Renovation, Days 46-56

Wait, what's this?  We're moved in but still renovating?

Yep.  A big, somewhat unfortunate yep.

We had hoped to be completely done before we moved in, and even gave ourselves almost three weeks' worth of breathing room between the scheduled completion date and our moving date.  But with the guest house damages being so much more substantial than we originally estimated, and with adding more projects to our renovation list (like floor refinishing) than we originally planned on... it just didn't happen.  Fortunately most of the stuff still being worked on is outside and quiet, so the disruption to our lives is minimal.

Scenes from the last week and a half of reno work...

Brad, our awesome contractor:

Seriously, how many people really like their contractors?  Because we do.  We really, really do.

All the siding that had to be replaced due to termite damage has now been repainted to match the rest of the guest house:

Guest house from the back -- doors and a cleaned-up patio and everything!

New tile in the guest house bathroom:

And new bamboo flooring in the guest house living/bedroom (the only pic I have is the one in progress; don't worry it's done now, I just didn't sneak a picture before we dumped a bunch of stuff in there when we moved.  You get the idea though):

Brand new yesterday! A safety rail and new steps/handrail for our back deck:

This deck rail will eventually be connected to the new pool fence, going in next week.  I will breathe a lot easier when the pool is officially and firmly sectioned off from the rest of the backyard and house!  I might even stop calling it the death trap.  Maybe.  No promises.

In the midst of the continuing renovations, we're getting unpacked and settled as best we can.  In my world, that means slowly but surely, with lots of furniture arranging.  And re-arranging.  And arranging back.  But the boxes are disappearing, and it's beginning to feel like home...

What's With the Wedding Hate?

Hey.  People on the internet who keep complaining that the royal wedding is getting too much attention and hype. Yeah, you.  You're annoying me.

You complain when the news is all doom and gloom, and now that the media (and, wait, what's that? the world) is abuzz with the happy news of the marriage of a classy handsome prince that we all watched grow up, you complain about that too?  Really?  Annoying.

There are a million other celebrities and political figures who are far less philanthropic, less intelligent, poorer role models than William and Kate (not that celebrating trashy celebrity weddings would be inherently evil either).  Let the world be happy for two young people in love, ok?  All the "real" news going on in the world right now isn't any less real or important if we take a day to celebrate life and love.  Your cynicism?  Annoying.

Be happy for them!  They are so classy!  The ceremony was so beautiful!  The music was stunning!  There was *Chaucer* in the homily.  What else could we ask for in a royal celebration?  Besides the trees all strapped up through Westminster  Abbey (I hate the trees. So so much, I hate the trees.) it was all kind of beautiful and amazing.  And totally worth putting aside the woes of the world and smiling about.  Really!  Try it!  It's fun.  :)

PS Pretending to hate and ignore this wedding doesn't make you as hipster cool as you think it does.  I promise.

Now.  Back to being shamelessly glued* to BBC America and celebrating with the happy couple.

*Unpacking my house with it on in the background.  Whatevs.

Three Singing Pigs Say La La La

When we were at the beach last week, my Dad produced a hailstorm of giggles from both Nathan and Anneliese reading the Sandra Boynton book Moo, Baa, La La La (one of our family's favorites... who doesn't love Sandra Boynton, honestly?)... and apparently he does all the animal sounds better than mommy does, because as much as they love it, they never react quite that strongly for me! 

The noise that has lingered the longest after our return home is Grandpa's magnificent oink.  Which is really an oink and a snort at the same time.  Which both of my children can now imitate with excellent fluency.  (And frequency.  Just sayin'.)

When we got home and unpacked a little, we found an easter package sent by another set of grandparents -- Opa and Oma -- which included, by some strange chance, a pig shower loofah for Anneliese. Most random present for an 18-month-old ever?  Why yes, it is.  And she reacted to her new pig exactly as we all could have predicted.

Basically now there is nonstop oink-snorting in our new house.  Awesome. :)

Costco

So.  I got a Costco membership today.  Yep, I'm now one of Those Moms.

