Merry Christmas!

With good intentions, Mike, Mikie and I dressed nicely one weekend in November and went out to two different photo places in an effort to have our family photo taken for our Christmas cards. We had the cards made up before Thanksgiving so that we could send everyone their cards well in advance of the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, in my effort to hand write a little message on everyone's cards to personalize them, I have now sent out 14 Christmas cards. Yes, only 14. And, even those 14 were only sent on the 20th, so the odds of them arriving before Christmas are slim. Which means that the majority of people who sent me a very nice Christmas card think I am a Scrooge or don't really care enough about them to send them a Christmas card. My excuse is simply that after getting the Christmas cards, we moved. And, in spite of my good intentions, I just had very little free time. So, I am now sending the electronic Christmas message via our lovely blog.

Here is a glimpse of our Christmas card photo:

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love, The Trahans

The Big Boy Bed

For anyone who just read the title of this post and assumed I am pregnant, let me state for the record that I am not. Mikie, weighing in at 35 pounds and 3 feet tall, has outgrown his crib-turned-toddler bed. So, at Thanksgiving, we drove to the nearest Pier 1 Kids (which, incidentally, is located only 300 miles away in Delaware) in search of a twin bed to match his existing dresser.

Well, we got to the store and found a nice twin bed with similar styling and color to the existing furniture for the low price of $299. But then, Mike noticed that for only $399, we could get bunk beds. The bunk beds had a cute tent set up around the bottom bunk which I figured Mikie would love, so I gave in.

Somehow $399 became $1100. Mostly because the $399 bunk bed didn't match as nicely, so we upgraded to the $549 bunk bed. Then add in $269 per mattress set (don't forget you need two, one for each bed), $79 for the cute tent, plus delivery fees (since the closest store is 300 miles away). Not to mention buying bedding for two beds. Needless to say, it was more than the $299 we originally anticipated spending.

Four weeks later, the Fedex truck delivered the infamous Big Boy Bed. As you can see below, Mikie LOVES it. Although, he prefers the top bunk. . . of course, since he isn't allowed to sleep in it:

Mike is still recovering from carrying the bunkbeds up the stairs and single-handedly lifting the top bunk onto the bottom bunk and assembling them by himself. You can find him residing in the bottom bunk (although Mikie and I rolled him onto the floor so that we could put the sheets and blankets on):

Sweet dreams.

Love, The Trahans

Mikie & The Swingset

I have never seen anyone so happy with a swingset in my life. Here is a picture of the world's happiest toddler on his swingset:

A few days later, we found the bucket and shovel for his sandbox. . . and he hasn't been on the swings since. I think if I let him, he would be outside digging in the sand all day long.

Oh to be two again. . .

Love, The Trahans

The Top Sign You Live in the Middle of Nowhere. . .

. . .You have to fill out a "Route Card" so that your mail carrier knows to drop off your mail!

I have moved seven times (excluding changing dorms in college). Each time, I either pick up a change of address card from the post office and mail it back, or pay the $1 processing fee and change my address online. So, almost 2 weeks after buying the house, I was wondering why I still haven't received any mail at the house. It isn't at the apartment, so I know they processed the address change. And, according to all the companies I have ordered from, I should have gotten packages, not to mention bills, mail from my mom, etc.

Since I left work early yesterday to take Mikie to the doctor's, I had time to stop by the local post office before it closed. The first question they asked was "did you fill out a Route Card?" I assumed they meant a Change of Address Card, and I informed them I filled it out online. The teller then explained that a "Route Card" is different. It lets your mail carrier know that he/she should add you to the route. I unwittingly assumed that, like every other place I have lived, the Post Office automatically added me to the route when I filled out the "Change of Address Card." But, I guess it would be too confusing to deliver mail to every mailbox you happen to pass along the way.

After filling out the "Route Card" and contact the local Post Master, we are now successfully receiving mail at our new address. Just in time to pay the bills.

Love, The Trahans

The Trahan Family Christmas Tree

With the holidays inching ever closer, we spent this past weekend searching for the perfect Christmas tree. Taking after my dad, I like to find the largest, fattest tree that will still fit in the room. And, since the new family room has a vaulted ceiling, I was looking for a tree more than 8 feet tall.

