Look familiar?

My Grandma gave Jacob the book No Jumping on the Bed for Christmas. This book is a cautionary tale about the risks of jumping on the bed. Risks like having your bed fall through the floor! (Excuse my copyright infringing photo booth pics.)














And not just fall through the floor, but continue falling through all of the floors beneath you! Eeeyikes! As the bed travels down the building you are introduced to the residents who live below this little golden haired boy. Amazingly, their names all rhyme: Miss Hattie, Mr. Matty, Aunt Batty, Patty and Natty, Mr. Hanratty, and Maestro Ferlingatti. It's uncanny!

I instantly liked this book after our first Christmas morning read. As I flipped through the pages I noticed the title page.

I ask you, does this look familiar?















That's right, it looks just like our building!

































Walter (the non-rhyming maverick of his building) lives a floor above us and our windows are more decorative, but aside from that it's a pretty convincing match.

Walter and Jacob's beds are even in the same spot.














Here's the view out his window (with cousin Jackson in the middle).













Here's hoping Jacob's bed stays put.

Radiators: For anything you want to keep...warm

Our apartment is heated with radiators. They are found in every room and give very toasty warmth. Unless they are set to come on too infrequently by the leasing office. Oh, did I mention we have no control of our heat?

Because they are hot to the touch ours all have covers. The radiators themselves aren't masterpieces like the above picture, but they have their own coolness by the sheer fact that they look, um, cool. The covers un-cool them pretty quickly.

Despite their looks, the covers get pretty piping hot themselves and so we have started using them for a variety of purposes. Some of them accidental. I took all of these pictures on the same day and didn't stage one of them. If it were summer (I'm afraid of my clutter starting a fire) there would also be a picture of the one in my room covered in papers. A natural and lovely extension of my desk.

And so I give you, our well used radiators!

A wipe warmer.














A drying rack.














Best of all...a towel warmer. So warm and delightful.


















And lastly, they are also the backdrop to touching scenes of occasional sharing. Very occasional.

Did you know Obama has dish?

He does.















He also has a whole bunch of police barriers blocking his home from traffic. There are always a few squad cars stationed outside. I wonder what life is like on the "Obama beat". The officers always seem to be enjoying a good chuckle, so things can't be that bad.















Obama also works out in the small private gym of an apartment complex we actually considered living in. It's a small, moderately ghetto gym (like a lot of Hyde Park), but because it's such a lame gym inside the apartment complex it's always close to empty. A friend actually met him there.

Whatever we all think politically...don't you think it's cool that Barack Obama and I live on the same street only 5 blocks apart?

For Natalie on her birthday

The view from our living room window as per your request. (Don't you want to see it for yourself?) We're two floors too low to see the Chicago skyline, but on weekends the lake is full of sailboats. (Well worth the visit.)

The boys love the view too. We're 3 blocks from the commuter rail line and one freight train track. There's a beautiful view of it all from the bathroom window. No need for clothes to enjoy a good train spotting.


















We love you and Happy Birthday Natalie! (Come visit us.)

Making a home

When we drove up to our building three weeks ago I was chomping at the bit to get up to our apartment. My fears were that it would be uninhabitable. That it would be covered in lead paint chips. Or (gasp) that there was no closet space.

After a quick look and a few deep breaths I started to feel great. Wonderful, in fact! No raccoons walking through the living room, no paint chips and LOTS of closet space! I kept feeling that way until the following day when it hit me that this was to be our home. Someone had joked that we would be living a quick, little pretend life here in Chicago. An interim. But I just couldn't believe that. When we leave this apartment Jacob will be 5 and Nicholas will be 3. That's a lot of living for those guys. This isn't just a place we are going to grit our teeth and deal with. Nor is it an amazing apartment. But hopefully we'll strike a balance and enjoy our time in this little place.

Here are our efforts at "homemaking" so far, before and after style!

Jacob's room/the playroom before:



















This room was a top priority (since that's where the boys could be safe and happy during the unpacking) and was completed the first day we were here. It hasn't changed too much, although now the pack and play has been switched out for Jacob's bed and we've added another small rug.















Actually, there has been one change. It's a big fatty mess now! In fact, that was changed by the end of this day. No joke, this was taken on the same day as the above clean room picture. Eeeyikes. It cleans up nicely, but by the end of the day it's a sight. Jacob derives extreme pleasure from his hovel of toys and books. And I enjoy not having toys in the living room. Compromise!















Nicholas's room before:



















I love this room. It's quiet and peaceful feeling. So like Nicholas.











































And they seem pretty comfortable.