For some time I've been in denial that we needed to be members of any kid of wholesale club.  I've done a couple of trial memberships at these places in the past, and they always just seemed to make me want to buy things I wouldn't otherwise buy... except they looked cool/yummy/cheap in the store.  And somehow I still had to do all my "regular" grocery shopping anyway.

But then I looked around and realized that in any given week, I buy ten cans of mandarin oranges, twelve bananas, sixteen cups of yogurt, three boxes of cereal, close to two pounds of cheese, two gallons of juice, at least four pounds of meat, and two vats of applesauce.  Oh and then there's that little gallon-a-day habit (well, almost) my family has with milk.  (No, seriously, it takes up almost a third of our grocery budget.)

So it occurred to me* that I am indeed the kind of mom who apparently needs milk and laundry detergent and tomato sauce by the five-gallon bucketfuls.  And since I no longer live with a wal-mart (read: land of cheap groceries) a mile from my house, I joined Costco.

Upon purchasing my membership today, I made several observations:

- Apparently it's the cool kid thing to do.  Three different moms from Nathan's preschool (all well-kept Together Moms who totally intimidate me if I'm being honest) stopped me to ask about our new house, how we were getting settled, how my pregnancy was going.... um. I didn't even know they knew who I was.  Suddenly we shop together and you know all about me?  Weird. Are we, like... friends now?

- Costco might have the best pizza in Raleigh.  It's totes my fav.

- People are generally well-dressed shoppers at my Costco.  Not us, of course.  (I was in sweats and my kids were still in PJs. With shoes though!) (Ok that's a lie, only Nathan had shoes, not Anneliese.) But in general, people at this Costco are very, um... well-groomed.  Ladies who lunch.  You know.

- With my membership card, the service man also handed me a coupon for $5 off a bulk package of poise pads.  Poise pads.  Really Costco? Of all the things you sell in your store?  Really??  Way to make me feel pregnantly hott.  Yes I know this is my third child and yes when I sneeze laugh (fine!) breathe, I might... you know... (ssshhh!) leak a little.  A little!  But you do not need to rub it in my face!!  Costco punks.  (PS I'm totally keeping that coupon.)

I'd show you my membership card (with my new Anderson Heights address!) but I forgot to make this face, so it's not as awesome as it could have been. 

*the truth: several people, including Mark, had to tell me

Three Firsts for Anneliese

It's been a big day for all of us, but especially for Anneliese.

1.) Her first day in our new house.

2.) Her first night in a big girl bed.

So excited about her bed she stomped her feet and giggled!! :)

Went down without a problem and stayed that way all night!

3.) And, then, then...

...apparently she decided that it was a milestone day to stand up suddenly and all by herself (!!) and then take two steps.

HER FIRST STEPS!!!!!!

I wouldn't joke about this, y'all.  Despite the chorus of applause, we couldn't get her to do it again, so no video evidence.  But I swear, it happened.  And it totally counts.

And now, back to unpacking and settling into our new home!

Bumgarner Beach Trip 2011

Every year for as long as I can remember, and with very few exceptions, my family has rented a condo at the beach for a week during spring break.  We've vacationed at various locations up and down the east coast, and every year has included different combinations of my siblings, our friends, our spouses, and our babies.  This year was no exception -- Dad and Cathy rented a condo and invited us all down, and we gladly went.

This year's crowd was Ashley and her husband John, my stepbrother Sean and his awesome girlfriend (seriously she's a keeper) Olivia, and me and the kids.  Don't worry, we didn't leave Mark at home just for the move.  This week was his relief shift at work, so he had to stay within two hours of Raleigh anyway (the beach was just a convenient way to get the rest of us out of the way, which is why the move was scheduled this week in the first place).

Ashley took Nathan and Anneliese on Monday, and they got a head start on the beachiness.  I didn't get down here until Wednesday afternoon, and I was shocked at how much more both of my kids were enjoying the beach itself (sun, sand, surf) than they have in the past. 

Nathan usually does fine at the beach, but when he's done, he's done.  Usually that happens when there's too much sand in his eyes or something.  But this time he was all over the place, fearlessly pushing his dump truck (his big dump as he calls it.  makes me laugh every time.  yes I am such a grownup.) right up into the waves. 

He also spent some time fishing and flying kites with John (his newest hero).  And by the looks of things, loved it.

