beth & rob @ home

new URL and feed

Beth — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:31:00 +0000

It occurs to me that since I read most blogs via a blog reader, some of our readers probably do too... and you must be wondering where we've gone. Sorry! The blog has moved to http://www.robandbethstewart.com/wp/ and the new feed is at http://robandbethstewart.com/wp/?feed=rss2.

flavor of love

Beth — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:04:00 +0000

Today Ally and I went to the mall in the morning to play in the play area and run some errands. I picked up a throw pillow and valances for the guest bedroom, Ally had a grand time in the play area, and then we went to Pottery Barn to see if I could find a new clock for our fireplace mantel. I accidentally broke our old clock while removing Christmas decorations-- amazing how things shatter on slate-- so I've been looking for a new one. At the store I wasn't sure about which size to buy. The clock I liked came in a small, medium, and large size (not sure why only two sizes are on the web site). Thinking that the room is pretty large and hence it should have a big clock, I picked up the largest model and put it on the mantel to see if Rob would like it. When he came home he cracked up laughing and asked if maybe he could use it for Halloween next year.

So we're planning on getting the medium sized one now, but first we had to have some fun.

malade

Beth — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:48:00 +0000

I've been sick with a cold since Sunday, which seems to have interested Ally, particularly when I blow my nose. After observing the ritual on Sunday, by Monday she requested a tissue and said to her stuffed animals, "sick. blow nose." and held a tissue to their faces.

meow

Beth — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:31:00 +0000

As challenging as it may be to visit as adults when you are parents of toddlers, I have to say it is also so much more fun when you get together. After a fantastic visit by Mark, Emily, and Efram this weekend I have concluded that there really is something to the communal living idea. Ally and Efram seemed to really enjoy each other's company (as long as they were both not trying to play with Elmo at the same time). The similarities and differences between them are extraordinary to see. Efram is a master at the shape sorter and puzzles-- two things Ally is just starting to understand. And as is typical of little girls, Ally talks more and has a bit more drama! We anticipate very, very interesting years ahead.

As far as sources of amusement, the two winners were Matilda, who was chased into her cat hole many times, and the wagon.

sur la table

Beth — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:11:00 +0000

Ally seems to relish saying "no" these days to pretty much every question we ask, though the response is said in a sweet playful voice and is on occasion followed by a thoughtful "yes." As in, "Ally, would you like a cookie?" "no.... yes." She even said "no" to her snack this past weekend, so in a moment of exasperation I asked if she would like to have her snack at the big table. Her eyes lit up. "Yea!" She arranged some of her friends around her plate to join in on the fun and seemed so pleased to be at the table like a big girl.

To get a sense of scale, on a different day...

mr. toolman II, with a vengeance

Beth — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:48:00 +0000

Rob has been a home improvement tornado this week. Last weekend he hung all of the wood blinds in the back of the house, with only minimal complaint that they were harder to hang than cellular shades. Then on Wednesday he began the ambitious project of installing our garage door opener. Because our garage has very high ceilings and a very tall door, none of the standard installation hardware would work, so he had to do some creative exchanging to find an opener with an in-stock extension kit. Then he worked for three nights and Saturday afternoon in the very cold garage. When the opener worked successfully on Saturday (on the first try!!) we watched in awe as the door easily opened and closed. Miraculous! Life-changing! So Rob gets the gold star of the week.

cousin

Beth — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:43:00 +0000

As a child, I was quite suspicious of adults who told me that the holidays were about family. I mean, did they forget about PRESENTS? But just as the passing of time has taught me the immense value of dark chocolate and good coffee, I am content to say that the highlight of the holidays this year was time spent with family. In particular Ally learned the word cousin and now regularly asks for her cousins by name! On Christmas day she was able to play with her teenage cousins and in particular loved playing in her kitchen with her cousin Michelle. Then on New Year's Eve her younger cousins taught her the great joy of running in circles in the basement. They can relate to each other in such interesting ways I could never have predicted-- which is I suppose why kids like to play with each other rather than their boring parents once they become a bit older and wiser.