Adjustments

This move has taught me a few things.  

1.  Always know where you packed the checkbook.

2.  Even if you place an order for the internet, it doesn't mean it actually went through.  So, don't wait a week thinking it will be turned on on Friday...because it won't be.  And when you place the second order call back to verify, because the operator you place that second order with might not put your last name or apartment number on the order.  

3.  Living in Barack Obama's neighborhood (he lives a block from the chapel...which is 5 blocks from our house) isn't as flashy as you think.  

4.  Janitors have it rough.  We now have cafeteria tiles throughout our entire house.  CAFETERIA TILES.  With patches done in whatever color they happened to have handy.  It's perennially dusty, no amount of sweeping will clean it, and when a kid falls on it they will get hurt.  I think I'm going to get some of that powder substance janitors put on throw up for the winter flu season.  Just get me a push broom and a retractable key ring and I'm set!

5.  If you drop a remotely fragile item on cafeteria tiles, it's broken.

6.  City streets are LOUD and my boys are amazing sleepers.  We hear buses, trucks, sirens, horn honks, car alarms, people yelling and loud music all day and all night and they just sleep through it all.  

7.  Living in married student housing is like living in the dorms (or at the UN).  I never lived in the dorms (or the UN) and so it's kind of fun to have people popping in more (and speaking other languages).  Plus, it's more incentive to keep my house clean.  (Expect this aspect to potentially be annoying in a few months.)

8.  Hand washing your dishes isn't all that bad.  (Expect this aspect to definitely be annoying in a few months.)

9.  If you have to take your clothes to a basement laundry facility remember: it's an intense job.  You can use 5 washers and get it all done in 2 hours, which is very nice, but it's a busy two hours fraught with taking your laundry up and down 8 floors.  Again and again.  And, it will feel like it costs a fortune.   

10.  I love Atlanta Georgia.

11.  I remember not loving Atlanta Georgia, so I have great hopes to love Chicago Illinois.

12.  I don't really handle change as gracefully as I would like.  

13.  Kids love elevators.  And when they hear those doors open they go a running and giggling in.  

14.  My kids really aren't that good or that bad in church.  In Atlanta I thought they were the worst kids in the history of sacrament meeting.  But the Hyde Park ward is incredibly rowdy.  There are lots of tantrums, loud talkers and screams.  As much as I truly miss the Peachtree Corners ward...Sundays just got so much easier!

But most importantly this move has taught me that wherever Matt and the boys are will feel like home.  As we were saying our goodbyes in Atlanta our last Sunday the boys had already left to spend the weekend with Grandma Jan and Papa before the long drive to Chicago.  I felt like my heart was already leaving Atlanta because the boys were gone.  Matt and I both felt a real weakening of our home ties to Atlanta because we knew that the boys wouldn't be living there in the near future.  I felt so anxious to get out and get to them.  As we've unpacked and organized (and as I've had about twenty meltdowns due to the cafeteria floors and laundry expeditions) I still feel like this is home because of my three boys.  Add the beautiful, instant social network of our new ward and I feel at home.  

Life continues.  

(And when our internet is fixed on Tuesday I'll be able to get more pictures posted.)

Home Sweet Home

Eight stories up.

How do you like it?  

Give me a few more days and I'll let you see the inside.

Was this worth 1,500 dollars?

Our buyer (yes, you heard right) wanted the septic tank pumped and inspected prior to purchase. Apparently, before finding our amazing home, they were very interested in another home with a septic tank. A septic tank that hadn't been pumped in 30 years. Yes, you heard right, 30 years! To add to the nightmare, the owner of that disgusting septic tank didn't want them pumping and inspecting it! Oh golly, it's so gross (having looked our septic tank in the eye) I can't stand it!

Anyway, when the septic tank guys came they had a DIGGER hitched to the back of their big pump truck. Now, it was actually a mini-excavator. Jacob was hooked. So happy. And totally engrossed.


















They located the septic tank through a 6th/septic sense. They stuck a small rod into the ground and thumped on the tank to show me that it was there. I truly had a small hope that there was a treasure chest there and not a box of poopies. Alas...

We stayed outside and watched until they opened the tank. I had read online that you should never clean your own septic tank (like we would want to!) because the fumes would kill you and--ahem--anyone who attempted to rescue you. Truly. That's what it said. Unfortunately, the fumes aren't really that deadly, because they beckoned me out and (as I previously mentioned) they forced me to come near it and look into it! The workman insisted that I OK every aspect of the job. Please, no! My eyes! My nose!