And Anneliese?  Hoo boy.  She was just about the most adorable sweet little sand crab you've ever seen, crawling all over the place, scampering on all fours across the beach.

She also liked Nathan's big dump.  :)

And did some walking practice with Grandpa.  She let him do it holding just one hand (a special feat of bravery she won't try with just anyone... like, for instance, not mommy).  This picture makes me smile so much.

Anneliese has been feeling under the weather the past few days (lots of fussing, low grade fever off and on, I think probably she's the newest victim of the Fifth's Disease that's been going through her mother's morning out class -- but it's mild, and she's managing) and I think the beach totally wore her out.

Even though I cringed to see her dozing in the sun like this, none of us could bear to wake her because A- she's so darned precious, and B- she finally wasn't fussing.  So I re-coated her in sunblock and let her be for a short nap.  During which I took (maybe a lot of) pictures.  Of course.

Today it's been too chilly for beach play, so Ashley and John and my dad took Nathan to play mini golf.  He had been once before, but it was kind of a disaster.  Apparently today he did much better! 

Although he did hit his ball into the river and somehow convinced John to go fish it out for him instead of just getting a new one. Nice huh?

Both my kids love their grandpa! (And his hilarious animal noises while reading bedtime stories.)

Thanks for the getaway, Dad! :)

For more beachy cuteness, click here for the photobucket album.

Moving Day!

Mark is overseeing the move while I'm at the beach.  Apparently the truck has come, taken all our stuff, and our home of six and a half years is now sitting empty. 

I have pictures but have yet to see it in real life.  Which is probably good.  Just this one shot of our empty living room arriving on my phone by text totally made me tear up.

On a lighter note, Nathan has asked a million times already to see the picture of the moving truck that's taking his toys to the new house.

When we come back to Raleigh... we'll live there.

Speaking of surreal.

We're Packed. Now Let's Do This.

The past few days have been nothing but one snag after another.  I put off packing until the last minute, for several reasons:

1.) Our house is on the market and I wanted it to stay put together as long as possible.
2.) I hate living in transition with boxes everywhere; it makes me crazy.
3.) I have an (apparently inappropriate) amount of faith in myself to pack quickly and efficiently.

So of course after I started packing, made good progress, and took an afternoon away from the house to relax a little, the poop hits the fan. 

Mark got called in for another extra shift due to continuing storm repairs.  Which means *I* needed to drive the kids to meet my sister instead of him doing it.  And it also meant that the whole day I thought I had (with kids occupied by Daddy) to pack was now a half day... with kids underfoot.  So I sent them on a playdate (they're blog famous! on someone else's blog, I mean) and worked all morning, drove across the state and back...

...only to get caught in traffic due to a downed power line and sit parked on the beltline (seriously, parked!) for over an hour.  Less than two miles from my home.  I can think of almost nothing more maddening.

There was lots of sobbing in my car.  And lots of profanity.  It was not my proudest moment.

All to wake up yesterday morning with a fever resulting from an infection which it turns out is not a huge problem but it did mean I spent a couple hours at two different medical offices.  Instead of packing.  Which meant I was even more behind.

Next time I talk the big talk about being able to pack quickly and efficiently and I don't have any contingency plan for snags, someone stop me.  No, seriously, take me by the shoulders and shake me until I listen.

We had some sweet moments though.  We Mark took apart the crib, the bed both my babies slept away their infancies in, the bed I slept away my infancy in, the bed my dad slept away his infancy in (yes, we're hand-me-down people, and no, we don't care that some people probably think this old thing is a death trap) and packed it up for the next generation of Bumgarner babies -- Ashley's son-to-be, Liam.*  I'm happy the crib will know a new house and new baby and new family, but man it seems like just yesterday Nathan was graduating to a toddler bed and "helping" daddy get the crib ready for Anneliese.

Nathan helping with the crib -- May 2009 and April 2011

And now he's doing it again for Liam.  And Anneliese is moving to the toddler bed.  And Nathan is moving to a real legitimate big-boy bed: a twin size.  Like, the size they put in college dorms.  Whaaaa?  How did this happen so fast?

