The Visitation

The last several weeks have been such a blur that I'm not sure what's happened during them! I know my parents and grandmother were here, Lula officially and finally started walking, we bought a house, moved, sold our old house, and have started renovations on the new one...and I'm 10 weeks pregnant to top it all off! Whew!

I fully intend to chronicle the progress of our renovations, but Jay has jumped in with both feet so quickly that I'm already very behind! I've barely been able to keep up with before and after pictures he's moving so fast. So I figured I better start with my parents visit and then we'll move on to the move and new house.

Below is Lula in her spiffy Steak n Shake hat...Grandmother likes to eat out and so Lula often found herself in locations I would not usually take her. They were such a blessing to have around while I finished teaching for the summer and packed up our house and battled nausea and exhaustion.

Lula was quite a little trooper as we packed up the house and put way too many possessions into boxes. She didn't seem to notice and was happy to help when she could. One day she sat on my bed while my mom and grandma neatly placed hangers in a box. Lula immediately caught on and started handing hangers to Grandmother until they were all gone! She also enjoyed climbing into boxes and being pulled around in them. This was not very helpful! But definitely fun!
Lula spent a great majority of these past weeks on the porch with Nana and Grandmother who love to be outdoors...especially if there's a porch and rocker involved. Lula loved it too.

She also fell in love with Brown Cow yogurt thanks to Nana and now steals it out of the fridge whenever she can.
My grandmother played with Lula endlessly while the rest of us did daily tasks and packed. She was such a huge help and Lula instantly fell in love with her. One of Lu's new accomplishments, along with walking, is placing the rings around the pole. She had such an attentive audience while my folks were here that any time she did something new, she demanded applause! She's turned into quite a little ham and loves attention...which she received plenty of!


We were also able to celebrate my gorgeous mom's birthday while they were here. Overall it was a busy visit, but we couldn't have done all that we did without them.

Summer Time!

Well, life has been busy to say the least! We've bought a new house in the University Heights area, our house is under contract, and we'll be moving in less than three weeks! Jay and I are very excited about our new house. It was built in 1937 and needs some major updating. It's definitely a project house, but we're looking forward to it. It's one of the few things that Jay and I love to do together as a hobby. So I think it will be fun. We move on July 31...if anyone wants to come help!!! :)

I've been teaching at MSU this summer in the afternoons and doing my online job in the morning and toting Lula to and fro. It's been a bit crazy, but the teaching will be over soon and I'm cutting back on my online job hours. Which will be good since I'll have lots to keep me busy in the new house!

My mom and grandma are also here for the three weeks. My dad will come a little later on. It's been such a blessing to have them here already during this busy time. Lula just loves them and is getting spoiled rotten! She's saying new words now: "apple," "eyes," "ball" and finally getting more interested in walking. She can walk, she just chooses not to! And that's about it for now!

Oh! And I found some fun pillows at Funtiques to put on my snazzy yellow couch (which will go in Lula's new room). Pillows make such a big difference! I'll be blogging a lot once we're in our new house and will "document" our renovations. So stay tuned!

New Couch! ...and Lots of Pillows

Many things have occurred in the last couple of weeks...Lula turned one (I should probably blog about that! My best friend beat me to it TWICE which you can see here: Dear London and here: The Stark Family), my mom came to visit for Lula's birthday, we found a new home for Maggie, I've been working like a mad woman (at my mysterious online job), and we FINALLY got our new couch!

We've been waiting for this couch for at least 4 months...maybe longer. We special ordered it from Tekka Gallery here in town and then waited...and waited...and waited. We suffered through Chinese New Year which set back the arrival date by a month...and so we waited some more. But last week, it finally arrived and we are delighted with it! It is HUGE but fits nicely in our living room.

Lula has discovered that crawling across the couch is a fun past time...not so fun for us since we spend the time making sure she doesn't fall off. She's also taken to mimicking us, which is hilarious, of course. Jay and I must lounge a lot because almost as soon as she started getting on the couch, she started fake lounging on the couch too! She crawls to a spot, sits back against the couch, and slumps down into a lounging position. We crack up, and she proceeds to crawl to a new spot.





