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What's been happening lately ...

Boy, a lot has happened recently. I think I'll tell our events by person:

* Jackson: He is 22 months old, but recently "turned two" (as in "The Trying Two's"). His least favorite things to do are (1) standing in time-out, and taking a nap. Jackson's favorite activities include: eating, climbing the stairs, and climbing onto our pub-height dining room chair. He is beginning to speak with words, including: Mama, Dada, Goggog (Doggie), Didi (Lydia), bup (cup), and no.

* Lydia: She is almost-5-years-old (in July), and is enjoying the last 2.5 months of preschool. Her favorite things include: playing with "Connie, Gaby & Ava" at PreK; getting the mail; hugging her brother; helping in the kitchen; dancing; "doing" Mommy's hair. She is learning how to do some chores around the apt, including folding & putting her laundry away; unloading the dishwasher silverware, etc. Lydia earns a small allowance, and enjoys "spending her monies".

* Lennon: Of course, he still works second-shift, roasting coffee at Starbucks. However, we recently learned that he needs an MBA in order to obtain the job that he desires within Starbucks' Social Responsibility department. So ... hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to school he goes. About 1 month ago, he began online class to earn his Associate's in business administration in 19 months. Then he will continue on to earn his Bachelor's in another 19 months, with his Master's to follow a few years later.

* Diana: Back in January, my then-current job couldn't provide me with consistent hours, which led us to believe that I should look for another job. During my unfruitful, two-week job search, I stopped by our tax guy's office to find out what we needed for our tax appt. While I was there, I casually asked if they (or anyone they knew) was hiring; they replied that they weren't. However, 15 minutes later, they called to ask me to come back; they needed to hire me as a receptionist for tax season. I began the next day; the following week, my boss asked if I would stay on as a payroll specialist, after tax season ended. I agreed, and last week, I began online payroll school, courtesy of my company. God has truly blessed us with this job. Now that tax season is over (Hooray!), I will be working 3 mornings per week - much better than the 4-5 mornings I was doing.

* Lastly, we were almost DEBT-FREE! As of this month, we will pay off our moving debt that has loomed over us for 20 months. However, we had to take out a loan to pay for Lennon's schooling. Perhaps not the best idea, but we couldn't figure out another way to quickly get Lennon into school & (eventually) increase our income. So, 1 huge victory in our finances, and another giant to quickly take down.

Whew! So that's what's new with us, as of late.

Autumn Party 2009

For this year's Autumn Party, Lydia dressed up as a princess, while Jackson was a chubby, little lion cub. Since it was past his bedtime, Jackson was a cranky lion cub, but Lydia the Princess had a wonderful time playing games and winning prizes & candy.
Also, in honor of Nevada Day (which also fell on Halloween weekend), all of Lydia's preschool dressed up as cowboys & cowgirls. Since we have NO cowboy stuff, we pulled some things together & transformed Lydia into a hippie-type cowgirl.

Doing laundry together

I asked Lydia to put her laundry in the washing machine, while I cleaned up the apartment. After a little while, I looked over and saw Lydia handing clothes to Jackson, and he was putting them in the washer. What a great team effort!

Jackson's 1st Haircut

After Daddy got his hair cut, it was Jackson's turn for a major trim. He was beginning to look quite shaggy. So he sat on Daddy's lap, and thoroughly enjoyed Val (our hairdresser) playing with his hair.

Now Jackson has a cute, little boy's haircut, which can be spiked to look like Daddy's!

Our Big Meadows Hike

On Monday, we took a gander up to Tahoe, hiking on a trail to Big Meadows, where Lennon & I hiked & ate a picnic on our anniversary. It is a relatively short, easy hike, and Lydia hiked the whole way in!

Twas a beautiful day for a hike, a wander through the meadow, and a snack on the log. (However, a carpenter ant bit Lydia on the wrist; I didn't know ants bit. I know now.)

After a 15-20 minutes of snacking & Lydia running in the grass, we decided to take a few family photos before the kids got cranky. Good thing we did, because after the photos, we thought we heard an airplane in the sky; a split second after we heard the "plane", I said "Was that thunder???" It was. A major storm system just blew up out of nowhere, and we were the tallest things in this huge meadow. Let's just say, that we packed up our kids & stuff in less than a minute, and high-tailed it across Big Meadow in less than 10 minutes. Maneuvering our way down the trail, through the trees, we made it to the car just as the first huge raindrops began falling. Whew, what an adventure!