But with the help of Mark and (surprise! he comes to the rescue again!) Another Nathan, my college roomie Betsy, and my friend Liz who bought me an entire morning of work time by entertaining Nathan and Anneliese, we are finally all packed.

living room

dining room and kitchen

Anneliese's room

Nathan's room

master bedroom

And that's what six and a half years of life in this house looks like when you pack it up into boxes.

*Yep, Booger is a boy! John William Grice IV is on the way!

Renovation, Days 41-47

The only real news to report on house renovation in the last week or so is new flooring.  I know, I know.  That's all.  Looks small when I type it out, but it has made a huge difference in the feel of our new home.  Huge.  Huge huge.

We had all the hardwoods refinished.  We had new bamboo laid in the guest house.  Mark scrubbed and re-sealed the grout in the guest house kitchen tile.  The guest house bathroom is getting brand new tile (which still isn't finished, pictures... someday).  And we had new carpet put in our room, Nathan's room, the hallway, and main staircase.

Take a look:

master bedroom

bonus room

Nathan's room

upstairs hallway -
from here (Nathan's doorway) you can see:
Anneliese's room,
the the girls' joint closet (purple),
then into Sprout's nursery --
pretty much the whole length of the house

Sprout's room

living room (looking into dining area)

kitchen and dining room

Anneliese's room... well, it got a good vacuuming.  I know, poor middle child. 

Suddenly our house feels shiny and new and definitely not someone else's dump of a foreclosure.  I can't even tell you how excited I am to get moved in!!!

Last Nights

Yesterday I tucked Nathan and Anneliese into bed for the last time in their first home.  And then I cried.

{You can all feign shock now.}

I took them both to meet up with my sister today; she'll take them to the beach tomorrow to a condo my dad has rented for spring break.  (And I'll join them once all the packing is done.)

And then tonight Mark and I will have our last night in this house.  Oh, this old house. 

I have spent so much time over the last month with my brain on the new house that I haven't really processed the ending of this house chapter until this weekend, as I was packing.  So the last few days have been extremely up and down.  Even for me.

Seeing all these boxes sitting around half-packed is reminding me of what it looked like when we first moved in this house.  And how different we were then.  Just Mark and me, our sweet Bowden and brand-new puppy Simon, and how even after we unpacked the house felt sort of empty, we just didn't have enough stuff to fill all the square footage (that idea is laughable now).  I remember we felt like such grownups, still barely newlyweds but settled into a real house, with visions of having a family there someday. 

And then... we did.  We turned into a family.  Under this roof.  To this building I brought my first two children home from the hospital and from the womb.  In these rooms, I rocked babies to sleep more nights than I can count, soothed more tears than I can count, laughed at more baby giggles than I can count, cooked more meals for hungry mouths than I can count, listened to the thumping sound of bare feet and hands crawling on the floor for more hours than I can count.  I learned how to be a mommy in this house, and watched Mark turn from my newlywed husband into a real Daddy.

We put up seven Christmas trees in this house.  Watched two children tear through their first stockings here. Raised up one new puppy here, and said good-bye to him here.  Rang in seven new years and toasted six wedding anniversaries.  Drank enough red wine to fill a hundred or more recycling bins with our leftover bottles.  Took three positive pregnancy tests (four if you count the one from Sprout that I didn't read correctly the first time) in our master bathroom.  See?  A family.   

So as I pack all these boxes, and go through these last lasts in our first home, there has been lots of crying.  But it's probably a good thing, a thing worth celebrating, that I have so many happy memories from six and a half years of life in this house.  Don't you think?

Tornadoes

We had kind of a scary afternoon here yesterday.  I think I read somewhere that more than sixty tornadoes touched down in North Carolina.  We definitely get tornadoes here, especially during windy summer afternoon thunderstorms, but they're rarely very big or damage-causing. 

Not the case yesterday.

Saunders St (downtown Raleigh)

Crazy winds (even without the tornadoes the storm winds were over 50 mph) and weird rain and sudden downpours.  Mark got an emergency call into work because there were so many structures damaged and power lines down.  The kids and I hunkered down in the basement with our sitter/neighbor Leanna and her fiance.  The loudest of the thunders scared Nathan a little but for the most part the grownups were way more scared than the babies.  (Leanna and I are both crazy pregnant, and her fiance -- like me -- just has an unlikely and somewhat irrational fear of tornadoes.)

