Syndicate

As we are moving into the holiday season, I realized that it was time to update everyone again on how we are doing out in the Garden State.

We successfully closed and moved into our house at the end of August, and it has taken awhile, but we are unpacked and settling in. Owning an old house is a new experience for John and I, and we are riding the ups and downs of renovation. Our first major project was to replace all the windows in the house. The house was built in 1919, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the windows were the originals. Some of them had broken sashes, and some of them had cracked panes, but the worst thing was they were horribly drafty. Chloe is very sensitive to cold, and the temperature in her room was fluctuating and making it extremely difficult for us to dress her appropriately for bed. (We would start with just a onesie and end up with long footed pajamas and a thermal sleep sack by the end of the night).

John has also been have a fabulous time updating the bizarro wiring in the house. The previous owners updated about 1/3rd of the wiring. So, a majority of our outlets are not grounded. In addition, there is till some dead nob and tube wiring that needs to be pulled out of the walls and disposed of. He’s also had a lot of fun wiring the house for internet. We have a basement, but his office is in the addition added on to the back of the house. He had to spend a very messy day in the crawlspace underneath the house pulling cad 5. Dirt floor + rain = muddy john. But, we now have fiber optic network in the lower level of our house. He will be working on this project for quite some time in order to update the rest of the wiring and networking the rest of the house.

All in all, we still enjoy Freehold. It has a wonderful small town feel. This Halloween the city sponsored a Scarecrow contest (I won 3rd place!) a haunted hayride, and every year they do a Halloween parade that travels right down the street from our house. The Freehold mom’s club has been a good resource for me, and Chloe has loved “meeting” all these baby friends. They are trying to set up a baby play group, so hopefully that will get going and Chloe can spend even more time with kids her age.

On that vein, Chloe is thriving. She will be 7 months on Sunday of next week! She is a little over 15 pounds and 26 1/4 inches long. She sits independently and loves to pull toys out of boxes. She is starting to show a minor interest in learning how to crawl. She still doesn’t like to spend time on her stomach, so she reaches out to what she wants, pushes a couple of times with her legs, if she can’t reach it, she rolls over on her back. We’ll get there! She still isn’t sleeping through the night, but we are attempting to let her “fuss it out.” So far, its not working, but we are trying to stay consistent.

Our next challenge will be leaving Chloe with a babysitter. John’s company picnic is next Saturday. Its a cocktail party in New York, so of course I want to go. Unfortunately, everyone we know is also going, which rules out any babysitters that I would normally leave her with. Soooo…we are giving a sixteen year old neighbor girl (with an excellent reputation and experience taking care of infants) a chance. If it works out, it will be a huge relief for John and I. But, I have to admit I am a NERVOUS WRECK about it. But, you have to do what you have to do. If I want to go the party, then this is the best solution. A part of me knows everything will be fine. Its just the side of me that watches entirely too many Law and Order shows that worries.

I have decided to officially resign from Shadowridge this week. I think that it’s a pretty safe bet that we aren’t coming back by the end of this year. Plus, even if we did, I think I am ready to move on. To what, I have no idea. Right now, I am really loving being a stay at home mom. I feel like I am more challenged staying home with Chloe than I ever was with any job, I am enjoying it more than any job, and I honestly believe that raising a happy and healthy child is the most important thing I can do with my life. Although, I feel like I need to work on the balance between being Chloe’s mommy, and being Tiff. I am hoping finding a reliable babysitter will help.

We miss everyone back home! Just know that we are slowly settling in here and are enjoying the roller coaster ride. I love getting email (talking on the phone is difficult with Chloe), so please write and write often.

Love,

Tiff

P.S. I’ve spent some time this week updating the photo gallery, including adding titles to some of the pictures that were previously posted. Please take some time and view our gallery.