Here is Ally with her younger cousins, Ryan, Katy, and Olivia, from whom she has inherited her sense of style.

beginning

Beth — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:32:00 +0000

We are so thankful to have reached today-- the first day of 2008. 2007 was by far the most challenging, stressful year of our life together. Far too often we were forced to compromise the things most important to us for the things that were due or had to be done. The whirlwind has begun to settle already and the new house is beginning to feel like home; the school-free evenings stretch forward into what seems like an endless vacation! Thank you to the family and friends who hung in there with us this past year. We'll do better from now on. Well... as long as we get a few more perfect scores in Guitar Hero.

on cue

Beth — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:33:00 +0000

In yet another example of how Ally understands more than we realize, today she smiled upon request for the first time. When she was younger, I would coax smiles by making funny faces or singing songs or doing other things I am glad no one captured on film. These methods haven't been working for months, though, which is why I don't have many smiley pictures of Ally. Today she began playing with some puzzles she received for Christmas (these are great! Thanks, Katy, Olivia, and Ryan!) and I asked her to smile, and she did. Wow.

So then I said, "Ally, would you like to take your picture in front of the Christmas tree?" And she said, "yes," and went to stand by the tree and then she posed. Doesn't she look proud?

just like mommy

Beth — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:52:00 +0000

Ally and I spent much of Christmas day in the kitchen-- I in mine, Ally in hers. Ally loves her new kitchen set. Most popular is the way the little burners sizzle when a pot is placed on them, followed closely by pretending to wash her hands in the sink. When it was nap time yesterday, she pitched quite a fit as I dragged her away from Santa's bounty.

The holiday was quite lovely this year. A simple menu meant less work than usual preparing the meal and a bit more space in the new house meant that we didn't bump into each other during the present-opening extravaganza. Rob surprised me with Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii, which we are now playing with great gusto as part of our promise to accomplish pretty much nothing today.

paper

Beth — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:11:00 +0000

"Ally, what's in the newspaper?"
"TV!!!"
(Looking at the Best Buy ad) "Yes, that's right. There are TVs."
"I like it!"
"They are nice TVs."
"I like it TOO!!"

commencing

Beth — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:55:00 +0000

Today marks the end of an era for Rob and I. Our entire life together has been structured by school, with no breaks longer than a few months before the return to the grind of working during the day and studying in the evenings. We feel exhausted and giddy at the prospect of spending nights together at home, finding hobbies and interests like normal people, and never again driving the circuit of Hilltop Circle in search of parking. The thought of being nothing more than working parents seems to promise more free time than we could ever imagine. I think that means we don't have an excuse to not exercise any longer, but for the next few weeks we plan to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to video games, excellent microbrews, and afternoon naps. Bliss!

not so redi

Beth — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:09:00 +0000

After two weeks of living in a fish bowl every night, we broke down and bought 13 redi shades to gain a bit more privacy as we wait for our real blinds to arrive in early January. They were very easy to install, though they aren't quite long enough for our very tall windows. Unfortunately they keep falling down. Some extra tape seems to be holding them in place now, but this past week each morning we would wake to find more shades on the floor collapsed in a defeated heap.

Their failures inspired great interest in Matilda, who crawled into them and slept.

Meanwhile Ally really likes the little clips used to raise and lower the shades. I gave her a half dozen to see and she pulled them around in her wagon, arranged them in lines on the kitchen floor, and then dragged them around the room on a blanket. Here she is lying down with them. I'm not sure why these overalls won't stay snapped... pretty annoying.

mr. toolman

Beth — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:49:00 +0000

With school rapidly becoming a distant memory (let's ignore my final next week for the sake of argument), the past two nights have been spent doing house projects and once again enjoying each other's company by eating birthday cake and watching a rather bad mini-series on the sci fi chanel. Last night we carefully installed the baby gate at the top of the stairs. The last time we installed this gate we made a number of mistakes and spent almost two hours feeling more and more frustrated as we broke screws into our old banisters. This time we measured many, many times and completed the job in about an hour.

