Power Outages

I have lived in NH since January.  And now we have lost power twice.  Last time, it was out for days.  Days.  And it sucked.  The thing is, we didn't even get that much snow! 

Tonight, we have lost power once again.  Leaves are still on the trees and now the snow is making them even heavier.  So they are falling everywhere and taking power lines out with them. 

The worst part is that my husband and I were supposed to complete the move into our new house tomorrow.  But right now, we don't know if there is power at the house since it is on the other side of Merrimack NH.  I guess we will just have to wait until tomorrow to find out what our plans will be.  I am a sad panda right now. 

Luckily, the house we are in now has a generator to power certain parts of the house.  So if we don't have power for a few days, then we can just stay here.  But it is definitely sad.  We were so excited about getting into the new house.  But with a baby and no generator at the new house, there is no way we will be moving in with no power.  Oh NH.  I so do not like you right now.

Keys and Locks

I've been thinking about locks and keys today.  My husband and I just bought a house recently and we are not quite moved in.  But after the closing, we went to check the house out and start cleaning.  The seller's agent gave us the keys to the front door and told us where to find the rest of the house keys.  In a drawer in the kitchen, we found more keys than we knew what to do with.

The problem was that some of the keys for the house were still missing.  We had 6 keys to one door, 4 keys to another door, etc. and then no keys to other doors.  It was ridiculous.  So we decided to start by replacing all the exterior doors - doors to the backyard, the front door, exterior doors to our breezeway.  We went to Lowe's and picked up a set of 2 locks which will get us started.  Then we have to pick up 2 more locks and get the re-keyed so that we will have the same key for everything.  Because as it is, we have like 10 keys to the house.  Not cool.

How did the previous owners keep track of so many keys?  I'll tell you.  They didn't.  That's why we are missing so many keys!  But we want to make sure we can have the house locked up when necessary and not need a million keys to do it. 

And if anyone else goes through a situation like this, here is some advice: get your new locks at Lowe's.  Home Depot charges $5 per lock to re-key.  But if you buy the locks at Lowe's, then they only charge you $5 total to re-key.  The woman told us she doesn't like to go nuts overcharging people because it is unnecessary.  Lowe's = win!

The Walking Dead

I decided to check out The Walking Dead today since it was available On Demand.  So far, I really like it.  It reminds me so much of playing Left 4 Dead.  Besides having the "special" zombies of course.

Basically, it's the typical story.  There is a virus that is spreading and a group of people sticks together trying to find safety and a possible cure.  The characters are interesting and each episode so far has had a pretty good plot (besides the obvious "don't let the zombies eat me" plot). 

I didn't get to watch the first episodes, but I did find out that it is available on Netflix streaming.  So I plan to look into it.  If you like zombies, you should definitely check it out!

House Update

Yesterday was furniture move in day.  It actually went really well.  The difficult part was that we had to pick all the furniture up in Lynn, MA and bring it to Merrimack, NH.  So we needed movers in each place.

That having been said, our friends were absolutely amazing.  We had several friends in Lynn helping and the majority of them (everyone who was available for the rest of the day) came to NH to help.  Plus, we had friends that came to help in whichever area was closest for them.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are so lucky to have the friends that we have.  They are the best!

My parents also came to help with some things that needed to be done: cleaning, furniture assembly, some painting, and helping take care of Kaylee so I could tell the guys where the furniture had to go.  They have been absolutely amazing throughout this move.  And to top it all off, they are coming back next weekend to help us paint the master bedroom and the living room. 

We still have some smaller furniture and some boxes to move in, but the majority of the bulky stuff is now in the house.  Next weekend, we will move our bed and Kaylee's crib and that will be it.  We will officially be moved into our new house!  And just in time for Halloween!

Our First House

Well, we did it!  This morning, we signed all the papers and we now own a house!  Our first house!  Watching all that money disappear from our bank account was admittedly scary, but it was worth it.  The house is so beautiful and we cannot wait to move in!

Today, I cleaned the kitchen, scrubbing every drawer, shelf, and appliance until they were squeaky clean.  My husband started replacing the outlets in Kaylee's room and the room that will be our office.  A lot of them were not grounded correctly. So since he was going to be messing with them anyways, he figured we might as well put in tamper resistant outlets.  It's just safer for when Kaylee starts running around.

