What's in a Name?

2.27.2008

Lori McKenna show

I have been meaning to write a post about Lori McKenna since Andy and I went to see her (again!) last Thursday, but most things seem to take me a while lately.

Lori McKenna is a musician from Stoughton, MA whom I have grown to love (http://lorimckenna.com/). I first heard her folksy music when she was featured on Chronicle about five years ago (playing her guitar and singing while her baby was bouncing up and down in a little doorway jumper). Since then Andy and I have seen shows of hers at Club Passim in Harvard Square and even at the Paradise. She is an amazing songwriter and singer, and her musical career is truly a Cinderella story. A few years back some country stars (like Faith Hill and Sarah Evans) heard her music and started recording her songs. Since then she has toured with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and has put out her first album on a major record label (although the four before that are truly amazing).

Imagine my surprise when we found that Lori was playing here in Charlotte (for what would actually be her first trip to NC). We were thrilled - my favorite local Boston artist here!! The show was far more mellow than the most recent one that we went to at the Paradise, and the crowd was far smaller, but Lori was awesome! I have to say that I wish she played some more of her older music, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her (and to Mark Erelli who plays with her but is a fantastic musician on his own http://www.markerelli.com from Cambridge, MA). Per Devin's request, I have recently put her Pieces of Me cd back in my car changer, since he was asking to hear the song "Mars". There is something truly adorable about hearing my four and a half year old singing, "I see Mars reflecting in my little boys brown eyes, and he says 'Mama I'm gonna get there someday. Mama I'm gonna get there someday'." Devin's other favorite on that album is the song "Fireflies" (which Faith Hill recorded), although Devin calls it "Peter Pan and Tinkerbell" because of the lyrics. I adore that song, but it reminds me more of my niece Brianna than of the boys. Alex however is partial to another song that Faith Hill recorded called "Stealing Kisses" which is on the Bittertown cd. Andy loves that our little Alex sings "I was stealing kisses from a boy. Now I'm begging affection from a man..." but I think its cute. Its funny how they can identify her voice now in other songs. I personally am partial to the song "Falter" these days (which is on both The Kitchen Tapes and Unglamorous), but actually would recommend any of her cd's. There is a little something amazing on each one that she has put out.

2.22.2008

House pictures


I have promised pictures of the house, and now that we have added memory to the pc, I may actually be able to post them! Here goes...

This is our house from the front.


Here is a picture of the family room. The room is two stories high and it has amazing light all day long.








Here is the view of the hallway from the family room. I included this because it shows how open the floor plan is. We love it!












Here is the dining room (which happens to be the only room we haven't repainted). We are still working on getting coordinating dining room furniture, but these things take time. We found chairs we like though. =)









Here is the toy room (complete with boys playing).
Andy suggested I wait on the pictures of the kitchen until we replace the counters (hopefully by summer). The boys rooms and the nursery are nearly done and I will post pictures of those rooms when I have them.
As you can see, we have paint on the walls, but that is about it! Andy is anxious to hang pictures, but I haven't yet figured out where I want things to go. We'll get there though. Andy said I should post a picture of the guest room, so everyone knows that we are sincere in saying that we want visitors. I will say that the guest room will be far more comfortable soon, since we are upgrading to a king sized bed and planning to put our queen in the guest room. Now taking reservations.... =)

2.19.2008

mom is home

and seems to be doing well. she still has quite a headache and will be visiting her doctors quite frequently over the coming month, but she's hanging tough! woohoo!!

2.17.2008

my mom

My mom was in a car accident on Friday. She was making a left hand turn onto a busy street and was broadsided. It was pretty bad accident. She is doing alright, but is still in the hospital for observation because she has a small subdural hematoma. For us non-medical people that means that her brain bled from the trauma of the crash. She has been in the ICU under close observation since Friday, since they want to keep tabs on her brain function (testing her every couple hours with questions and small physical tasks) and any swelling in her brain. The good news is that the CT scan that she had this morning showed that there is no more blood now than there was on Friday, and she was moved out of the ICU to a regular room. She has a bad headache and her neck and left side are pretty banged up, but otherwise she is doing well. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve and get home soon.

