Wyatt's 4th Birthday Party

I wanted to give Wyatt a birthday party that was creative and one that couldn't be "bought" at a party store, but that I could also manage on a tight budget.  So I poked around on Pinterest and looked for inspirations for his train-themed birthday party.  Here are some of the photos of the party.  We all had such a great time and mother nature provided an amazing day for us - warm and sunny - what a treat.  Most importantly, Wyatt had an amazing day with family, friends and fun gifts.

Homemade train banner that we hung on the front door to welcome people.

 

I made this banner using fabric from a Dr. Suess collection, felt for the letters and I backed the flags with muslin.  I fixed the letters to the flags with double-sided tape so that I can change their placement or the message altogether, depending on the occasion.  If I had had more time, I would have done the back in a totally different theme so that they could be "reversible".  Regardless, it was a fun, easy sewing project - I say this as a beginner sewer.

I got this fabric at Joann - just backed it with an off-white denim to give it some weight.  Hoping to be able to re-use this as well if the right occasion comes along.

I borrowed the dessert stand from a friend and ordered a dozen red and turquoise balloons to put around the house to make things look a little more festive.  We have stumbled into a tradition of making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Wyatt's birthday each year (mostly because we like them and want an excuse to make them). 

My Mom is a master at cutting things out.  So she made this cute caboose to fix to our plasticware holders, just to dress them up a bit.  She also made and engine and various other types of train cars that I stuck to the backs of our dining room table chairs.  Thanks Mom.

Again, lucked out when my Mom and Dad volunteered to make Wyatt's birthday cake.  I told them the party was train-themed and pointed my Mom to Pinterest.  I had no idea until they walked into our house the day of the party that this was what they were going to make.  It was amazing and was the centerpiece of the party.

Thanks Mom!

I think he likes it!  Happy 4th Wyatt!  We love you.

Sorry we dropped off the face....

....but now we're back.  Turns out that moving across the country is a bit time consuming and blogging ended up taking a backseat while we got things up and running here.  Much has happened, here's a brief re-cap:

The BIG yellow truck (with Prius in tow).

Getting out of 54 Fair Ave was a nightmare.  Tons of work and no help from our friendly landlord (will leave that story off the blog).  Luckily Bret's parents were able to help us with packing, Mark watched Lucy for us, the Mosebrooks watched Lucy for us, the Grahams let us stay at their house for five nights, Yamel's sister and Tavo helped clean, Sasha helped us pack and brought us food.  It was no easy task and we could have never gotten out of there without the help of a LOT of friends and family.  Thank you all.


Lucy flew across the country successfully.  Wyatt and I flew across the country with an unexpected and very unwanted overnight stay in Minneapolis.  At that point, after ten days of packing and dealing with hundreds of details, logistics, goodbyes....I was so frayed that I nearly lost my mind.  Let's just say that no one in the Minneapolis airport wants to see me again - we flew to RDU first class the next day.

Bret and Ton at the Giants game in Atlanta.

Bret and Tom had the longest haul.  They drove our massive moving truck across the country in just under six days.  They saw the southern states and planned their days around what time the Giants would be on TV that night.  Luck had it that an old friend of ours who moved to Atlanta a few years back had tickets to spare to Game 3 of the NLDS, so they took a detour to Atlanta and watched in person as the Giants prevailed.  (iPhone video confirms that the tomahawk chop really is totally lame.)

They pulled up to the yellow house the next day and finally we were all together again.  It was a huge relief for us all.  We unpacked the yellow truck in a couple of hours and then headed back to my parents for dinner and more baseball.  Tom flew out the next day and we can't thank him enough for his gift of time and companionship that he gave to Bret.

So...we are in the yellow house and we totally love it.  It took some time to get up unpacked and situated.  We had to buy some furniture, make some curtains, hang pictures, struggle with the wireless network, etc. but now we are in and living. 

Lucy has a yard to run in out back.  Wyatt has made friends with some other kids in the neighborhood (and us with their parents).  With all of the space we feel like we are living in a palace.  And please, come visit!  Because we have a REAL guestroom.  It has beds!  And a dresser!  We have actually had a number of guests stay with us already - the Sibleys for several nights (much fun that included a trip to the NC state fair) and my college friend Shannon called me out of the blue and said she could come for the night.  We had fun catching up and hanging out.  We were so happy to have the good company.

Halloween was a lot of fun.  We carved pumpkins and our neighborhood put on a little festival that Wyatt enjoyed greatly.

Wyatt started in a preschool this week, going two half-days per week for now.  The teachers were all very excited about him after his first day and he talked about how much fun he had, so we are feeling good about it.  The preschool is a co-op, so soon we will begin our "jobs" there where we hope to meet some of the other parents and the children that Wyatt will surely come home talking about.

We are well into our job search - we both have some strong leads but out of fear of jinxing, I will leave out the details for now until contracts are signed.

So, we are here and happy.  Of course we are happy, because we've pretty much been on vacation for a month now.  The return to work is crucial of course, but it will be hard.  We have been blessed to have this time with each other, with Wyatt and Lucy, my parents.  My parents have been a huge help to us - watching Wyatt and Lucy when needed, helping around our house, pointing us in the right direction as we try to learn our way around. 

