catching up...

As for George...We just returned from G's fifteen month pediatric appointment.  He weighs in at 24.7 pounds (50%), measures 32 inches (75%) and his head is 48 cm (75%).  The doctor was very impressed as he demonstrated his climbing ability, flipped through the pages of board books and charmed her with his dimpled grin.  Although babies raised in bi-lingual homes often start talking much later than kids learning one language, she mentioned that his dozen or more words are actually above the average for his age. He braved it through three vaccines and happily accepted a Spiderman sticker pop (stickers back to back on the end of a tongue depressor) as we left the office. 

We have a new obsession around here: Trains.  Lots and lots and lots of trains. The container that holds them is emptied out first thing in the morning and not cleaned up until a few minutes before bedtime.  All day long, trains run around our kitchen floor, furniture and window sills.  And, tracks?  Ha!  Who needs tracks?  Our trains run on any surface our little guy can imagine.  And, that is the point.  Imagination.  Just what we want for him.  The electronic toys were already at a minimum around here and now, they are all but forgotten.  In favor of "chhhhhhhooooooos."  Many thanks to my cousin and her girls for some hand-me-downs that were happily added to our small starter stash - rest assured they are already well-loved :)

When G is concentrating hard or processing something new, he wears this expression and utters an "Oooo" sound.  I love capturing these little bits, pieces and quirks of his development.

On the homefront...We are still on a search for the elusive perfect-for-us house and, while we look, are starting to get the condo ready to list.  This past Friday night, Mr. Boom and I took a trip to Home Depot and left with paint, a closet organizer, interior doors and hardware and a plan to get a start on improvements during the weekend.  The closet organizer is installed and we both have a bit more work to do before it is blog-worthy but, we are both happy with how it turned out and the better use of space.  When it's all together, I'll post before and after photos.  Bringing out the tools for this project meant that Mr. Boom had a good use for this handy little stocking stuffer from Christmas: 

On saving money...I am actively shopping grocery sales and couponing.  My weekly savings at the grocery checkout averages about $25.  But, this weekend, even though it was the trip for stocking up on meats I was able to combine sales prices with coupons and doublings to save a whopping $36.70!  That's a third of the total bill.  Very, very pleased and well worth the pre-planning.

Some of the best deals:

(3) Coffeemate creamers for $2.50 (on sale 3 for $5, used a $1 off coupon + a 75 cent coupon that the store doubled)

(2) Yoplait Yogurt 4-packs for $3.50 (on sale 2 for $5, used 50 cent coupon that the store doubled and saved an extra 50 cents for scanning items myself)

Pork shoulder $1.99/lb - purchased a 3 pound cut that is in the crockpot right now for our Pulled Pork dinner tonight 

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.99/lb - purchased 4 pounds

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs $1.99/lb - purchased 4 pounds

In order to really take advantage of meat sales, I use a very essential kitchen tool: a vacuum sealer.  I bought a FoodSaver several years ago off QVC and it has paid for itself many times over.  Whenever there is a great meat sale, I have no qualms about stocking up and no worries about using the meat before it's expiration as I'm able to vacuum seal in portions that suit our family and certain recipes, then freeze them for later. 



The bags I put together today are a perfect example.  Four chicken breasts are the amount needed to make Shredded Taco Chicken (a favorite in our meal rotation) and two pounds of chicken thighs are just the right amount for the Chicken Marsala slow cooker recipe or, one of a few others. Saving money and saving time = a saner me (or, that's what I keep telling myself!).

working mommy wednesday: he said, she said...

The prompts for this week were a choice of #1: He said/ She said... things you and your spouse just don't see eye-to-eye on, or  #2: Show us your life (work, house, family, etc in pictures.).  I'm going with the first today because it's relevant to a rather large issue Mr. Boom and I are facing right now. 

We are searching for a larger house. 

Sort of. 

The "sort of" is the source of our on-going discussions and assertions of differing viewpoints.  Right now, we own a cozy two bedroom condo right in the heart of a bustling river town.  We have walking access to just about everything we could need.  Out of infant Tylenol?  Need a gallon of milk?  Have a craving for an ice cream cone or a gourmet coffee drink?  We need only walk a few blocks and we have a grocery store, drug store, dozens of excellent restaurants, a wine shop (mmm...ChocoVine!), a fantastic library, several parks and playgrounds, schools, the express train to New York City...well, you get the idea. We are in a major hub.  Ideally, we would purchase a larger home in this or one of the neighboring towns with a similar composition.  If it were not for the taxes.  We can afford a nice home with everything we are looking for.  But, the taxes?  Notsomuch. Not where we would really like to live. 

And, there is where we don't see eye to eye.

Most of my childhood was spent living in a rural setting. I remember well needing to get in the car to go anywhere.  It's just something you get used to.  My husband has always lived where we are right now. The need to drive to a park or to a place to safely take a walk is foreign to him.  I adore our town, our condo and the just-out-the-front-door access to everything we could want.  What I'm not so fond of is the lack of space and the price we pay for such conveniences. While I will certainly miss the walkability, I'm willing to make the move out of town to have what we do not right now: much more space inside and green space outside.

We're trying to figure out how to make a compromise.  It is not easy.

So, for now, we look at online listings.  When we see something that looks like it could be of interest, we'll do a drive-by to see if we like the property, the neighborhood.  And repeat.  Eventually we will make a real decision about a town and compromises we are willing to make.  Right now, we talk and look and wait.

My weekend warrior...

In their infinite wisdom (insert eye roll here) previous owners of our condo had removed the closet from our second bedroom thus, creating a den and leaving us with both a lack of storage space and a dilemma. We needed more storage for ourselves and now, even more importantly, for our baby. We had spoken to a contractor but, neither of us really wanted to take time off of work to be home to supervise construction. Then, my husband remembered just how handy he is, recalled that we had a three day weekend to make progress and decided to do it himself.

As of this morning, framing is done and wiring/installation of the closet light, wall switch, outlet and cable hookup are in progress. So proud of him!

UPDATE: As of Monday night, the sheet rock and patching are finished. Just need to let the patches dry then prime, paint, add trim work, the shelving/rod system and doors...yay!!! Looks like we will have a fully functional closet very soon.

-- posted from my iPhone