http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/needham/2009/08/freydas_18_tips_for_living_a_l.html
It's not as easy as it sounds.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Fly Me Away
Lately, Jim and I have been addicted to this song:
It's "Fly Me Away" by Annie Little, and currently is the music for the commercial for the Kindle. We also like the commercial, but the song is very catchy.
It's "Fly Me Away" by Annie Little, and currently is the music for the commercial for the Kindle. We also like the commercial, but the song is very catchy.
Friday, April 9, 2010
It's party time
Let the celebrations begin.
The magnolias and daffodils are in bloom and there are tiny leaves on the trees. It must be almost time for Annika's birthday! (I remember coming home from the hospital and feeling like spring had suddenly arrived while I had been in! Everything was suddenly in bloom and it was amazing). We have 1 birthday party per weekend for the next 3 weekends. How cool is that? Tomorrow, we are going to Dedham for a birthday celebration for all the babies in the second new moms' group that I joined (and the one in which I'm still in touch with all the moms and babies). Imagine a birthday party for 10 babies, all turning 1! That will be tomorrow.
Next Saturday is Annika's actual birthday party. We invited some family, all the neighbors, and some other friends. I believe there will be 11 kids coming to the party, not counting Annika. Should be interesting. :) Hopefully the weather will be nice.
And lastly, we will have a party the following weekend for all the babies in the first new moms' group that I joined - back when Annie was only 5 weeks old! I haven't seen most of these people since last summer, so it'll be interesting to see how everyone turned out. It seemed like in that class, all the babies were a lot bigger and more advanced than Annie.
Birthday season is going to be exhausting, I think. We'll want to do this:
But mostly, it'll be fun.
The magnolias and daffodils are in bloom and there are tiny leaves on the trees. It must be almost time for Annika's birthday! (I remember coming home from the hospital and feeling like spring had suddenly arrived while I had been in! Everything was suddenly in bloom and it was amazing). We have 1 birthday party per weekend for the next 3 weekends. How cool is that? Tomorrow, we are going to Dedham for a birthday celebration for all the babies in the second new moms' group that I joined (and the one in which I'm still in touch with all the moms and babies). Imagine a birthday party for 10 babies, all turning 1! That will be tomorrow.
Next Saturday is Annika's actual birthday party. We invited some family, all the neighbors, and some other friends. I believe there will be 11 kids coming to the party, not counting Annika. Should be interesting. :) Hopefully the weather will be nice.
And lastly, we will have a party the following weekend for all the babies in the first new moms' group that I joined - back when Annie was only 5 weeks old! I haven't seen most of these people since last summer, so it'll be interesting to see how everyone turned out. It seemed like in that class, all the babies were a lot bigger and more advanced than Annie.
Birthday season is going to be exhausting, I think. We'll want to do this:
But mostly, it'll be fun.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Weekend
What an amazing weekend. The weather was out of this world. Sunny, blue skies and 80 degrees both Saturday and Sunday. It is amazing how more hopeful about life and the world I am when the weather is nice. Yesterday, we got a ton of things accomplished. The house is actually somewhat organized. All of my cold weather seeds are in the ground (radishes, peas, and 4 kinds of lettuce). I have gained control of the laundry situation again.
Today we relaxed. Annie took a monster 3-hour nap this afternoon - I kept checking on her to make sure she was still breathing. I took a nice nap too. :) We also prepared what turned out to be a pretty nice, if unconventional, Easter meal. We had shish kabobs - Jim cooked lamb for himself, and I marinated portabello mushrooms for me and our friends, who call themselves "flexi-tarians" (but generally do not eat meat). We also had tossed salad, grilled flatbread with hummous, and our friends brought a grapefruit tort type thing, that was quite yummy. We ate in our backyard. No kidding. On Easter!
The weather is supposed to be warm all week. I'm sad that the weekend is over, but glad that it's spring and we have lots more to look forward to.
Today we relaxed. Annie took a monster 3-hour nap this afternoon - I kept checking on her to make sure she was still breathing. I took a nice nap too. :) We also prepared what turned out to be a pretty nice, if unconventional, Easter meal. We had shish kabobs - Jim cooked lamb for himself, and I marinated portabello mushrooms for me and our friends, who call themselves "flexi-tarians" (but generally do not eat meat). We also had tossed salad, grilled flatbread with hummous, and our friends brought a grapefruit tort type thing, that was quite yummy. We ate in our backyard. No kidding. On Easter!
