Sale Bin

This weekend we made the obligatory "just moved to a new house" stop at Ikea. This place makes me crazy when I'm well fed and rested... so I knew we were taking a huge risk going after Elynor's bedtime following a crazy day of visiting friends.

Then enter the Ikea beany baby bin. Don't ask me how we (or Ryan) got the brilliant idea to put Elynor into the bin, but it was a decision that proved genius. I think this is the only time she's ever enjoyed being confined to a limited space. The unending supply of toys made it nice, but I think even nicer was peeking out at all the people walking by and pointing (at her, not her crazy parents).

Maybe Ikea should sell these bins for installation in the home. Really, if I had one of these my house would surely be unpacked!

The City that Works

...eventually.

If our experience is any indication, it's no accident that Chicago's motto is simply, "The City that Works." Period - with no promises of timeliness, attitude, or quality. This afternoon a van from the Department of Signs and Markings pulled up (going the wrong way on a 1-way) and finally took down the handicapped parking signs used by our home's former resident. This, only 4.5 months after the request was submitted to our alderman's office. Wow. How long will it take after they make the proposed budget cuts?

I applaud our city's setting the bar high. It must be pretty difficult to live up to the promise "to work". Then again, I guess I shouldn't complain. At least I don't live in "The City that Doesn't Work".

Move-in Weekend

One of the highlights of our recent adventure has been experiencing the outpourings of love from various friends & family. Really, I find it often takes crazy circumstances to experience the physical manifestations of love. Why is that? In any case, we were yet again the grateful recipients over our move-in weekend.

First it was Saturday when 6 friends pitched in a day of labor (and many of their wives & children loaned them out). It was so cool to walk through the house and see friends cutting, sanding, and painting trim, and patching drywall, among other things.

Then my parents arrived on Sunday to pitch in a few days of labor. By Tuesday evening (with some additional help from my Uncles Danny & Carey & Aunt Mary on Monday) we were lightyears ahead of where we were on Friday with such projects as insulation, mudding Elynor's closet, and LOTS of cleaning - to name a few!

It's already a thrill to look at the finished products and think about the people who poured themselves into them - and us. Thank you, again! Here are some highlights (sorry, all, I didn't take many pics):

Tim, our spackling man!

Reid, our woodworking expert and provider of the cool tools!

Grandpa Kev & Grandma V provide some great entertainment for a curious little girl.

Helping Grandma V move some pictures.*

Helping Mama give the grand tour to Aunt Mary.*

Grandpa Kev making Elynor's closet beautiful.*

Daddy takes a well-earned break!*
Special props to Rye who became a construction laborer from sunup to sundown for multiple weekends in order to make this place move-in ready.

*Special thanks to our awesome photog., Uncle Danny!

What's Happening?

Let's have a little guessing game in honor of my return to the blogging world (our internet was just installed at the new place). Answers to come soon...

1. What are those guys doing in the street outside our dining room window?

2. What's captured Rye's intense gaze on the 2nd night in the new place?

New Friend

Elynor made a new best friend at our last stop on the nomadic journey. It was a love/hate relationship at first, but after a few days Wrigley was her best bud. I think it was her feeding him every other bite at mealtime that made the difference. Unfortunately, she now thinks every dog wants to be friends and fearlessly (and quickly) approaches them at the park, on the street, you name it! No, this does not mean we'll be getting another dog anytime soon - just continuing to make frequent stops at the May house for Wrigley playdates.

Out of Storage

What was supposed to be one month of storage turned into almost two... but I'm happy to share that our unit is now EMPTY! So long Public Storage. Hopefully we won't be seeing each other again for some time.

This means that the majority of our possessions are now in our home. I say the majority because the suitcases we've been traveling with are still at our current borrowed home and random stuff like our bikes and some framed art is in another friend's garage. Oh yea, and our mobile storage unit (aka, our car) is pretty full. But in the big sceme of things, most of our stuff is there. In addition to our stuff, our home is also still littered with more construction supplies than I'd like (most of which Rye & I have no clue what to do with) as well as construction debris. Hopefully by the end of this weekend (or at least next week) we'll have found new homes for the construction junk (or at least organized it all) and seemingly organized places for our stuff... at least until the remaining closets, etc. are finished up.

Please pray for a few incredibly productive days - and stop on by if you're looking for any painting, sanding, or moving gigs.

1 week

and counting...

It seems as if the end of our nomadic journey is near. The cleaning crew's coming on Thursday and the movers will deliver our stuff on Friday. The house is not in 100% finished condition, but it will be livable (thanks especially to the sweat equity Rye put in this weekend).

Oh, how thrilled we'll be to have our OWN space... and to start extending welcomes like we've received.

SURPRISE Party!

A few weeks back several of our friends joined together to throw Elynor a surprise birthday party! I don't think she really got it then, but one day she'll be excited to know she was possibly the youngest surprise party recipient ever. This generous expression of love is yet another example of how God is taking care of us during this interim time through dear friends.

Here are a few highlights from the party and TONS more awesome pics of Elynor and other revelers (courtesy of our dear friend and awesome babysitter, Natalie - let me know if you'd like her to do a photoshoot for you) are posted on Picasa. Also, please note that the party was on a weekday, hence, no dads.