I will try to update more regularly.  See pictures below of the house and other activities.  We miss so many of you and are grateful for your support and friendship.
  

1634 Jamestowne Place

Lucy's new spot - lot's of squirrels to growl at....

Our back porch.

The Dining Room

Toy Room/Office

Wyatt watching shows in the living room.

Living room

Bret making meatballs in the kitchen.

The guest room.

Wyatt playing in the bubbles at the NC State Fair.

Yes, they really exist.  We tried deep fried Reese's Peanutbutter Cups and deep friend cookie dough.  I felt disgusting after one bite of each.

"Krispy Kreme Burger"

Wyatt at the Halloween Festival in our neighborhood.

"Can I do it again????"

Lighting the pumpkins for the first time.

Our pumpkins.

Byye Byye Skyy

For the first time in nearly seven years it's a workday and I'm not at Skyy.  Here are some pix of our office in SF.

The bar.

The main conference room.

Where I made my latte every morning for seven years.

Some companies have supply closets.  Skyy has a liquor closet.

Our new Home!

Yeah!  We won't be homeless when we get to North Carolina!  We are happy to report that we have signed a lease to rent a house.  It caught my eye on Craigslist about a month ago and somehow we convinced the landlords to rent this adorable place to us (complete strangers).  My parents were able to go look at the place on our behalf and sent lots of pictures and were able to describe the neighborhood in detail. 

Wyatt will like it because it's yellow (his favorite).

It's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath with a "bonus" room, garage, laundry room (not subterranean), screened-in porch, fireplace, etc.  Wow - we probably won't know what to do with all of the space - it's almost twice as big as our 2 bdrm place here in SF.  It will be a big change from the totally urban lifestyle that we are all used to.  We'll be on a cul-de-sac, about one mile from the nearest commerce.  It's just over 5 miles away from my parents house in Carrboro.  The landlords explained that there are many families on the street and kids ranging in age from 1 year old to 10 years old.  I guess we are realizing that this is who WE are now and maybe moving to a sub-urban place like this will make it easier to find friends and more fun for Wyatt and Lucy. 

Lucy will be the first to make the journey to NC.  She leaves on October 5th and arrives on October 6th after a "comfort" stop in Houston where she will be taken out of her crate and run and given some affection, food, water, etc.  Wyatt and I will fly out on the 7th.  Bret and his brother-in-law, Tom, will leave that day as well in a Penske truck, towing our Prius behind them.  They will make the drive in about 5 days, barring any unwanted roadtrip surprises.  

Of course, the pressure is on more than ever to find jobs as fast as we can.  If any of you know anyone who is hiring in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, PLEASE let us know!

Our new address:  1634 Jamestowne Place, Chapel Hill, NC  27517.  Now that we have all this space, we are expecting you to come visit!

The kitchen.  (Dishwasher is below the counter top.  How conventional.)

Breakfast nook.

Screened in porch.

Bonus Room.

Nearby playground.

Field near the house for Lu to run.

A Little About our Home of 3.5 Years - 54 Fair Ave.

It's a quirky place, no doubt about it. But it's been home since May of 2007. We moved in just after I found out I was pregnant with Wyatt. Lu, our vigilant watch dog,  spends many hours perched in the bay window monitoring the goings-ons in the neighborhood.  [Although she was notably absent when the guy two doors down the street got murdered the night before Obama got elected.]

54 Fair Ave.

Poor Lu has had to stare at the two
ugliest houses in San Francisco for the last three years.

Among the oddities of the house, the dishwasher was installed at eye-level.  Very weird, but we've come to like it (not so much bending down).  At the bottom of our stairs that lead to the ground level, there is a tiny door to the crawl space, which reminds us of the Being John Malkovich seventh-and-a-half floor.  We are lucky enough to have a laundry room, but the clearance to get into it is less than 5 feet. (Huh?)  So notice the crack in the paint in the picture from my having bashed my head there numerous times.    Most of the faucets in this place are reversed, meaning we have to push them to turn on the water, and in some cases the cold and hot are reverse sides as well.  We have a tiny "master bath" that really only can fit one person at a time.  No kidding, there are 7 light switches in the room.

Many special moments happened in this house.  On November 23rd, 2007 my water broke while I was standing in our entry way.  The next day Wyatt James Tremewan was born (on his due date).  We became a family in this house.  Wyatt's first steps were taken in our living room.  We've had family gatherings where we've packed 5 adults, a child and a large dog into our two bedroom house.

Wyatt and Owi at Wyatt's 2nd Birthday Party

 So, the place is a bit weird, but it's done the trick.  The best part of moving to 54 Fair was meeting our neighbors, the Grahams, who had their first son, Owen, five weeks after Wyatt was born.  Wyatt and "Owi" became best friends as they were in daycare together for over two years.  We spent many evenings and weekend afternoons with the Grahams, cocktailing and talking and sharing the joys and frustrations of the entry into parenthood.  They moved to Mill Valley a few months ago.  What a blessing that we had each other for the time that we did.



 Our own RandomHouse:

Dishwasher at eye-level.

7th and a Half Floor -
Everytime Bret had to go in there,
he came out fuming mad from hitting his head.

Our laundry room/bomb shelter.