The weather is supposed to be warm all week. I'm sad that the weekend is over, but glad that it's spring and we have lots more to look forward to.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ikea to the rescue??
Today, as I watched Annika pull things off our TV stand, I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and do some child proofing. Up until this point, we've been able to manage just by placing things out of Annie's reach. But as she gets more mobile, it's getting to be more difficult to do that.
Along comes Ikea. Neither Jim nor I have been big Ikea fans. We felt that it was a good option when you're in college, have no money, and don't care about the quality of what you're buying because you'll just throw it out in a couple of years anyway. But once you're beyond that, and if you're like me and find it hard to throw away anything, it doesn't work. Plus, the lay-out of the store always stressed me out, particularly when there were 2 zillion people there. Most people disagreed with our assessment of Ikea. Back before there was one in the Boston area, a good friend of mine used to travel back to New Jersey, where she was from, just to do an "Ikea run" (and visit her parents). But I also remember using an Ikea water glass at her house and having the thing crack in my hand.
And yet we found ourselves today at Ikea. The truth is that we don't have a budget for new furniture, and our TV stand needed to be replaced. Badly. Like, it should've been replaced a looooong time ago. And it's completely un-childproof-able. It's completely open and Annika could reach in and toss our DVD player on the floor anytime she felt the urge.
The store is about 30 minutes from our house, off of Rt. 3, so it's not like it was a huge investment of time to go there. We were very pleasantly surprised. We picked out the TV stand we wanted right away. It comes with doors that lock - perfect for child proofing. And the price was remarkably low. Then we got lunch at their cafeteria, and sat at this table next to a window with the sun pouring in. Annika even enjoyed a meatball and some mac and cheese. Here she is in the cafeteria, in her ultra-modern, Ikea high chair, playing with my empty bottle of "sparkling pear juice":
I was amazed at how child-friendly the whole place was. They have special "family friendly" parking, and they actually sell jarred baby food in their cafeteria. They also have a pretty nice-looking play area (for kids a little older and more mobile than Annika).
In addition to the TV stand, we picked up a Puong chair for my office at work (I need a more comfortable chair for reading cases and such), and a little wooden toy for Annie, as an Easter gift (since the whole Easter basket doesn't work so well when you can't eat candy or chocolate yet). I was amazed at Ikea's wooden toys for kids. They have whole train sets, like Jim had as a kid, and they are amazingly affordable. Solid wood too.
Jim assembled the TV stand this afternoon. It looks great, and everything is so organized inside. We should've done this a long time ago. I'm just amazed at how easy it was. Usually it takes us months to purchase furniture, and it's a painful, hassle-ridden process (ie: read my prior posts about our crib purchase). I guess, in the end, it's all about motivation, and then sometimes you just get lucky.
Along comes Ikea. Neither Jim nor I have been big Ikea fans. We felt that it was a good option when you're in college, have no money, and don't care about the quality of what you're buying because you'll just throw it out in a couple of years anyway. But once you're beyond that, and if you're like me and find it hard to throw away anything, it doesn't work. Plus, the lay-out of the store always stressed me out, particularly when there were 2 zillion people there. Most people disagreed with our assessment of Ikea. Back before there was one in the Boston area, a good friend of mine used to travel back to New Jersey, where she was from, just to do an "Ikea run" (and visit her parents). But I also remember using an Ikea water glass at her house and having the thing crack in my hand.
And yet we found ourselves today at Ikea. The truth is that we don't have a budget for new furniture, and our TV stand needed to be replaced. Badly. Like, it should've been replaced a looooong time ago. And it's completely un-childproof-able. It's completely open and Annika could reach in and toss our DVD player on the floor anytime she felt the urge.
The store is about 30 minutes from our house, off of Rt. 3, so it's not like it was a huge investment of time to go there. We were very pleasantly surprised. We picked out the TV stand we wanted right away. It comes with doors that lock - perfect for child proofing. And the price was remarkably low. Then we got lunch at their cafeteria, and sat at this table next to a window with the sun pouring in. Annika even enjoyed a meatball and some mac and cheese. Here she is in the cafeteria, in her ultra-modern, Ikea high chair, playing with my empty bottle of "sparkling pear juice":
In addition to the TV stand, we picked up a Puong chair for my office at work (I need a more comfortable chair for reading cases and such), and a little wooden toy for Annie, as an Easter gift (since the whole Easter basket doesn't work so well when you can't eat candy or chocolate yet). I was amazed at Ikea's wooden toys for kids. They have whole train sets, like Jim had as a kid, and they are amazingly affordable. Solid wood too.