Two came relatively close to both of our houses, but nothing closer than a mile and a half or so.  I was beyond terrified (and horrified) that Mark, with my babies in the backseat, had been out driving in part of the mess earlier, and it caused a bit of yelling and crying, but what's done is done.  Mark was slightly horrified too, once he got to work and realized the extent of the weather.

Yonkers Rd (about two miles from our house)

The important thing is that we're all safe (and thanks to the huge handful of people who called and texted and emailed to make sure; apparently we made the national news, and my internet silence has had some of you worried) and both houses survived without any damage. 

Others here in town weren't so fortunate, so we're supporting them and not taking our own good blessings for granted.

Car Dancing

Anneliese's car dancing might be my favorite thing in the history of everything. 

I hope she never outgrows it.



If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch it on youtube.

One of my favorite moves is her thumb-sucking head bob.  You know, for those times when she's too tired for legitimate dancing.  Maybe someday I'll get that on vid too.  :)

Some Kind of Wonderful (Crazy)

We all know Nathan likes things... how he likes them.  (To put it mildly.)  In order, arranged a certain way, in a neat line, etc.  I'm not sure how "normally" he ever even plays with his toys, but he could spend hours arranging them until they're exactly perfect.

The craziest thing about this picture is that it's normal. 

This is frequently the product of his afternoon naptime (or alone time as we're calling it these days).  I know a handful of grownups who did this kind of thing as children too, and they all turned out pretty okay, in their own special ocd kind of ways. 

I'm actually kind of excited for sweet Nathan to get to unpack his room and arrange all his stuff in his new space, however he wants it.  I'm sure the moving tears are coming, but right now in this moment, mostly because of this, I am looking forward to it instead of being nostalgic and sad.

Painting Outtakes

We're having the hardwood floors refinished at the new house this week, which means we've had to pretty much stay away for the last four days.  Which is probably a healthy thing.  So in the absence of new renovation progress to report, I thought I'd share some "outtakes" from the last month of painting...

What's a good home renovation without a band sash as part of your painting outfit?  I mean really.

the sexiest accessory I own, for sure

Paint brush, hair brush, what's the diff?

it's cute that she thinks she has enough hair to brush in the first place

Another Nathan's what! the hell! face (in his best Avril Lavigne voice) (fortunately the fact that he's a classically trained musician hasn't diminished his exquisite taste in pop music), sported when Mark or I has suggested something about the house about which he's feeling rather... dubious:

what! the hell!

Renovation means no time for haircuts.  Or for icing black eyes or wiping green kool-aid stains of childrens' faces, apparently.  Our child is officially a ragamuffin.  Who really needs a bath.  We'll totally do that before we move.  It's on the list!

hot mess and still as precious as ever

Boss-man Mark is always just around the corner, always hearing every word we say, always... supervising.

Big Brother is watching?

Another post-church, pre-nap lunch at the new house.  Why would we let our children sit down to eat when they can stand around a half-broken card table covered in painter's tape and feed themselves from there like a trough?

at least they're *dressed* well, even if everything else about our lives is sloppy!


Just a grown-up, sitting in a toddler's car seat, eating a burrito.  What of it?

should we put one of these seats in our backseat just for him?

Three easy steps for classin' up the neighborhood, Bumgarner-style:
1.) Let your mom pee in the yard behind the pool house because the toilets in the house might or might not be broken and she doesn't want to risk waking the kids up from naptime to figure it out.
2.) Let your son pee on a tree in the front yard because he can't hold it long enough to get inside and find a working potty... to the chagrin of your classy expat Londonite neighbors.

3.) Instead of throwing away your old broken toilet, put it in the backyard and sit on it while you revise your to-do list. 

bonus points if you pronounce it "terlet"

And everyone who has been over to help us will be happy to know that the end of our painting means the end of watching me hitch up my ill-fitting pants seven times every hour.  Good thing Mark took a picture; I don't think any of us could have survived long-term without my pants-hitch being caught on camera.

did I really just post this on the internet?  really?