So, off we go to the first Christmas Tree farm. We headed to a place about 30 minutes south of the house which also had a petting zoo for kids. After walking the majority of the farm, with Mikie in toe, we left. There wasn't a single Douglas fir that was taller and me and was full.

On our way back to the house for more directions, we pass the second Christmas Tree farm. This one was less than 15 minutes from our house. Unfortunately, they had a sign hanging across the entrance saying "Sorry, Sold Out for the Season". December 9th. . . sold out for the season? Either everyone is cutting their Christmas trees down in November, or they didn't have a lot of trees to start with.

I remembered the year my dad went out on Christmas Eve and bought himself a 10 ft Christmas tree for $20 at a lot. Maybe I need to go to a lot to have any luck finding the perfect tree. And there we found "The Trahan Family Christmas Tree".

We get the tree back to the house and set it up in the tree stand. We have (or rather, had) a commercial tree stand where you screw an insert onto the tree. The insert that sits inside a base. You can easily adjust the tree to make sure it is straight, and then lock the insert into place. Amazingly, we get it straight on the first try. . .

15 minutes later, it falls over, spilling hot sappy water all over the carpet.

We put it up a second time, but realize it is crooked. And, in our effort to adjust it, we broke the locking lever.

So, with Mike holding up the Christmas Tree (and Mikie scolding Mike not to knock it down and scolding the Christmas Tree not to make a mess), I head out to the store in search of the same tree stand.

Unfortunately, each one of the six stores I went to sold the same, $9.99 cheap plastic tree stand with four screws to hold the tree in place. If my tree fell over in a commercial stand, some plastic thing is not going to work. Luckily, store number six had a heavy cast-iron stand with a wide base. Armed with the new stand, I return home, 90 minutes later.

For the third time in one day, we put the Christmas tree up in a stand. Now comes the decorating. . .

I failed to realize that being only 5'3" tall, it is difficult to decorate a 10' tree. Especially when your ladder is sitting in Pennsylvania, 300 miles away. Mike ended up precariously balancing on top of a stop stool positioned on top of a bar stool in an effort to put the angel on top of the tree. And, I, his loving wife, rather than be concerned, was in tears trying to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. With the help of Mike's cousins we had the tree decorated by Sunday night. You can see the results of our hard work:
And, as if the whole experience wasn't reminiscent enough of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the tree truly is full with "a bit of sap". We have been scrubbing it off our hands for days.

Merry Christmas!
Love, The Trahans

"Is your house on fire, Clark?"

One of our favorite Christmas movies is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. When we moved into the new house, we realized that they created that movie because of people like our neighbor. If you drive to our house any evening between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can't miss this house:
There are lights stapled on the roof, lights on the front, blow up figures, a nativity scene, countless tacky decorations which look much nicer when it is dark and everything is lit. The most entertaining part is that there is a sign instructing you to "Tune your radio to 92.7 FM". They broadcast christmas music intermixed with amusing jokes about making sure National Grid (the electric company) has a happy holiday. But the best part. . . all the lights are programmed to blink in sinc with the music! For example, if they are playing "Frosty the Snowman", Frosty is lit while most of the other lawn ornaments are turned off. And, the lights on the house blink on and off with the song.

The first time I saw it, they were playing the song from the beginning of Christmas Vacation, and I could not stop laughing. Now, having to drive through the mass of cars that stop to watch every night during my commute home, the Scrooge in me has taken over and I just find it annoying.

Merry Christmas!
Love, The Trahans

A Spiritual Awakening

When we put the house in Maryland up for sale, a number of people told us that if you bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your yard, your house will sell. While I originally thought this sounded sacreligious, after almost a month on the market, I figured it couldn't hurt to try. So, I ordered a St. Joseph Home Sale Kit (yes, they make kits for this) and buried him in my front flower bed. We ended up with an offer on the house the next day. . .

