Where have we been, you ask? The past several of weekends (and most days in between) have been spent working on remodeling our kitchen. We decided, after getting a couple of outrageous estimates from some general contractor types, to do what we could ourselves. Although there have been moments of frustration and difficulty, it’s actually gone surprisingly well. The biggest challenge has been keeping Charlie from sneaking in and drilling unnecessary holes in the walls.

We ended up outsourcing the cabinets and the drywall to friends of friends in the business. However, between Charlie’s Grandpas and me, we were able to do everything else ourselves—install French doors, close off another door, install a window, completely demolish the kitchen, update and install new plumbing, run all necessary electrical, paint, tile and install lighting.

And now, without further ado, I give you a fully-functional and nearly complete Kitchen 2.0.

We understand that it’s still a small kitchen. However, anybody who’s been to our house and had seen what we had to work with will agree that this is a vast improvement…especially knowing that they no longer have to blow the lead-paint dust off their dishes before eating.

Also, before this, we didn’t have a dishwasher. No. Scratch that. I was the dishwasher. We also didn’t have a double sink OR a disposal. Our fridge had a button inside that when you pushed it made a whrrr.. noise. Now. when you push it, cold—like, brain-freeze cold—filtered water comes out. We also now have about four times the counter space as we used to and, what seems like 15 times the cabinet space.

Here’s the kitchen being inspected before we moved in…
I can’t believe we bought the place.

We spent last evening at the final Zoo Tunes concert of the season. The Avett brothers—one of my latest favorites—did not disappoint. They are one of those bands that bring an extraordinary amount of energy with them to their live shows. Just go see them, you’ll see.

Noooooooooooooooo

We were thrilled to have three of Charlie’s friends and their parents with us. It was a nice distraction for Charlie, although, it didn’t keep him from wanting to run away from us for the sake of doing so. I suppose it’s expected; he is two, after all. Unexpected, however, was what happened when we were in line waiting to get into the show. I wasn’t paying much attention, but suddenly Andrea paused and her eyes got really big. She nudged me and nodded toward a little girl and her mom right in front of us saying, under her breath, “that’s her.” I looked over, “that’s who?…oh…ohhhhh nooo.” Last August, while attending one of these concerts, we had a run-in with this…same…kid.

As we entered the venue, we made sure to stake out a place to sit a ways from them. Unfortunately, this little girl still managed to haunt us by making friends with the blanket behind us. AND she was eating ice cream. GAAAAAHHH.

I’d like to be able to sum up what turned out to be one of the busiest summer weekends of our parental career..so far, anyway. However, we’re just now finishing cleaning up after the birthday celebration and it’s time to get back to the daily grind. So, I’m going to reserve these few last minutes of the ‘weekend’ to say ‘Thank You’. Thank you to everybody who made Charlie’s birthday party special and exciting for him. He’s only two and he’s already got great friends for life.

My other ‘thank you’ goes over to our new friends, Jen and Roth. We were invited to their annual seafood bake and it was…awesome.

Here are some photos of the weekend at a glance:

The obligatory Seattle Seafair Blue Angels air show. We thought Charlie would be more into the airplanes, but really he just wanted to go run through the parking lot behind us and try to eat his ear plugs

Charlie’s friend Cole’s birthday party. Happy birthday Cole!

The Seafood Bake. I see food…and I eat it. Yum.

Eat Me!

Roth and Jen did an amazing job on the feast.

Oh yeah..and did I mention that we got to hang out with THEEE Sizzle and THEEE Fella? That’s right.

Sunday was Charlie’s birthday party. We got one of these piñatas that you don’t have to beat with a stick, which I think would have given Charlie a complex. Instead, you pull strings out of Curious George’s butt until the candy falls out…Maybe next year, we’ll skip the piñata altogether.

The party was a lot of fun for Charlie, Thanks again to all of his friends for coming!

I wish I had the energy to write more about the busy weekend, but I’m exhausted. I’m going to go to work now for some much-needed sleep.