Reading together

I spent the morning cleaning & organizing the kids' room. Whew, what a project! But it paid off this afternoon. After naptime, I put the kids in the Reading Corner that I had created. They loved sitting next to each other - Jackson in the Tigger chair & Lydia in the Bumblebee beanbag chair.
Lydia decided that her favorite book was the Princess Cinderella book, and Jackson enjoyed the squeaky toy in the TeaParty book (courtesy of Grandmommy!).

Jackson's 1st Birthday

Today marked the 1-year anniversary of Jackson's birth. (Alot has happened within this past year!) We celebrated with burgers & fries for lunch, followed by opening of presents. Jackson was more interested in holding the gifts, and less interested in ripping off the wrapping paper. (Totally different from Lydia.)
Lastly, we finished off by singing "Happy Birthday" to Jackson while he played the birthday candle & the icing on his cupcake.
A fun 1st birthday!

Standing!

May 9th, 2009:
Jackson stood up by himself in his crib.
Two days before, I had showed him how to stand. And now, since he is experimenting with pulling up & walking, I'm not exactly sure why I showed him! ;P (Certainly, not going to show him how to walk at this point!)

My dream home

I found my dream home - old, beautifully-crafted, great view of Lake Tahoe, no noisy neighbors, lots of nature. Only problem - it's a historic landmark. I guess I won't be moving in anytime too soon.
It's called Vikingsholm, nestled in an inlet (called Emerald Bay) on Lake Tahoe. On Mother's Day, we planned to go to Yosemite, since it is only a few hours away. We, being Easterners, didn't know that the pass through the mtns. was still closed due to lots of snow. (Whoops!)

So, we began driving around Lake Tahoe, and decided to hike down to Emerald Bay's shoreline. Not a bad hike down, except a squirrel kept following Lydia. (I thought we left all of the squirrels back East - apparently not.) Once we finally got down to the shore (Lydia walking & exploring = very slow walk), we came upon this beautiful home built in 1929. (Quote from the website) - "Magnificent cedars and pines set off by shear granite cliffs make this one of the most scenic areas in the entire United States. Mrs. Knight wanted to build a summer home that would compliment the magnificent natural surroundings. Emerald Bay reminded her of many of the fjords she had seen on numerous travels to Scandinavia." Mrs. Knight had her afternoon teahouse built on the island, so that she & her guests would take the boat out to the island for tea!

Anyways, enjoy the pictures of my dream house!

A friend's birthday party

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a little friend's birthday party at the "playground park" (as Lydia calls it). We parents had a wonderful time hanging out with the other adults; Lydia loved being with her little friends, and Jackson enjoyed the swings & watching everyone else.
Lydia has determined that she would like her birthday party at the "playground park"; good thing we agree on that subject!

Pictures of our Kids

Cuddling together with the blankies & lions sent from Grandma Rhinehart.


Playing together nicely! Hooray!

Moving ... again.

Yes, you read that right. We are in the process of moving again. But we are not moving back to Rochester ... sorry. We are moving into another apt. in a neighboring building in the same apt. complex.
It's a long story, so here it goes:
We realized that we needed to begin thinking about schools for Lydia. Thinking that Lydia would have to attend the public school in the district we lived in, we began a search to find a future apt. in a 'good' school district. Our plan was to move into another apt. in October, when our lease at Parkway Manor ended.
So, we began researching schools and places that we might like to live. Then, we discovered another way the Nevada is unlike New York. In NY, kids have to attend the school of the school district they live in. In NV, kids will generally go to their district schools; however, they can get on a waiting list to attend another school. Therefore, districts are important, just not as important.
Meanwhile, we discovered that Jackson is a light sleeper at naptime. During the night, he sleeps very well, but during naptime, if Lydia makes the slightest noise, he wakes up crying. So for the past week, we have struggled with this naptime situation. We concluded that in the future, we would like to have 3-bedrooms, if we could afford it.
Okay, so that was the main background to our moving tale. Here's the rest:
Yesterday morning, Lennon stopped by the office to see if we could look at a 3-bedroom apt. sometime. We figured that way we view the apt & see if it was even a possibility for the future.
Well, the leasing agent told Lennon that they were having a special on rents, and that we could rent a 3-bedroom/2-bathroom apt. for just about what we were currently paying for a 2-bedroom/2-bathroom apt. Wow!
So, yesterday afternoon, we toured a few 3-bedrooms, and after looking at our finances, we decided to extend our lease, and move into the new apt.
Today, we signed the lease, and began moving our stuff (37 trips - down 1 flight of stairs, and up 3 flights = 1 trip). Tonight will be the 1st night in our new apt.
Though we will be doing a video tour of our home & mailing it to family & some friends, if you want to get a feel for our new place, go to www.parkwaymanor.net, and click on the 3-bedroom floor plan.
Let me tell you a bit about our new home:
It is on the 3rd floor, the very large balcony is accessible through our sliding glass door, and it overlooks Roop Street, with gorgeous view of the Sierra Nevada mtn. range. Each of the 2 bathrooms has a small linen closet attached - yay for storage! There's a coat closet by the front door. I have a pantry off of my kitchen!!! The living room boasts a built-in bookshelf and a gas fireplace in the corner. Though the apt. has an open-concept floorplan, it is set up in such a way that it feels like there are separate rooms. I feel like we can have friends over and not feel like everyone is on top of each other.
We love our new home, and we can't wait to show you via video soon!