Once you have sold your house, you are supposed to dig up the statue and give Joseph a place of honor in your new home. Afraid that I would jinx the purchase of our new home before it was complete, I made Mike retrieve the statue from Maryland. And, Joseph has been sitting in our office (which doubles as our master bedroom) in the apartment for the last four weeks.

Evidently, if you are two, this 3" tall resin statue looks like a mini action figure. Every once in a while, I find Mikie in the office playing with Joseph.

Fast forward to last night. Mike and I climb into bed after a long day of working and packing, and an even longer evening trying to convince Mikie to go to sleep. I toss and turn, trying to get comfortable, when I realize something is digging into my shoulder. What do I find laying hidden under my pillow but St. Joseph. Evidently, similar to our son, Joseph wanted to sleep in "Mommy's bed".

Mike and I had a good laugh before returning Joseph to his perch on the desk. While they said give him a place of honor in your new home, I sincerely doubt they intended him to have his own bed.

The Trahans

One Fork Down and Two Days to Go

With only two days left before we close on the new house, we have been trying to pack everything in the apartment. We don't have too much to pack, mostly clothes, but we did have to pack up all our dishes. I had the genius idea to purchase paper bowls, cups, plates, and utensils to use for the week so that we could pack most of the real dishes.

Unfortunately, my genius plan has failed. Tonight, we were enjoying meatloaf (one of Mikie's favorite meals) when I heard a crunch. Now, while I may not be Emeril, I pride myself on being able to cook a tasty meatloaf. So, I know it does not go "crunch". Suddenly, I hear Mike saying "Spit that out" and realized what happened. My super strong toddler bit right through the prong of his plastic fork. And, true to his headstrong personality, Trouble swallowed the prong.

Since he didn't choke. . . didn't cry. . . laughed at the horrified looks on our faces and ate another slice of meatloaf, I assume he is going to live. He may not enjoy it so much tomorrow when it exits his body, but for now he is amused. And, he has earned the privledge to dirty real utensils while the rest of us use disposable ones.

Ah, the joys of parenting. . .

Love, The Trahans

Our Soon-to-Be New House

With 11 days left until we close on the new house, I figured I should finally take the time to e-mail details. It has nine rooms total: living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, office, 4 bedrooms, and 2 1/2 bathrooms.

I have dubbed it one of the "Christmas Tree houses". A Christmas Tree house by my definition was a house that could accomodate the Griswald Family Christmas tree. Since our family room is a) twice as big as the old house and b) has cathedral ceilings, it falls into this category. So, once we are moved in, we will begin our search for the Trahan Family Christmas tree. Mikie, who is slowly learning about Christmas traditions, is very excited about the idea of a big Christmas tree living in our house.

My favorite room other than the family room is the kitchen. It has everything I wanted to change about our old kitchen. . . Hardwood floors instead of vinyl (so that I don't have to spend nights scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees trying to get it to look clean). . . Granite counter tops. . . Stainless steel appliances, including the new refrigerator with freezer on the bottom. . . A ton of recessed lighting so that I can see when I am cooking. Basically, the only thing it didn't come with was a live in chef. But, sadly, I imagine that would have cost a lot more.

Mikie, who has been happy living in the apartment (especially since we were too lazy to put safety locks on the cabinets), is excited about the outside of the house. Our lot is a little over 0.6 acres, which is HUGE versus what houses were built on in Maryland. You could only get a new construction with that large a lot if you had a sewer and well water. So, there is plenty of space for him to run around. In addition to being bigger, the backyard comes complete with a swingset.
Mike is just happy that he can park his precious car in a garage again. And, that he can stop listening to me complain about the apartment.

So, if you are in Massachusetts any time after November 30th, stop by and visit us in our new home.

Love,
The Trahans

The Family Photo

I have resigned myself to the fact that by having a child, I now have homework again. Yes, selling butter braids to raise money for the daycare. Finding obscure supplies for art projects. The latest assignment was to send in a family photo for the Thanksgiving art project.

Normally, this would not be a difficult task. Except that being in limbo, all of my photos are packed safely in photo safe boxes inside cardboard boxes inside a storage facility 15 minutes from the apartment. And, since neither Mike nor I wanted to unpack an entire storage unit looking for a box that probably was all the way in the back, I decided we would take a new picture.