Mike also had Comcast come to get our Internet going.  That way, he can get started wiring the house with ethernet, since he wants to have hardwired connections in several rooms and he wants it done correctly without it costing an arm and a leg.  Which is yet another reason that my hubby is amazing.  He can do all this stuff himself.  He's smart like that!  And he has ridiculously amazing friends, most of whom know a little something about everything.  Combined, they are a serious force of nature.  We are so lucky to have them.  And so lucky that they are all amazing and willing to lend us their expertise in improving our home.  It's so great saying that.  OUR home!

We have had a hectic, but awesome, day and this weekend will be more of the same.  My parents are coming to NH tomorrow to help us clean and to help take care of Kaylee.  Furniture move in begins on Sunday and we should be officially and completely moved in by Halloween.  So exciting!

Lunch

Today I took Kaylee to see Mike at work in Manchester and we went out to lunch with some friends.  It was so great to see Mike during the day and I think he really enjoyed getting to see Kaylee. 

I know that it makes him sad to be away from her all day, which is why he goes into work so early.  That way, he gets to see her for a long time in the afternoon.  He is so amazing for doing that.  Also, it is awesome that his work lets him do that.  Companies are getting so much better at working with their employees, striving to achieve a work/life balance that is the best for everyone involved.  Mike is able to adjust his schedule, for the most part, to fit our life and our family.  In turn, he is a happy, efficient employee who does amazing work, which benefits the company.  It's a win-win situation.

Grooveshark

First, there was Pandora.  I used to listen to music on that all the time.  Pick a song you like and Pandora would play songs that it believed to be similar.  Great.  I loved it.




Then, there was Slacker.  Pick a station and songs of a certain genre would play continuously for your listening pleasure.  There was an occasional 30 second commercial, but it wasn't too bothersome.  You could pay a small price for the year to have those pesky commercials taken away if they really bothered you too much.  Also, you could skip through songs if you didn't like them or tell Slacker not to play them anymore.  Favorite them if you really loved them and they would play more often.  But unless you paid for the service, you did not have the ability to skip an unlimited amount of songs.  It could be annoying if you really had some specific songs in mind that you wanted to hear.

Now, there is Grooveshark, which my husband recently introduced me to.  Like Slacker, you can pick a genre and those are the types of songs that will be played.  You can also pick "Popular Songs" and you will get almost 500 songs on one playlist, able to work your way through them and never hear the same song if you don't want to.  The difference with Grooveshark is that you can skip as many songs as you want, create your own playlists, search for absolutely any song you want to hear, share your playlists with people, and so much more.  It's pretty awesome.

The more I think about it, it's actually a lot like iTunes.  Except you have access to an unlimited amount of music.  And you don't have to worry about having your music imbedded with DRM (Digital Rights Management), like the majority of iTunes music.  Of course, they offer some DRM free songs now because they have realized that Amazon is so much better.  My point is that with Grooveshark you get all the awesome things about iTunes without having to deal with all the crappy things.  Sweet deal.

Amazing

The video chat last night was phenomenal.  Mike and I really think that Kaylee is starting to realize that it was Daddy's face on the screen.  Not only was she smiling when he made faces at her, but she was making the funniest noises. 

She has started making double sounds.  You know?  Not just saying "ahhh."  She has moved on to a noise that sometimes sounds like "raaa" and other times sounds like "waaa."  Except not the crying "waaa" sound.  Just an adorable noise that makes me giggle because once she starts making it, she won't stop.  It's hilarious!!

Also, we went to the apple orchard for the first time yesterday.  We only stayed for a few minutes, but my mother-in-law and I really wanted Kaylee to be able to see the trees and the apples.  So we got some cute pictures of her trying to put the apple in her mouth.  Of course, it was not exactly clean so I didn't let her have it!  But it was a fun trip and I think Kaylee really enjoyed it.  And we got to buy some awesome apple cider!  Yummy!!

Video Chat

Video chat is pretty much amazing. 

Today, my husband left for a conference in PA.  He's really looking forward to it, but at the same time, he is sad because this will be the longest time he has gone without seeing Kaylee.  So this afternoon when he had some downtime because registration hadn't started yet, I used my laptop to video chat with him.  Kaylee got to see him and he got to watch her try to play with my laptop.  It was so funny and he loved getting to see her even though he is not home.

Using Google video chat allows him to see her pretty face even when he is away.  I think it makes going to the conference a little bit easier for him.

Got to love technology!! 

Fountain of Pee

People always tell you that when you have a baby boy, you have to worry about them peeing on you.  "Be careful when you change that diaper!  Make sure you keep something over that thing or else you'll be sorry!"  What they don't tell you is that some baby girls have the ability to pee like boys!