I remember, before having kids—even when Andrea was pregnant with Charlie—the idea of a little squirt running around, constantly getting into my business, torturing the pets, keeping us up at night and assuring that our house was a consistent wreck seemed just as I’ve made it sound—like a nuisance. Sure, I thought, I’m on-board with having a kid or two. Who else will take care of us when we’re old and senile? Plus, I figured that they’ll eventually do my chores for some puny allowance when I’d rather bask in the sun and drink beer (that I will likely have purchased with said allowance—”thanks kids! now you be careful on that ladder!”).

better than what I had for lunch.

It didn’t take long—once Charlie was born—for my feelings to drastically change. In the past two years, we’ve put up with every nuisance that I’ve described above; and then some. Simply put, it’s been the best two years of our lives. From the moment he took his first breath, right up through yesterday when he decided to help himself to the tub of Land O’Lakes margarine from the fridge; he’s been nothing short of amazing.

We love you Charles James. Happy Birthday, little man!

The morning tickets went on sale for Zoo Tunes, I got up extra early to go stand in line. This year’s line-up included Indigo Girls, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Aimee Mann, yadda yadda yadda.. These are all fine performers, I’m sure; but seeing as how it turns out that I’m NOT made of money, we decided to pick two shows to buy tickets for. Andrew Bird and the Avett Brothers—both of which made my list of top 10 albums of 2007—happened to be playing this year’s Zoo Tunes. Andrew Bird was last Wednesday and throughout the day, Andrea’s sciatica became progressively uncomfortable. At the last minute, she decided it wasn’t in her best interest to sit on the hard ground for several hours. My ‘good husband’ instincts kicked in and I decided to give the tickets away and spend the evening pampering my suffering wife with massages and her favorite home-cooked meal followed by a series of decadent desserts…Of course, I’m slow and those instinct didn’t actually kick in until Andrew Bird’s encore.

I was a little nervous about trying to handle Charlie alone—about him annoying others by sticking his paws into their potato salad or singing along to the band too loudly. However, he and I managed to make it through the entire show. In fact, Charlie did amazingly well—even when I left him alone to go to the beer garden*. Andrew Bird was great. He really is an incredible musician; I don’t suggest you pass up the opportunity to see him…that is, unless you have sciatica. Then you can stay home..but try not to think about how much fun everybody else is having.

I told Charlie we were seeing Andrew Bird…he was very confused.

By the way, next month’s Avett Brothers show is apparently not sold out yet. If you are in Seattle, you should really consider treating yourself. See you there.

*joke. there is no reason for you to call CPS. I did not leave Charlie unattended to go to the beer garden..I snuck him in under my jacket.

Since Jon has been keeping you all updated with his latest household projects, I thought it was about time to update you on MY latest project. "Project: Betababy". I am now rounding the bend to 24 weeks pregnant, meaning that we’re now beyond the halfway point. As you may remember from my first pregnancy, I had a lot of issues with morning-sickness, along with some issues with one of my kidneys. However, without boring you with my complete medical history I’ll just say that my body doesn’t handle pregnancy very well. It seems like any quark that may come with being pregnant, comes my way. My latest adventure has been dealing with some less-than-pleasant sciatica. But if this is the worst I have to deal with for the duration, I’ll take it. (knocking on wood)

Betababy, or as Charlie lovingly refers to her ‘baby sushi’, is doing great. Measuring right on for our dates and partying up a storm. I can reliably count on at least an hour of full-on kicks and spins as I try to fall asleep each night. We have now reached the point where we can actually watch my belly ripple as she moves and grooves in there. Charlie seems to have taken to the idea of having a little sister; or at least one that lives in his mother’s tummy. He often tries to get her to come out by pinching at my belly button (if it were only that easy kid). We’ll see how he reacts when she is actually here, but for now he’s very sweet and often gives the baby lots of hugs, kisses…and the occasional ‘raspberry’.