A pause

Ah morning. Thank you morning. We made it through the night. Thank you, big house, for giving a tired mommy the space to have a quiet cuppa joe, diddle around on the computer, have a quick bowl of cereal and not wake up everyone.

Poor A has had a rough time adjusting to a new house, sleeping in his own room and the excitement of being 17 months old. I think he's only slept through the night twice since we moved in. Last night, we had a rare blustery winter storm blow through and the noise of the wind woke him up around 11:30 (just as I had turned out the light!) and kept him up until about 3:00. M & I were also awake discussing various parenting techniques: how to handle a child that cries for attention, wakes up all night long, and is clearly in the throes of the Terrible Twos. (DISCLAIMER: D, we now realize, was and still is a completely ABNORMALLY calm, composed, laid-back and self-sufficient child with an incredible attention span and no need for histrionics. Also, I was still working full-time when she was 17 months old and therefore had limited exposure to any "childish" behaviour. So in a sense I am a "first time parent" when it comes to dealing with this phase.)

It's going to be a real winter day here in Florida - the high is only supposed to be in the 40s! Yay! So I'm planning on bundling the kiddos up in their winter gear and heading out to a park (if it is sunny) or a long walk along the water (if not).

Up this week on This Old House:
1) Preparing for the appliance delivery next Tuesday
2) Laundry room cleanup
3) The hunt for cereal bowls and placemats continues
4) Pest control
5) Trying to determine if we need to run a new 220v box for the new range

Exciting stuff. Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE the new appliances? We went with Kenmore for everything because I like Sears' customer service, their repairs (if you need them) and my mom grew up with either the Sears kids or the Roebucks kids (I forget which). The new fridge is going to be particularly wonderful. I have to have an ice and water dispenser (what can I say? I like my water cold!) and this one has that, plus a handy tilt-out bin on the fridge door so that D can quickly grab a juice box or healthy snack on her own. I love it!

The part leading up to the part where we get all new working appliances? Not so great. The previous owners left the house pretty grimy, so who knows what lurks behind the stove, washer, etc. Plus we need an electrician and two sets of installers since we're getting a gas range and dryer. It's a bit confusing and time consuming but will be SO worth it in the end.