Mark and Another Nathan and I had a celebratory(ish) dinner last night to ring out the painting job the same way we rang it in -- just the three of us, no kiddies, at Outback, laughing a lot.  But this time wearing non-paint-spattered clothes, because they've all officially been washed and put away.* Win.

*For what, I don't know.  Those two are going on a mission trip this summer where they might could** use paint clothes, but I don't know if I'll ever have use for painted-on maternity jeans again.

**Yep, it's a thing.  Double modal.  Look it up and get on board with my southern English.

Another Half-Birthday Love Letter

Oh Anneliese.  My sweet wonderful baby girl.

It's April 13th again, and although the rest of the world might tell you it's not a real celebration day, it totally is.  It's your half-birthday!  You're eighteen months old today, and here I am writing another love letter.

How did we get here so fast?  How are you closer to two than one?  How are you closer to being a big girl than a newborn?  Weren't you just born a few minutes ago?  Or maybe last week or something?

You're doing so awesome these days.  You are absolutely a delight to be around.  You squeal and giggle when you see any of your favorite people, and you smile so hard you have to brace your arms and legs and it looks like you're about to explode with love.  Your little grin, already full of oh-so-crooked teeth, melts my heart (and I can think of a few others too). 

You're social and you're a shameless flirt, waving and blowing kisses anywhere we go, and I can't remember the last time I took you out in public when your beauty and personality didn't garner some kind of comment from a friend or stranger. 

You're the kind of person that makes people just... happy when you're around.  You light up, and I can see others lighting up in response.  I hope you always always stay that way.  It's a gift.  You are a gift.

You're doing so awesome these days.  Yet, and it breaks my heart to say this, The System has labeled you as not thriving.  Still.  Again.  You just don't want to walk, and despite the fact that you stuff your face at every chance, and with any food we make available, you're not gaining weight very fast.  Daddy and I (and your doctor for the most part) think you're going to be just fine, that you'll grow at your own pace and you'll walk when you're ready.  You're better at it every day, holding our hands (sometimes down to just one hand!) and toddling along... or pushing a toy around in circles... but in the meantime, every time I have to defend you, it hurts my heart a little.  But know this: the people around you who know you and see you improving every day unanimously agree that you're the very definition of thriving.  You amaze and enamor your friends and family every day. 

I love your car dancing, especially the part where you suck your thumb and bob your head to the music.  I love the thundering noise of your hands and knees on the floor when you run-crawl after your brother.  I love the sweet curls at the nape of your neck.  I still love the way your eyes shine when you're particularly happy.  I love your little hands and face pressed up against the window or door, looking out at the world around you (but mostly for Daddy's car to pull in).  I love it when you "cruise" your way along the couch and take a break from playing to rest your head on my leg in a sweet half-hug.  I love the slobbery smell of your face when you kiss me.

I love how you show love in the most genuine and unguarded way.  With no caution, with no agenda, with no hesitation.  I want you to hang onto that for as long as you can. 

I can't even tell you how simultaneously glorious yet heart-wrenching it is to watch you slowly (no! too quickly! way too quickly!) grow up from my youngest, my little one, my baby girl, into a spirit-filled child with an abundance of personality, about to become a big sister.  I'm probably not supposed to say this, but I'm so proud you're my daughter.

Hey Anneliese? I love you. That's really all it boils down to.

Love,
Mommy

It's Always Winter at the Airport

What's this?  More Nathan?

Yep.

Nathan and Frank playing at the airport, in winter garb at the end of March.

It's full-on spring here (finally!)... yet when Nathan and his friend Frank had a playdate a couple weeks ago, we made an observation we've made a thousand times before: it's always winter at RDU airport.  Well, maybe not in the dead heat of summer.  But seriously, it consistently feels at least fifteen degrees cooler there than anywhere else we go in Raleigh.

Bizarre behavior from our non-climber.

Why???

Maybe it's the open spaces and wind.  Maybe it's just that we're not outside for as long when we play in other places.  Or maybe it's for real always winter at the airport.

RDU aside, I think we're done with jackets til next fall.  And I'm excited about that!