Bedtime at the Fediw household

Just wanted to share a few pics of the cute kids getting ready for bed. Lydia likes to brush her own teeth with her 'Big Girl' toothpaste - the Aquafresh pump kind that I had as a kid.
Jackson likes to coo at the baby in the bathroom mirror. (In the 3rd picture, Jackson is trying to decide whether to play with the coveted Tigger chair or with his dancing feet. Very tough decision!)
And before going to sleep, they like to cuddle together, though it's usually in Lydia's bed.
Night-night sweet kiddos!

The Case of the Stolen Popcorn

Lennon gave Lydia a little bit of popcorn as a appetizer to lunch (to keep her hungriness at bay). Then, Lennon lay down on the couch to relax, while lunch cooked.
After ten minutes, he realized that Lydia was still commenting about how delicious her popcorn was. (Now I know she can be a slow eater sometimes, but this is popcorn!)
Lennon listened for a minute, and then heard Lydia get up from her table in the kitchen, and pitter-patter her way over to the counter where the popcorn bowl was.
He called to her, "Lydia, what are you doing?" Her response - "I dunno?" Lennon discovered that she had been sneakily stealing from the popcorn bowl for the last 10 minutes.

Ooh, Lydia was not happy that she had been found out. (We thought it was hysterical, but of course, we couldn't let her know that!)

The Familiar Memories of the Past Meet the New 'Normal' of the Present

So, today, I had the weird deja vu experience of having memories of the past interrupt the new normalcy of this life. We were driving along in our car, and as I looked out the windshield, I saw "Carson City Courthouse" written on the side of a brick building. Then, it hit me - we live in Carson City, Nevada. But we still have some stuff & memories from Rochester, New York. It was a collision of two parts of our lives - the old (our car from Rochester) meeting the new (Carson City).

Now, I know that we have lived here for ... almost 4 months now, but things still 'hit me' in waves. It's becoming normal to live here. We pretty much know our way around. We've found the best grocery stores, although nothing compares to Wegman's. (Sidenote: whenever we go back to NY for a visit, I am going to Wegman's every day, just to look around & to be in Weg's!) We have doctors, and a pharmacy; we have a great church, where we are connected. We are making friends and doing playdates, etc.

But I am still having a bit of a difficult time embracing Carson City as my home city now. I'm not exactly sure why, but here are some of my thoughts:
* This is the first place to which I have moved. (45 minutes away, to Lima, doesn't really count.) A person tends to compare (even subconsciously) the new place with the familiar, old place.
* It's different here. I like the sagebrush, and being able to see for miles and miles. I LOVE the mtns. So, the landscape is a plus.
* The city is quite small for a state capital; in fact, I believe, it is much smaller than Rochester.
* Carson City is located in a valley, which means that the layout of the city runs north-south along the valley floor, since buildings can only be built up so far into the side of the mtns. That being said, everything is very spread out (north-to-south). Since we live on the very north end of the city, it seems like a long trip to the south end where most of the new stores are.
* There doesn't seem like there is much to do here - skiing (at Lake Tahoe), off-roading, and lots of gambling. And that is probably why we feel a restless/lack-of-hope/lack-of-interest spirit in the spiritual air over Carson City.
* We aren't quite sure why we are here in CC. We feel that God led us here b/c of Lennon's job, but other than that, we aren't sure what we are to be doing here.
* We only have one car, which makes it difficult for the kids and I to do things out-and-about or with other families, when Lennon is at work.
* We moved here right before winter time.
* Before we moved, I had always worked at least 1-2 days each week outside of the home. So, I wasn't a full-time SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) until we moved here. It's a bit different than I thought, though I am adjusted to it now.
* I'm learning how to take time for myself, to do something that I like to do; that I am important as a person, not just as a wife, mom, homemaker, etc.
* We moved. Across the country. Away from family. Away from friends. With a new baby & a pre-schooler. We're crazy!

