and a very productive trip to a Michaels in a different place, we have updated our object boxes (one box for each letter), which we use in the Montessori curriculum to teach the sounds of letters in a concrete way, eventually learning to spell the words.
Check out the updated contents here!
Check out the updated contents here!
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| With our new pile of objects, getting ready to put them in their boxes |
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