Getting To Know You Part 4 - Upstairs

Since the house renovation is unlikely to look much different for the next two weeks (as the cabinets are still under construction and we have temporarily run out of money), I thought I'd take a minute to introduce you to the 2nd floor.

It was my wish when we built our dream house to have all 3 kids and us on the 2nd floor.  My main reasoning for that is that in every house we've lived in, the master bedroom has been on the main and the kids have been on another floor (upstairs here and our 1st house, basement at our last house).  That means I'm always trekking up or down stairs in the middle of the night when my kids are sick, scared, thirsty, or in need of a good spanking.  Just kidding.  But seriously, I've never liked not being near my kids.  But worse, I've always HATED having my bedroom be in the middle of Grand Central Station.  Kids running through it playing tag, the TV noise/kitchen noise/playing tag noise/beating each other noise always permeating the walls and taking over my room.  And the kids' stuff always migrating to my bedroom.  I just wanted a peaceful retreat, away from the hustle and bustle. 

So when we found Little Pink House III, and the master was on the main with 4 bedrooms upstairs, and a big lofted space above the living room, I saw my chance:  I wanted to cover over the lofted area to make a 5th bedroom, convert the largest bedroom into the master (with its huge bay windows looking out on the valley), turn the smallest bedroom on the other side of the Jack-and-Jill bathroom into our master closet, and then all of us would finally be upstairs!

But it was not to be.  The cost of such a renovation was prohibitive considering everything else we had to do.  Plus, what to do with the main floor master suite?  What would we make that into??  And EVERYONE from our builder to our architect to my husband and most of my friends assured me that someday I REALLY will be glad to have my room far away from my kids' rooms. 

Instead, we decided to take the smallest of the 4 upstairs bedrooms and convert it to an upstairs laundry...


So this is the current plan.  Beck and Daphne will get the two bedrooms on the south that have a Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

Beck's room...


Jack-and-Jill bath...


Daphne's room...



 Pippa will get the huge bay window bedroom by virtue of the fact that it is the quietest room and she still naps...


Her Jack-and-Jill bath will become just a Jill bath, and the Jack half, which adjoins to the new laundry room, will be closed off with a big laundry sink. 

Someday we may need to reconfigure.  I'm sure at some point the two girls will probably want to be together.  Or maybe Daphne will want a room off to herself.  In which case we'll do a little switcheroo-ing.  But for now, that's how the layout seems to work best.

Added to those rooms, there's also a little loft area at the top of the stairs.  I think I'll make it a reading nook--two nice comfy arm chairs, a book case, a side table and lamp...I think it'll be a great place to read stories before bed.  (As long as the kids don't decide to climb up the bookcase and swan dive off the balcony into the living room below.  Oh the nightmares I have thinking about that!!!)

Well, that's the upstairs.  It's the area of the house that's probably getting the least change.  Mostly cosmetic, except for the change from 4th bedroom to laundry room.  As soon as we have money, we can probably already start to re-carpet and paint it.  We do want to renovate both upstairs bathrooms at some point as they are VERY 80's and the sinks/toilets/tubs are decrepit.  But the vanities, sinks, and tubs at least are functional, so they'll probably be last on the list to be changed.

Here is the floor plan, both before and after the minor change to the laundry room (and with the new stairs skillfully added on with some mad Picassa skills by yours truly)...

Next time:  The master suite

Tigers, Skeletons, and Stuffed Sausages

Here are a few pictures for the friends, relatives, and other random strangers who enjoy pictures of my kids.

(And I can I just say, in case it isn't clear, that I no longer have any input on my kids' choices for costumes? Well, except Pippa's. And let's just say this about hers: It was NOT my first choice. My first choice was a darling bumble bee costume that Costumes4Less was supposed to ship to me between Oct 21 and Oct 26, but who informed me on OCT 27th that, oops!, they didn't actually have that costume in stock. They also informed me that they would "do everything in their power to make it up to me." But when I told them they could ship me a different costume with expedited shipping that they'd pay for themselves, not only did they not do that, they never responded at all! So, for future reference, DO NOT ORDER FROM COSTUMES4LESS!!! They are a terrible terrible company who doesn't mind screwing someone over 3 days before halloween and forcing them to dress their baby in a horrible $5 costume from the local party store which didn't even remotely fit her although it was sized 6 months larger than their baby and which required them to use the shoe covers that came with the costume for a beanie because, though the costume was made for a 1 month old, the shoe covers were made for a 6 year old.)

Phew! I just had to get that out because I told Costumes4Less I would if they didn't come through.

Now on to the lovely, scary, amazing, and very rotund pictures of my kids at Halloween 2011...

Paparazzi

I have taken so many photos of my kids lately, I swear I feel like their own personal paparazzi. Mostly it's because I'm getting used to my new camera. Also because I happen to think they're extremely cute. I'm not biased, I'm a photo-journalist in my dreams, so it's completly objective. Here are a few I've taken lately (grandparents, this is mostly for you.)

At Bridalveil Falls...










Her Royal Cuteness






Beauty School Drop Outs





Her Royal Fatness



At Cascade Springs (We have been getting in some serious nature lately. 9:00 church rocks!)...


(Look! I'm actually IN a picture!)





SO Attractive...



Well, that should tide the relatives over for a few more months, right?

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!

No, not Christmas. Back to School!