After seeing our very neutral couch against our very neutral walls, I realized we needed some color! So I searched for some fun fabrics, found lots of polyester at Thrift Haven, and made a bunch of pillows to brighten up the room. I'm not finished yet, but needed a break after making seven pillow covers in two days. I also used my lovely curtains and an afghan my grandmother knitted. I'm very happy with the results.

Dancing with the Stars

Flipping through the channels tonight, we briefly rested on Dancing with the Stars, which inspired the following conversation:

Sarah: I don't understand this show. I don't want to watch...

Jay: Well, yeah. It's like picking someone off the street and saying "I'm going to teach you to sew in an hour." OK. Great. That's what a community center's for. And there shouldn't be any cameras there.

Sarah: (unresponsive due to peals of laughter...)

Pandora

I always forget about Pandora.com but I LOVE it! It's so easy to use and it's free...the best part of course. When Lula and I are playing downstairs and I don't feel like setting up my ipod speakers, which usually reside in my sewing room, Pandora.com is an easy way to get some great music quickly. Lula also LOVES it! I have a "Laurie Breckner" playlist that plays the least cheesy and horrendously offensive children's music I've heard. It's great. Just type in a band that you like and Pandora gives you music that is in the same genre and style as the band you like. You can even buy individual songs as you listen, and of course you can write down songs/bands you like to add to your ipod/mp3 later on. It's also a great way to hear new music if you don't listen to the radio. Can't quite say enough about it. My favorite part is when Lula bounces up down and taps her leg in an Elvis-style fashion when certain songs come on. I wrote those down of course! Try it out if you haven't already...Pandora.com

OH...and I've discovered that I'm in love with Elizabeth Mitchell for kids' songs. I keep coming over to see who's singing a particular song and it's frequently her. Her songs are folky, easy to sing, fun, and very sweet. Love it!

First Easter

Happy Easter! We had a lovely day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Yesterday I gave Lula a bath and then attempted to put rollers in her hair! As you can see, she wasn't that happy about it, but left them in long enough to get some cute curls...which didn't last through the night of course!

This morning Jay headed out early to run sound at church while Lula and I got beautified. (Thanks, Aunt Ev for the amazing dress and hat! It's really for her birthday, but we'd thought we'd give it a test run before the big day!) The hat lasted for an even shorter amount of time than the curls! She's at that point where she simply won't keep things in or on her hair.

The service this morning was hopeful and touching, though that sounds superficial and it was anything but. I felt the guilt of blowing off Easter weekend this year and intend to make it more special and important next year. It is the crux of who we are as Christians and should be celebrated in a much more significant and much less commercial way than Christmas. I won't get on my box tonight...but next year, a change is a comin'!

After service Lula and I headed home while Jay stayed for second service. She took a nice long nap after missing her morning one at church. Then we all headed over to Jay's mom's house for lunch and Easter festivities.

We had a delightful and very filling lunch. Lula opened her presents: a bear dressed as a bunny and a sweet egg-gathering bag from Pat; a new book, pajamas, and gift certificate from Nana and Papa Jack.Then we headed outside to gather some eggs. Lula actually tried to get some and we helped her put them in her bag. Then we all just relaxed outside in the grass for a little while. It was such a beautiful day. Lula filled and dumped her little bag. Finally we went inside for cake and ice cream, which Lula loved! Then the three of us headed home and crashed. It was a very nice day.

Almost One

It's hard to believe Lula will be one in two weeks. At the same time it seems like she's always been here and one seems like an insignificant number considering the significance of her little life. She is our joy and sunshine....even though she won't keep clips in her hair and is going through a clingy phase! And that's pretty much the update. This little lamb cracks us up on a regular basis with her constant laughter and funny sounds. She's still crawling and cruising. She LOVES Mollie....(still looking for a home for Maggie) And we love her more than the best cup of coffee on a cold winter morning. Happy almost Birthday, little love.