Tonight we (o.k., Rob... I was moving bathroom rugs around) turned to installing a cat door in the basement door. This project was anticipated greatly as for the past week we've had the door open with a baby gate that we must open and close again and again as the cats meow to come upstairs (for our company) or go downstairs (for their food and litter). The project went really well.

Here's Rob cutting a hole in our door. The saw was really loud.

Next, he installed the little door pieces around the hole.

The finished product.

Leela checks it out. The door comes with a personalized label. Very cute.

signatures

Beth — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:29:00 +0000

I know that somewhere today a signature was probably doing something very important... like signing a peace treaty or a new law or a marriage or birth certificate. But the most important signature to us is the one on Rob's graduate research project penned by his adviser at noon today and delivered on time to the graduate school. Though his adviser wishes him to do some revisions and add some more material for submission to a conference, we'd like to shout into cyberspace that Rob is graduating this December! Huzzah. Congratulations, sweetheart.

why we need a new camera

Beth — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:19:00 +0000

I have some mediocre to bad pictures of the house... I think we need a new camera! Or I need to learn a bit more about photography.

Dining room

Kitchen

Breakfast nook

Family room

where are the scissors?

Beth — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:31:00 +0000

It's the first Sunday after the move and there are still boxes in the basement. Our storage facility remains full. Our first-floor windows are uncovered and we haven't even ordered blinds yet except a "test blind" to see if we like a particular style... estimated delivery? 2-3 weeks. The garage door opener isn't installed, so our cars remain parked outside. There are 8 messages blinking on our answering machine from various contractors who wish to schedule appointments for work to be done-- humidifier adjustments, fireplace switch replacement, garage door replacement, etc. Rob's graduate project is due tomorrow, so he has spent the majority of his time in the new home squirreled away in a second story bedroom with the door closed, working frantically. So we haven't quite settled yet. All these issues said, though, a few things we love about our new home, and a promise that pictures are forthcoming tomorrow when I find the darn camera.

On our moving day, our next door neighbor brought us homemade chai tea, cookies, and snack mix.
We can make as much noise as we want without worrying about the neighbors. In celebration, Ally threw her sippy cup and we didn't reprimand her. Bang!
High-powered kitchen burner seems to boil water twice as fast. All the better to make mac and cheese with, my dear.
Quiet quiet quiet heating, cooling, dishwasher, washing machine.
I love my vinyl kitchen floor. Seriously. Best decision I made.

in transit

Beth — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:40:00 +0000

big check handed to lawyers: check.

kitchen packed: check.

sore hands, arms and backs: check.

The moving truck arrives bright and early tomorrow morning. We're alive, but perhaps kicking less than usual.

leaves fall in the fall

Beth — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 01:03:00 +0000

We spent a lovely Thanksgiving at Rob's Aunt's house yesterday. The uncannily warm weather was quite welcome so we could enjoy her huge yard populated with majestic trees and, more importantly, their colorful leaves. Ally had a blast. Her favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner was by far combining mashed potatoes and corn, followed by peas. She fell asleep on the drive home and gave us one of those very sweet moments I love as a parent. Our young children are so dependent on us, and as tiring as it can become their unwavering trust is so humbling and fleeting.

it comes down to this

Beth — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:40:00 +0000

True to the "when it rains, it pours" idiom, in the next six days I will pack our condo to prepare for settlement on Monday, while Rob finishes his graduate research project that is due the same day. Oh, and we'll enjoy Thanksgiving. And did I mention that Ally is still limping? The movers arrive next Tuesday, various deliveries and installations will occur on Wednesday, I will take an exam and head back to work on Thursday, and on Saturday we'll empty our storage facility.