If you've ever read my blog, or listened to me talk around, say, early August on, you'll know that I have never been a fan of back to school. When they start putting out the school supplies in July, I usually sit right down amongst the markers and note-books and bawl. Back-to-school not only carries with it the long ingrained feelings of dread that both 18+ (+++) years as a student instilled in me as well as 6 years of being a teacher. There is just something wholly depressing about realizing that your summer vacation is coming to an end. And when they throw that at you in July, well it's like rubbing salt in a wound.

Then there is also the fact that I am a summer girl. I love the spring and summer, the heat, the flowers, the blue skies, the wearing of flip-flops, the not wearing of coats, the going outside without a thought for bulking up your wardrobe, vacations, crickets at night, cool grass under your toes, the smell of hot asphalt (I'm serious), staying outside long enough to notice the stars and moon....summer just has so many great things to offer. And fall, though fall itself isn't TOO bad, is just the segue into winter, which I hate. So I have always dreaded the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

But this year, ah, this year was different. Because this year I had two kids who were driving me NUTS. Driving each other nuts. Sick of being home, sick of each other, sick of me, sick of reading and play-doh and swimming in the kiddie pool, and the trampoline, and the slide, and all the other things that were so novel and fun at the beginning of summer. They were even, gasp, sick of the TV and internet and iphones! Mostly I was sick of them FIGHTING OVER EVERYTHING. And since I added a new baby to the mix, I was soooo ready to get rid of them and have just a little peace and quiet for myself and for Pippa and me.

So it was with a happy heart--despite the fact that this year meant getting up early in the morning to get Daphne off to school, and making lunches for the first time, and having to drive my kids to 2 different schools at 2 times of day, neither of which is close to my house--that I took these pictures, kissed their cheeks, and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Beck, Age 4 1/2, Preschool



Daphne, Age 6, 1st Grade

Deep Thoughts, by Arianne

I used to be really anal retentive about my kids' play-doh. I would make them be super careful not to mix the colors, and to put it away immediately when they were done to keep it soft and fresh. And then I realized, "Hey, I don't give a crap!"

The Bluest Eye

We are a brown eyed family. By "we" I mean my mom, dad, brother, sister, and me. All of us. My dad's eyes seemed to have grown greener his whole life, and my sister's eyes are definitely at the golden end of the brown spectrum. But my mom, brother, and I all have just plain brown eyes. Dark brown.

Then my brother, sister, and I all married blue-eyed spouses. So there is this kind of running competition in our family to see who can produce a blue-eyed child. The background is this:

My maternal grandparents had eyes like this:
Green
Brown



My paternal grandparents had eyes like this:
Blue
Brown

So on both sides of our family tree, we have one brown-eyed grandparent (B = dominant) and one blue/green-eyed grandparent (b = recessive). So if you remember your 9th grade biology class, the genetics chart for my own parents looks like this IF they both inherited that recessive gene from their light-eyed parent:

So they technically had a 1:2 chance of having blue or green eyed kids. None of us did. But that recessive gene could have showed up with further children or not at all. The question is, did they CARRY the recessive gene? Yes. (The evidence is below). But do my siblings and I? That remains to be seen.

Our own genetic charts (me, Jennie, Ben, together with our spouses) look like this if we carry the recessive gene from those light-eyed grandparents: That would mean I would, in theory, have a 1:2 chance of having a light-eyed child.


But if I didn't inherit that recessive gene from my light-eyed grandparents, my genetic chart would look like this: Meaning, if I don't carry that recessive gene, it doesn't matter that I married a blue-eyed man. My kids will have zero chance of having blue or green eyes.

Why does it matter? I guess it doesn't. Only, I'd like some variety. Roughly 9/10 of the world or more has brown eyes. They're just so...redundant. And in my case, the color is so static. I love that light-eyed people--be it green, blue, grey or hazel--have such variety to their eye color, such depth. Me? Just straight, plain, poop brown. So for the sake of interest, as well as the sake of phenotypical variety, (I just love finally using words I learned in junior high and have had zero use for until now), I'd really like a blue eyed child.

So, here is how the eye color for our family has turned out so far:

My Sister Jennie - brown, becoming more golden with time. This picture doesn't really show it.
Mr. Jennie - blue
Their kids...
India - brown
York - brown
Finn - the greenest of the brown-eyed grandkids. Would you even call his eyes brown? Or green? Hazel?
Arabella - brown
Adelaide - blue!
Jasper - Brown
___________

My Brother Ben - brown
Nicki - blue
Their kids...
James - brown, but definitely greenish
Avery - brown
Briella - brown

_____________

Me - brown
Big Daddy - blue
Our Kids...
Daphne - golden brown
Beck - brown
# 3 ????

_______________

Did you catch it in there??? The ONE AND ONLY blue eyed child? My sister Jennie's 5th child, Adelaide, has blue eyes. So Jennie for sure has that recessive gene. Which means one or both of my brown-eyed parents carried it and passed it on. Did my brother get it? Did I? I don't know. But it should be noted that Briella's and James's eyes--my brother's kids--were both very blue for quite a long time when they were small. You'd have sworn they would end up being blue-eyed kids. My daughter Daphne also had very green eyes until she was 2 or 3 and now they're golden-ish brown. I wonder if this hints to there being a recessive gene for both of us?

There is only one way to know. And it rests in the eyes of the child I carry. If her eyes are blue or green, I will know my gene is a Bb. If not, I will never know, because I'm pretty sure she will be our last child. So if you believe in God, PRAY. Pray with all your might for the eyes of my child to be blue. If you don't believe in variety or interest, at least do it for the sake of my curiosity.