2.14.2008

well the weather outside is awesome

Have I mentioned that the weather here seriously rocks? I have never lived somewhere as sunny as this. Its fantastic! I find it much easier to get in a good mood when the sun is shining and I'm not freezing cold. Lately most days the high is around fifty degrees (some warmer, some colder), but sunny and fifty is perfect - especially for February!! Now who knows how I'll feel about the weather in August, but so far it has been a wonderful change from New England.

Andy and I are working diligently to settle the house (and get the baby's room done) and good progress is being made. I had intended to upload some pictures of the house (since more than a few friends have asked for them), but the pc where we store photos is in need of memory and is god-awful slow and I am terribly impatient. But soon - I promise!

2.13.2008

The saga of the potentially broken foot...

Alex has been limping since the Superbowl. I don't think he's just trying to show his support for Tom Brady, much as we all love number 12. We had some friends over that day and while many adults were outside when Alex went down, no one saw what happened. All we know is that he came in the house sobbing that he was pushed down and the limping began. After a couple days he seemed to be doing better (still limping some, but also running around with Devin and riding his bike), so we thought he was healing. Then we had a very active weekend; I'm not sure if it was the hiking or the jumping on the trampoline, but by Sunday he was limping badly again. Now this limping didn't stop him from running around and playing, but when he was walking he would limp. On Monday I took him to the doctor and we went for Xrays, only to be told that he had a small fracture on his left foot. The nurse set up an appointment with an orthopaedic doctor for this morning, and advised us that the ortho would likely immobilize Alex's leg for a while... and the panic began. How can we immobilize a child who doesn't sit? Would it be a cast or a boot? How long would he be in it? How will we explain this to him? How will I manage all of this in the last month of my pregnancy?
So today we went to the ortho, and she said that she does not see a fracture in the Xrays. The ortho was great. First she gave me a much appreciated anatomy lesson on how kids bones develop and the differences between "soft bone" (or cartilage) and "hard bone". Then she explained that what the radiologist thought might be a fracture in the left foot looked consistent across the right foot also, so she thought it was just how the bone is developing. She said that she thought his was more of a soft tissue injury, which should be addressed with anti-inflammatory meds and rest. She said that if he was totally hobbling or unable to put weight on the foot she would put him in a boot, but since he was getting around pretty well, she recommended motrin and rest.
Let's be clear that I am thrilled. Annie said it best when she said, "Alex and immobilize just don't go together well". But since my pediatrician told me that motrin and rest would be the treatment if there was no fracture before we ever went for Xrays, I couldn't help but wonder why I was even at the ortho this morning (after all, I have nothing else to do these days... right?). So while mildly annoyed, I am focused on the good news... we don't have to immobilize Alex. Woohoo!!

2.07.2008

Two big boys

It's official. I have two big boys now. In addition to the facts that Alex (a) has stretched out and lost all of his baby fat and (b) speaks so well that I no longer need to translate for him to everyone except for the few who are proficient in toddler-ese, Alex is potty trained. Alex is potty trained!! This is not to say that we are completely accident free, but we're close. I am much more excited to deal with two accidents in a week instead of changing 5-6 diapers every day. He is so proud of himself and we are thrilled.

Yesterday we were "crafting" at the kitchen table, when Devin picked up a pencil and started writing out the alphabet. He got to "M" before he had to ask me for some help (maybe because that is the part of the alphabet song that's faster?), but he did it. He wrote the entire alphabet. He does this at a time when he is going through placement testing for Kindergarten. Recently Andy and I were considering whether Dev should go ahead to Kindergarten or if he should wait another year (as many of his friends with summer birthdays are doing). We decided that we think he's ready academically (and certainly physically), but we wondered if he's mature enough for Kindergarten. I think that he has solidified our thoughts on this. He's going; if we kept him back I think he would be absolutely bored with school.
My boys. I love my boys. Sometimes they make me so proud.

2.02.2008

Brianna

Yesterday my niece Brianna would have been twelve. Twelve. I can't believe it. Twelve seems like such an enormous difference from the nine years that she was when I last saw her. I wonder what she would be like now. I am sure that she would still be smart and fun and athletic, since those characteristics seem fairly permanent. But what would she look like? Would she still be a little cutie or would she start looking more grown up? Would she be in that awkward phase where some of her features grow before others? Would she be gangly?

I like to think that she would still be energetic and fun, and a little boy crazy (since she was already starting to show interest), but that she would still maintain some of the innocence that we all loved. I can't imagine her at twelve. I guess she'll always be a little girl to us.