Baby X Stuff

I was asked to put together a list of things that Baby X needs. This is a short list because we have most of the 'gear' but some things we had borrowed from friends and have since return and they have been passed along to others. So... what we need:

Graco Snug Ride Car Seat
Glider (this one we will take care of)
Summer weight sling - XL/Right Handed in Celery
Bottles that are BPA free - some to fit Medela breast pump and some reg. 4&8 oz

That's all I can think of right now... please no blankets! I have more than I will ever need, so ladies, put your knitting needles away. :-)

Moving Again

As much as we wanted to find a place we could stay in for a few years and we thought that Oak Park was it... alas here we are, another year, another move. It's just when we first looked at an empty apartment, the place looked so big. Now that we've been in it a year and we are facing fitting another little body in here, we see that it's not big enough. We found a place in the city that should fit us all for a couple of years. It was listed as 1800 sf and I think that it's close to that. It's a three bedroom, separate dining room, gorgeous kitchen and huge living room kinda place. We will actually be paying a little less a month - same rent, heat included. We have storage in the basement as well as in the garage. It comes with a parking space in the garage but street parking doesn't look to be a problem for our visitors. You can see the house below. It's the brick on the left.


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We have the first floor so that'll be good for hauling baby, toddler and groceries. And the trip to the laundry in the basement won't be so long. I am happy to report it has a dishwasher too!

All this is great but when we went looking for daycare we hit a snag. We've signed the lease so there is no going back but today we will be interviewing for a daycare center. Apparently a lot of places around there don't take infants or if they do, it is significantly more $$ than we are currently paying. We have options, so I'm sure things will work out.

On a not so sunny note. My work is hurting. I still have a job and they reassure me that unless things get significantly worse, I will continue to have a job. But (and there is always a but) it looks like OT will no longer be paid, meals when we stay late will no longer be reimbursed, and they are asking people to volunteer to work shorter weeks. My question in all this is will these things come back when the economy comes back? There is no word yet that bonuses have been canceled which surprises me... we'll see. They are scheduled for April/May. Right now NOAM (North America) is breaking even, which is a precarious place and they want to bring down overhead without laying off in our office. Especially since there is so few of us, we aren't really viable with less people. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that Chicago gets the Olympic bid!

Back to moving... we have to be out of our place on Thursday the 30th of April and can't get into the new place until May 1. Aaron and friends will be packing on Thursday while I go to work and stay out of the way. Ian will go to daycare. We will come home, get some food and clean the apartment in the evening. The plan is then to stay at a hotel for the night. Friday night we will camp in the new place and I think Sat morning we will unpack the truck. This is in the hope that more people are available on the weekends.

So this is the official call out for those friends that are loyal to our continuing moves and diligently come out every year with little or no complaining. We love you and hope that you will put up with one more move. If you are available at anytime on Thursday (4/30) please stop by for whatever time you can spare. If you available Sat (5/2) morning at around 10am, we will have coffee and bagels. Or if you want to come by on Friday, that works too! We will start unpacking and work our way through it until the deed is done.

On another note... I am going to try to embed an interactive calendar in this blog. We are already getting a lot of requests for visiting and this will be a very busy summer for us. The impending move and birth are the biggest of our summer events. I think that two weeks prior and two weeks after the baby is born will be off limits. Also we would like to limit visits to every other weekend, just in the name of sanity. If you would like to visit, check the calendar and then give us a call!! We do love seeing everyone and summer in Chicago is awesome!