They were using septic terminology that just meant nothing to me and the smell and concept were horrid. "The hoozibob is crumbling and there are roots growing all through the whatsigig. We really should put some chirrioos in it and replace that crumbling hoozibob."

I would have agreed to anything...ANYTHING! Just to escape!

So, I was able to flee after forking over $1500 and looking into the thing 5 times. It was harrowing.

But seriously, to have a digger in your own back yard...

Priceless?

I sure hope so.


















Do you see Jacob?























Jacob had one request during the digging. Listen up as I coy-ly ask him "what?" about 4 billion times. Diggers are amazing AND loud.

Enough about the house

and more about us!

Just a pair of cutesie-tootsies.














They are way cooler than our house. (Although our house is still very cool and on the market!)

Ta da: Part 2 or Freedom

We did it. We finished all that we needed to do to show this here house. This week has been incredibly challenging and also a lot of fun. I grew up working on our house and yard. A lot. I won't bore you all with my "I roofed the house" or my "I installed a sprinkler system" stories (I'm far too modest), but working on my parents' house was a constant in my life. It hasn't been such a constant in this house. We've been a little too good at making do. So, this week has helped me remember how much fun and how much work it takes to really make a house shine. We could not have done it without Grandma Jan. She painted, edged, trimmed, cleaned, organized and did just about anything else we needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I also have realized how great our house is. Serious, what's not to love?

I love you, slanty house.















I love your big ginormous living room with the cute guy walking through.















I love your bar for serving lime rickeys and shirley temples.















I love your kitchen with beautiful appliances and ugly wallpaper.















I love your freakishly large master bedroom.















I love your slightly garish yella' room.




















I love your very minty mint chocolate chip room.




















I love your deck. No words. To pretty.















And most of all, I love your bathroom that finally isn't unbelievably ugly.

Before (see if you can spot all of the different materials used in the hardware):




















After (it looks way more beige in this pic, but trust me...it's gorgeous!):




















Sorry about the unexplained underlining. Too tired to figure it out.

Ta da!: Part I

Check out the preliminary fruits of our labors here.

Doesn't the house look extra pretty not covered in toys? As we've been working I've been falling back in love with the house all over again. I have to leave this for student housing? Goodbye dishwasher. Goodbye yard. Good (sniff, choke) bye.

Anyway, we're having an open house this Saturday, April 19th from 5 -7. If we do have any readers who are interested just comment here or contact us via our craigslist info to get directions. Imagine if we could sell our home through blogging! Ah, blogger, is there anything you can't do?

We will be working more throughout the week. Thankfully Grandma Jan is coming to help us get the final things together. We're really grateful she's willing to sacrifice the time to come. But really it's just payback for her. Kidding! (I'm pretty sure she'll be working a lot harder here than we ever did there.)

Look forward to more exciting pictures of our bedroom, Nicholas's bedroom and (the real excitement) the guest bathroom!

STILL Under Construction

We're going to post pictures of our amazing house recovery program soon. We've realized that the biggest "uglifier" of this house is really all of our kid junk.

Dern kids.














You shall see.

Under Construction

My blog isn't under construction (it's already perfect)...it's our house! We really are moving to Chicago in the fall and so we REALLY DO need to sell our house. (Anyone interested in the cheapest house in Simpson Elementary? In lovely, desirable Peachtree Corners? A quaint 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch? Just moments from Trader Joe's?) In order to sell our fabulous home we need to reverse the years of cosmetic abuse this house has received at the hands of various homeowners with dumb ideas in their heads and beer cans in their hands.

It's not all that horrible. Nothing that a few hundred bucks and some hard work won't set aright. But I have learned a few lessons (based on the previous owners' mistakes) that I'd like to impart to you all.

1. Don't go patching walls without knowing what you're doing.

2. Don't paint without taping first. And if you're too stubborn to tape, please just pretend you care about baseboards and door frames.

3. Use a drop cloth.

4. Don't use wooden towel racks, brushed nickel cabinet pulls, a brass faucet, a dark matte metal light fixture and a bright shiny metal tub faucet IN THE SAME BATHROOM.

5. And don't decide to decorate a bathroom in a seaside motif complete with lighthouse tiles and a seashell sink. Please.

Thank you.

(And please, buy my house!)

O-U-T

Jacob and I have definitely enjoyed our front yard/driveway area this summer. I can't say the word "out" or "outside" around him or he's insistent that we indeed go outside. Jacob's grandmas were so good to keep up our outside play while they were here. Grandma Jan took a bunch of pictures of Jacob in action that pretty much sum up the joys of being out o' doors.