Last night, Kaylee peed on me yet again.  This is the second time it has happened.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Somehow, she has the absolute best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) timing. 

When we get her ready for her bath at night, she is only naked for a few seconds before she gets in the bath.  I feel like she must love the feeling of the air on her privates and it makes her feel like that would be a great time to pee.

I got her out of her clothes and her diaper while she was laying down, then I pulled her up to a standing position, ready to sit her in the bath in just a second.  She chose that moment to start letting go of her fountain of pee.  It sprayed all over her bath towel, all over the floor, quite a bit got on my pajama pants, and some even found it's way onto my slippers.  And it made its way onto all of these things even though Grandma tried her best to block the fountain with her hand.

But no, Kaylee would not be thwarted.  Somehow, the spray made its way all over the place.  And of course, Kaylee smiled and laughed the entire time, as though she knew exactly what she was doing.

She is adorable, but it does drive me nuts when she chooses moments like this to spray pee all over the place.  Luckily, I have a sense of humor.  I laughed when it happened and I am laughing thinking about it now.  If you can't laugh about these things, parenthood would be quite difficult and miserable.

Children are wonderful and amazing.  And yes, sometimes they drive you nuts.  But I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Vow Renewal: Part 2

To continue the story of the vow renewal, I think that I must mention that we have awesome friends.  Not only did they get up in front of the 160 other people at the vow renewal, but they participated in a dance routine.  The DJ coordinated a lovely dance number with some of our friends dressed as the Jackson 5.  It was wonderful.  And they even signed our keepsake photo frame as the Jackson 5.  It is something we will look back on and smile.


Not only did they do a fantastic job, but other friends joined in when the DJ came down to lead the dance routine.  It was hilarious and so much fun.  Everyone had a great time dancing and watching.  It was one of the momentous moments of the night.  With everyone smiling and laughing, it really gave a great vibe that continued throughout the night.

Another part of the night that I would like to mention is the moment when all the little girls decided to sing Taylor Swift up on the stage.  The DJ gave them some cute stuff to wear and they started singing and laughing.  My niece Abbey even decided to take the microphone from the DJ because she knew all the words to the song.  The girls were adorable and everyone could tell they were having an amazing time.  For me, it was so wonderful to see that even the little ones were having so much fun.

I love looking back on each of these moments because they prove one thing.  Everyone had a fantastic time.  Mike and I liked the idea of renewing our vows, but that was not why we wanted to do the vow renewal.  More importantly, we wanted a chance to celebrate our marriage with friends and family.  We didn't get to do that last year.  It was primarily family.  So our purpose in doing this vow renewal was mostly to make sure we celebrated with friends and family and that everyone had an amazing time at the party.  I have to say, we definitely accomplished this.  It was a great party and we will never forget the fun times and the love of our family and friends.

We love you all!  <3

Vow Renewal: Part 1

My husband and I renewed our vows on Saturday and had a huge reception to celebrate with our friends and family.  It was absolutely amazing and I'm so glad that we decided to do it.  The ceremony was quick, simple, but beautiful.

We did our own vows this time and I'm so glad.  It was nerve-wracking standing in front of about 170 people thinking that I would totally blank and forget what I was going to say.  But the second I opened my mouth, the words just started flowing and even though it was not what I had planned to say, it was perfect.  My husband said that when he started talking, the same thing happened.  What he ended up saying sounded so true and so right that he was happy about the fact that everything changed at the last minute.

Our DJ, Brian McCarthy from AllStar Entertainment, was phenomenal.  He really got the crowd going and his dance moves were both hilarious and awesome.  Everyone loved him and thought that he truly is an entertainer, not just a DJ.  We highly recommend him if anyone is looking for an amazing DJ for any kind of event that requires entertainment.

The night was also wonderful because we got to introduce our 6 month old daughter Kaylee to everyone important to us who had not met her yet.  It's hard to keep in touch with everyone all the time.  And as a result, so many people had not yet met her.  Everyone was so excited to see her and she looked so adorable in her cute little white dress from her Auntie Julie.  Kaylee did amazing throughout the night.  We can't believe how happy she was and how well she did with all the loud music and being surrounded by so many people.  She even let a bunch of people hold her even though she didn't know them, which is huge since she has been having some separation anxiety issues lately.

Speaking of Kaylee, she is now crying.  So I will make this part 1 of the vow renewal post and continue this later.