So, while in Providence for the baptism of Mike's godson, Arcangelo, we asked Mike's family to take a picture of the three of us. After much battling, here was the result:

This picture epitomizes our family. . . Mikie struggling for his independence while Mike and I try desperately to win the battle and get him to cooperate. Not 15 seconds later, Mikie was running lose again, doing laps around the interior of the church.

Last night, after another reminder from daycare that we still had not turned in a picture, we took a second family photo. With Mikie mesmerized by cartoons, we were able to set the timer on the camera and get Mikie to sit still long enough to take another picture:

While not as "true-to-life" as the first photo, I think I prefer the other parents to see this one hanging on the school bulletin board. That way, I can continue deluding myself into thinking Mike and I have the upper hand.

The Trahans

Another Reason Why I Hate the Apartment

As if the people upstairs who slam their doors while getting ready for work at 5am every morning wasn't bad enough. . . or the dishwasher that melts all things plastic. . . we have a very cozy living room. The living room/dining room/kitchen does not typically bother me. But, because it is so "cozy" (aka, small) there is not much space between furniture. So, our son turned acrobat has taught himself some new tricks.

He begins with a vault over the ottoman and onto the couch. After which, he somersaults head first over the arm of the sofa and onto the recliner. As you can see in the picture, the recliner is strategically positioned next to the fireplace turned DVD storage shelf. By balancing himself on the arm of the recliner, he can now successfully retrieve whatever movie he desires.

Luckily, we have only 16 more days of "coziness". Once we are in the new house, there won't be any furniture near the shelf with the DVDs. So, until he learns to climb the vertical shelving unit, we will be free from the reign of "Nemo" and "The Lion King" for a short while.

Love, The Trahans

The Countdown Begins

Today, we officially closed on our house in Maryland. Actually, Mike officially closed for both of us, while I stayed behind with Mikie. So, for the next 3 1/2 weeks, we are no longer home owners. If I didn't curse our apartment multiple times a day, it would be very liberating to know I don't have a mortgage. I think Mike and I agree that it will be more liberating to be out of the apartment and in a new house. Preferably, one where no one lives above me who likes to wake up at 5:00 am and slam things. I feel like knocking on our upstairs neighbors door and letting them know that I barely tolerate my son waking me up at ungodly hours of the morning, so they may want to talk more quitely. So far, I have restrained myself. . . mostly because it is too cold to get out of bed to yell at anyone.

Don't get me wrong, our apartment is cute, and would be a great first apartment. But, going from a house where there is a laundry room and separate pantry to an apartment where both are shoved in one closet is a bigger adjustment than we had originally convince ourselves. Not to mention the fact that the "master bedroom" couldn't accomodate the small desk Mike needs for working from home and our queen sized air bed. So, we have been living like we were back in college, on a full size spring mattress. It's not terrible, until Mikie has a bad dream and climbs into bed too. . .

So, now that settlement is complete on the Maryland house, the coutdown begins until we close on the Massachusetts house. I'll save the details for another post, but here is a picture of what will become our new home. . .

Barring any complications, we will be closing on November 30th. . . 24 days from now. . . and moving in as quickly as possible. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

The Trahans

Mikie Goes Trick-or-Treating

We had a busy Halloween this year. We spent Saturday at our apartment community Halloween party. Mikie decided to dress as Melman the Giraffe. He was actually dressed as a giraffe, but since having watched "Madagascar" about a thousand times while we were moving, all giraffes are now name "Melman". Unfortunately, the Halloween party coincided with naptime, so buy 4:30 when the pizza arrived, Mikie had officially transformed into "Mr. Hyde" dressed as Melman the Giraffe. We soon said our goodbyes. . . Mikie managed to yell "Later Man" as we carried him kicking and screaming out the door. . . and made our way back home for dinner.

After a sugar-filled day at school on Tuesday, Mike, Mikie, and I drove down to Providence to go trick-or-treating with Mike's family. Last year, Mikie went to four houses, before deciding he preferred to stay home, running up and down the driveway, distributing candy to the trick-or-treaters. So, I figured we might make it to ten houses this year.