Jim assembled the TV stand this afternoon. It looks great, and everything is so organized inside. We should've done this a long time ago. I'm just amazed at how easy it was. Usually it takes us months to purchase furniture, and it's a painful, hassle-ridden process (ie: read my prior posts about our crib purchase). I guess, in the end, it's all about motivation, and then sometimes you just get lucky.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter traditions
It's Good Friday, and today we were supposed to be in Buffalo and heading to Cleveland to celebrate Easter with my grandparents. Because we had to go into Buffalo last month suddenly, we couldn't make the Easter trip. It was certainly the right decision to go into Buffalo last month, but I'm sad that we're spending Easter by ourselves and not with my grandparents and mom. Growing up, we often went to Cleveland for Easter and I have nice memories. It's a good opportunity to visit family.
So this weekend is about finding our own "traditions," a common theme during our time here in Boston. The question, of course, is whether we should try to duplicate what we ourselves did while we were growing up, or whether we should just go with the flow and create traditions out of whatever happens. In some ways, I think it is impossible to duplicate old family traditions, because it's impossible to repeat things that have already happened with people who are far away or gone all together. But I suppose there are some things we can duplicate - the Easter basket, dressing up in nice clothes, a nice dinner, perhaps going to a church service of some sort.
In a way, our "tradition" for Easter when we spend it in Boston has been pretty low-key. I'd have never believed it when I was a little kid, but when you're an adult, the Easter Bunny doesn't have the same allure! And going out and buying a frilly dress to wear to Easter mass and brunch just doesn't happen. But now we have Annie, so perhaps some of those traditions will come out of hiding. It's as if there's a clean slate at the moment, since we haven't ever done anything special for Easter when it's just been us in Boston. It's imposing. At the moment, we spend just about every holiday there is in Buffalo, so we don't have a great track record of creating our own traditions. That's going to have to change as Annie gets older, so I guess Easter is a good start. I don't want the only tradition she knows to be getting in a car and going somewhere else.
We are having friends over for dinner, and this is the second year that we've had dinner with them on Easter. Last year, Easter dinner was my last real meal before I had Annika. I went into the hospital the next day. I remember coming home from the hospital the following Saturday and still seeing the cooling racks on the counter from when I had made cupcakes for Easter dinner. It was a bizarre experience, because it seemed so long ago. This year, I think we're going to cook out shish kabobs on the grill.
Today the weather is going to be beautiful. I'm hoping to get outside with Annika, and I'm also hoping to put together a little Easter basket for her.
So this weekend is about finding our own "traditions," a common theme during our time here in Boston. The question, of course, is whether we should try to duplicate what we ourselves did while we were growing up, or whether we should just go with the flow and create traditions out of whatever happens. In some ways, I think it is impossible to duplicate old family traditions, because it's impossible to repeat things that have already happened with people who are far away or gone all together. But I suppose there are some things we can duplicate - the Easter basket, dressing up in nice clothes, a nice dinner, perhaps going to a church service of some sort.
In a way, our "tradition" for Easter when we spend it in Boston has been pretty low-key. I'd have never believed it when I was a little kid, but when you're an adult, the Easter Bunny doesn't have the same allure! And going out and buying a frilly dress to wear to Easter mass and brunch just doesn't happen. But now we have Annie, so perhaps some of those traditions will come out of hiding. It's as if there's a clean slate at the moment, since we haven't ever done anything special for Easter when it's just been us in Boston. It's imposing. At the moment, we spend just about every holiday there is in Buffalo, so we don't have a great track record of creating our own traditions. That's going to have to change as Annie gets older, so I guess Easter is a good start. I don't want the only tradition she knows to be getting in a car and going somewhere else.
We are having friends over for dinner, and this is the second year that we've had dinner with them on Easter. Last year, Easter dinner was my last real meal before I had Annika. I went into the hospital the next day. I remember coming home from the hospital the following Saturday and still seeing the cooling racks on the counter from when I had made cupcakes for Easter dinner. It was a bizarre experience, because it seemed so long ago. This year, I think we're going to cook out shish kabobs on the grill.
Today the weather is going to be beautiful. I'm hoping to get outside with Annika, and I'm also hoping to put together a little Easter basket for her.
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