Birthday Week

Much like her birth, Henri's birthday celebration stretched across a week. And also like her birth, not a whole lot happened. My sister Anna came to stay with us for the weekend, and then on Sunday Papa and Allie and Siena came for the day. Unfortunately Sunday's are murder on our schedule so Henri hadn't napped and wasn't about to with her favorite person around (Papa) but she held up pretty well. Actually got some homework done, met with lots of contractors, killed innumerable spiders, finished the fridge, called yet more midwives and blatantly begged for a preceptor, constantly picked up onion skins from the rug and couch (Henri's new favorite toy; unpeeling and rolling an onion), made lots of lists, cooked tuna noodle casserole (it was amazing!), and shopped home improvement stores (Ikea tonight!!!).

 Now that I think about it, for a week where not much happened, a lot did. I suddenly feel like this house is ours and it's a good thing (this came about while I was mopping), Henri's imaginative play really kicked in (she spends a lot of time feeding me and her animals from her play cooking set), Henri's adding new words every few days (this week was "amen", the sign for "thank you", and perfecting her "woof" (dog)), and I made lots of progress with this semester.

Lastly, I am thrilled to announce a resolution to the closet dilemma. I'm not sure this was weighing on your mind as heavily as it was mine, but this new house only has 3; two dinky ones in the bedrooms and one in the entryway. Our current apartment has 5, plus a storage locker in the basement, and they're all put to very good use. However, thanks to some sage advice I have chosen to follow (Papa's to give Henri the guest room mostly....does anyone know of a good night-vision-capable video baby monitor???) Steve and I will soon be enjoying an 11' closet in the master bedroom, the entryway closet is much larger on second inspection and should fill the function a double closet currently is, I think my pantry will hold all my dishes plus food AND I get a crafting/study closet ALL TO MYSELF!!!! (wee bit thrilled about this. Shelves are already there, I just need to drop in a board for the main table, looking to thrift a low stool as I have the perfect fabric just waiting to upholster it....and should I wallpaper or paint it? Def going to be my fun nap-time project). We also have this little nookish area when you first step into our bedroom that would be hard to find a function for but I think will fit a tall skinny wardrobe perfectly and will house all the towels and linens and bathroom supplies.

So while I am pleased to have things coming together (electrician finished rewiring everything, new outlets, thermostat moved, etc) no one told us that the act of buying the house was the easy part. Steve and I must have stared at shower rods for over 20 minutes in Lowe's last night debating whether to get the brushed nickle finish (match the flooring) or the traditional silver one. Finally decided on the brushed one only to get it to the house and realize the sink fixtures are silver. Argh!!!

And for the visually-inclined, pictures!:



She loves the ipods, iphones...



Took Anna on an educational trip. Just what every teen wants on their vacation!

Dressing up as a cabin boy

My baby sister. So gorgeous!

Anna takes pretty good picts, too :)

We had beautiful weather

A whole seawall to run on, she was thrilled. Even more so when a dog appeared that just wanted to be left alone. Poor thing, Henri chased it, squealing, the whole time.

She totally takes after Steve. Good thing!

What's a trip to the shore without some ice cream?

Happy Birthday!!!

Gift from Mom and Dad

Really not into eating the cake. This might be the only bite she took. She enjoyed crumbling it all over the floor, though.

Reading with her favorite person

Not really into tearing the paper, either. Maybe my repeated "no's" as she tears into books is finally getting to her

Absolutely adorable sailor dress from Aunt Anna. H liked the coordinating headband

Whenever we go home, H and Papa head straight for the large chimes. He got her some of her own and she LOVES them. Looking for a nice spot for them in our house/yard (they come in at night)

Allie made these (of course, right?). Animal crackers, and the duck is a cheese cracker. I've been fighting Henri for them they're so tasty. She also made these insane graham crackers that taste like pure maple syrup and butter. Yum!

Gram got this for H. I had been debating getting her the wood kitchen from Ikea but decided not to as she wasn't playing yet. After seeing how she is with this set, it's on the probable purchase list for tonight. I'm having fun with it, too :)

Pot lid on. And off. And on.....

Sampling the goods

The headband continues to delight

Little out of order here, but we did sushi on Saturday night. The spicy yellow tail continues to addict, and Henri enjoyed this lemon slice (also a bowl of tofu and rice which they always and generously bring out for her)

Because she doesn't have enough toys, and in addition to the onion she's obsessed with, Henri has added a sewer cap to her list of claimed objects

The fridge! It's ready to prime with chalk tonight (rub it over and erase) and then good to go. Actually very pleased with how it turned out. I gave away the magnetic paint so I wouldn't be tempted to use it again. Way too anxiety provoking. But the chalkboard paint is latex so it soothed and comforted my bruised DIY ego.

Whew. If you made it to the end...well, I'll think of something you deserve. Ice cream, probably :) Another exciting week ahead and if I don't kill Steve this weekend as we assemble our loot (or he me) I'll see you next Friday :D