I think that's about it. I know we'll get involved in our church and possibly in our community, but we don't want to just rush into something w/o knowing it is the right thing for us to be doing at this time.

Thanks for letting me ramble and get my thoughts out into the air. My brain feels a little less cluttered now.

My realization of the day - Lydia is growing up

This evening, I did my hair in two French braids - just to keep it out of Jackson's grabbing hands. When she saw my hair, Lydia wanted me to "put circles" in her hair too, just like Mommy's.
As I braided one side and then the other, I remembered how my Mom used to French braid my hair.
Then I realized two things - (1) Lydia's hair was actually long enough to braid, and (2) my little girl is beginning to grow up!

Life here in 2009

Sorry to everyone for not writing a post sooner. We have all been taking turns being sick; what a sharing & preferring family we are! I think we are almost all better, just still a bit tired though.

Right after New Year's, my parents flew out to visit us for a few days! 'Twas wonderful! We enjoyed adult company & conversation, and the kids loved playing with Grandmommy & Bapa. We even celebrated Christmas together. A fabulous time together!

Christmas Eve

So, I am a bit sad today - nothing too terrible though. You see, traditionally, in the evening, we go to the Christmas Eve Service at our church. That is nice, but the part I will miss the most, the part that IS Christmas Eve to me is what follows the Christmas Eve Service.
Every year (for at least the past 9 years), we go over to my parents' house. Together with my parents and the Jenks', we make our own salads from the famous Fadner salad buffet. Afterwards, we sit around, joking & talking, exchanging & opening gifts.
Not only am I sad because we miss everyone and because we cannot be at the Fadner's house this evening, but I am sad because this is the 1st year that Scott & Lacy (his fiancee) will be at the Fadner/Jenks bash. I would have love to hang out with them more too.

But ... we will have a good time. I think, we will get into our pj's, make lattes and read the Christmas story by the light of the Christmas tree lights.

To all of our family and friends: We love you. We miss you lots. And we love you even more. We look forward to skyping & web-caming you on Christmas Day.
Much love from all of us,
Diana, Lennon, Lydia & Jackson

Stranded in Las Vegas

Early last Sunday morning, our family began an unplanned trip to the East Coast for Lennon's Grandpa's funeral. It was wonderful to be with extended family, even if the reason was to remember Grandpa together.
We left early (again) on Wednesday morning to head back home to Carson City. Our trip back was supposed to consist of two flights - one from Philly to San Fransisco, and one from SF to Reno, and then we'd drive home. The Philly to SF flight had an unadvertised stop in Las Vegas, to drop off people & pick up up others. We didn't know about this stop until after we had booked the tix.
After a tenuous 6-hour flight to Vegas (during which our kids cried for the 1st 5!), we began descending & realized that we had missed our connecting flight in SF, and we weren't even in SF yet! (Don't know exactly what happened.) And it was snowing in Vegas - what?!
Anyways, we landed & got off the plane to stretch our legs for the hour before the plane took off again for SF. Not even 10 minutes after getting off the plane, and a flight attendant comes over the loudspeaker saying that all of the planes needed to be de-iced. In Vegas, they only have 1 de-icing plane & that they were running low on de-icer fluid. Our plane was 11th in line - fabulous!
L-o-n-g story short: We waited for over 1 hour to find out that we were stuck in Las Vegas. We waited for 2 hours for our luggage to come off the carousel. And then we waited for over 1 hour in 3 different lines to find out that we couldn't get a flight until Friday. We were stuck in Las Vegas for 2 nights.
So, we decided to make the best of it. We found an amazing deal at the Venetian on the Strip. This lavish hotel is designed to look like Venice, Italy. The first floor is the casino (of course, this is Vegas); the Grand Canal Shoppes takes up the entire 2nd floor; complete with the Grand Canal & authentic Italian gondolas, this shopping center includes fancy, high-end stores, restaurants & (our favorite) a bakery/coffee shop all set alongside the canal.
A perfect, unexpected, relaxing vacation.