Boy was I mistaken. After inhaling two waffles in the car, Mikie was eager to get out and visit with "Di-Di". Mike dressed Mikie in his costume. This time, he decided to go as the Lion King. Again, he was actually dressed as a lion, but since discovering the "Lion King", all lions are named "Baby Simba" or "Simba" and are kings. After dinner, Auntie Di and I took Mikie over to the neighbor's house while Mike waited for his cousins, Julie and Michele, and neice and nephew, Jalysa and Arcangelo, to come trick-or-treating.

At first timid, Mikie soon warmed up to the neighbors. He let out a few "roars" which earned him more attention (and candy). He invited himself to a glass of water, found the room with the TV, kicked of his shoes and settled in for the evening. He even went so far as to tell the homeowners to "Get out". I guess as with all things when you are two, he decided it was "Mikie's House". I wrestled on his shoes as he helped himself to another piece of candy, and we were finally off to the next house.

After that, the remainder of the night was Mikie running ahead and the rest of us racing to catch him. As you can see from the picture, most of the shots are of his behind.

He quickly learned to look for houses with lights on since they were the ones with the candy. And more than once, he took multiple handfulls of candy. Luckily, it was late in the evening, and after he said "Happy 'lween", no one seemed to mind that he walked off with 4-6 pieces of candy.

And, Mom & Dad made out too. All that running around yielded plenty of chocolate for us, and a child so tired that he fell asleep during the drive home.

Happy Halloween.

The Trahans

Keeping Up with the Jones'

Anyone who knows us realizes that we like to keep up with the Jones'. Actually, it is typically the Ryan's (since Mike and Chris are constantly on the phone comparing technology). This time, we are keeping up with the Hudson's. After seeing Christie and Scott's blog, I decided it would be a good way for us to update family and friends on our lives. So, here is the quick intro. . .

It is now early November. Flash back to early August, Mike, Mikie, and I were living in Maryland. For the most part, we were happy. However, I had a very high stress job with a young company, JONATHANproduct. And, while we had a handful of friends in Maryland, many of whom had started moving to other states (or countries). Add to that the stress that comes when you try and restrain a two year old in a car for 8 hours in order to visit Mike's family in Rhode Island, and we decided it was time for a change. I managed to get an amazing opportunity to work for Crabtree & Evelyn in Connecticut. And Mike, ever the supportive husband, agreed to follow me to a new state so that I could continue my career in the Personal Care industry.

Once the decision was made, we have had a whirl-wind (and equally stressful) three months. We worked very hard to put our house on the market. After less than two weeks of painting, cleaning, finishing the basement, ripping out and replacing vinyl flooring, packing superfluous items (like the Bruins jersey Mikie is modeling), and hiding toys in the garage, our house was officially on the market. And, 30 days (and one buried statue of St. Joseph later), we had a contract on our house.

Now, I have two months under my belt at Crabtree. Having switched companies once before, I was afraid I would have second thoughts. But, I am very happy and I have to remind myself I have only been there two months. It has been a very natural transition, and I don't regret moving at all.

Mike is continuing to work for Northrop Grumman from afar. He splits his time working from home, and driving to a nearby contractor to oversee their work. Occasionally, he travels back to Maryland, which has been helpful while we finish closing on our house there.

As you can see from the picture, Mikie has settled into New England nicely. Mike has taught him to say "Go Sox". He loves his daycare. They spend a lot of time outside (one of his favorite pasttimes). And, he has wowed the staff with his ability to make an elephant noise (a feat uncommon to 2-year olds). Living in a rural area, he loves to say "Hi cows!" to all the cows we pass during our morning commute to daycare/work. The only side effect of moving is that he calls a lot of places "Mikie's House". . . the house in Maryland. . . the apartment. . . the house we are buying in Massachusetts. . . random people's houses. Of course, that may just be a side effect of being 2, so I let it slide. And, I am praying he doesn't start dropping his r's. . .

We will try and update everyone as interesting (or entertaining) things happen.

The Trahans