Despite the busy days ahead we are really, really excited to move soon. Our final walkthrough with the builder was great, with only minor issues to be resolved at this point. We have our HUD-1 in hand with less due at settlement than expected, causing Rob's eyes to sparkle with dreams of a new television. And I'm feeling that calm that reminds me that it will all get done, because it always does. Pictures from the walkthrough are now in the House Construction area.

highs and lows; or, the day Ally discovered Dora

Beth — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:14:00 +0000

I think everyone has bad days. When Ally was a newborn, it seemed like once or twice a week she would have a day when she was in a real funk, a day with a lot of fussing and grunting and rocking that would wear me down and drive me to eating Chipotle for dinner. Because, you know, I earned that guacamole. On Saturday Ally definitely woke in a mood and nothing quite seemed to please her, and after about an hour I watched her as she walked and began to feel alarmed.

"Is she limping?"
"Um... well shoot. I think she is."

No wonder she's in a bad mood!, we concluded. Rob intervened with a dose of tylenol (have I mentioned that Ally knows the word "tylenol" and has asked for it by name?) and let her have her pacifier and even turned on the tv so she could watch a video we keep "for emergencies" for which she has an intense and yearning passion. She even got an extra cup of juice.

Asking to be lifted while I checked my email on the laptop we keep in the kitchen pass-through, I thought she may enjoy seeing something fun on the computer, so I went to the Nick Jr. website and showed her a Dora the Explorer video. Having never seen Dora, I didn't know that the theme song would be so addictive and so educational, such that putting Ally down resulted in bouncing and crying and pleas of "Dora! Dora! Dora! Dora!" We wanted to prevent her from moving much, so Dora it was.

A day later, Ally still has a slight limp, but a trip to the pediatrician only resulted in the baffled determination that they don't know what's wrong. Fortunately like most bad days, yesterday was followed by a wonderful day. Today we enjoyed a shiny, happy Ally and only a few requests for Dora Dora Dora. But I'm still feeling a bit of guilt over my tv-watching pacifier-sucking juice-drinking knows-how-to-ask-for-tylenol toddler.

eavesdropping

Beth — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:55:00 +0000

I imagine the conversation on Thursday went something like this:

"wow, it's cold outside."
"yea, the coldest day yet this fall."
"this would be a good day to install a lawn."
"I think so. And let's plant some bushes too."

We were really excited to see the landscaping completed this week. We even finally have our very own tree. But it was a reminder of how nice it will be to soon no longer second-guess every decision our builder is making, and to not have another conversation that begins something like, "they put it in backwards?" "Yes! and drilled extra holes on each side!"

no, Ally

Beth — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Inspired by the popular No, David, I give you the impact of daylight savings time changes on a one year old.

No Ally, don't lick the kitty's water.
No Ally, don't throw your yogurt-covered spoon.
No Ally, put Matilda's bowl DOWN.
No Ally, don't chew Mommy's eyelash curler.
No Ally, don't kick Mommy.
No Ally, don't climb onto your dresser.
No Ally, don't chew on the bubble wand.
No Ally, don't pull hair.
No Ally, don't suck on your markers.
No Ally, don't stick your finger in Mommy's lipstick.
No Ally, stop throwing rice at Daddy.
No Ally, you can't stand on a chair and rock it at the same time.

my tomboy

Beth — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:35:00 +0000

For some reason I have always assumed that Ally would be a tomboy. She doesn't seem particularly careful or delicate. But her behavior in the past month has made me reconsider. First, one of Ally's favorite things to do is to hug stuffed animals and generally shower them with love and affection. She also likes to carry them to her changing pad, placing them carefully down and then demanding to me, "change!" She has a doll that she cuddles and puts in her highchair to be fed and in her crib to sleep. And then this week she became fascinated with my cosmetics bag, proudly saying "make up!" She likes to take items out of the bag, pretend to use the blush brush or lipstick, and then put everything back into the bag. So.

trick or treat

Beth — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:55:00 +0000

With the end of daylight savings time still a few days away, the skies did not darken until well after 6:00 tonight and by the time Ally was costumed and ready to hit the streets of our old neighborhood, she was pretty pooped (though she would crack a faint smile for an M & M). She also had a low fever yesterday and this morning, so though she didn't seem to be sick she wasn't her jolly self. We stayed outside for about an hour chatting with neighbors and Ally held out her treats bucket in an obliging sort of way. By the time we were home, she was falling asleep as we put her into her crib.