NILL FAMILY news

This blog gets pretty skinny this time of year. Not a lot of things to report, you know, besides winter. I have been focusing on small things around the house, the mudroom walls are painted, the bench cushions are being made, and in another couple of weeks it will be considered ★ finished! ★ Also, the photo wall is up so I can do a post on that pretty soon, and I finally found some window treatments for our family room. Of course, they were in TJ Maxx, and I needed five pairs, so the great “call around to every store in the greater Boston area trying to track them down” project commenced. Finding these were an obsession. I actually ventured out in the storm during the snow day this past Monday to buy some that were *only* going to be on hold for me until the end of that day. So I had to go there. In the end, I found 5 pairs in 3 stores = success. But because I can’t do anything that is easy, they all have to be hemmed and cut to various widths, which will definitely cost more than the panels themselves. Ahhh the irony. But they are worth it. I had previously picked out a fabric from a fabric store and the quote to have them made and installed was $6,000. That’s, six.thousand.dollars. They would have been gorgeous but, not in my budget right now, so the $34.99 ones from TJ’s looked pretty good, even if it’s another $50 to alter them (which, uh, it is). I’ll post a picture when they are up, probably in about a year because now I need to pick rods and finials and who knows how long that will take.

So overall, as you can see, things are quite boring. And predictable: we have been getting some snow and people have been getting sick. Last Friday, for some terrible reason, both Bentley and Belmont did not close like the rest of the state, which means I had work and Ashton had school. After I dropped Ashton off, I only stayed at work for a few hours before deciding we really needed to get home. So I picked him up and we basically slid back to Natick, the roads were so dangerous, the snow was super heavy too so there were tons of big branches down. But after the snowstorm passed around 4:30 and right as Jason finished snowblowing, the sun came out and it was simply gorgeous. The light touched the tops of all the trees in our neighborhood and everything was glistening white, it was honestly breathtaking – something I totally could not capture but I tried.

(See the sunroom on the left side of the house? That’s the new mudroom – the windows have blue painters tape on them because Jason sprayed all the mullions, sills, etc. white. Also see how low the power lines were?? The snow was that heavy!)

What was not beautiful was Alex. The next day, Saturday, marked the 4th day Alex had been sick. He just walked around the house crying and spent long periods of time sleeping on me 😦

Which NEVER happens. So Saturday morning I finally took him to the pediatrician. His cold was so bad he had mucous oozing out of the corners of his eyes. He would wake up with his whole face crusted over practically – yuck, TMI, sorry. But turns out he had a double ear infection and he’s been on antibiotics since.

We survived until Monday which was another snowstorm and official snow day. That one was kind of blustery and not so pretty at the end. I didn’t take any pictures.

Wednesday, yesterday, Ashton was finally back to school. We geared up for a regular day, I drove him to school, walked him into his class, hung up his coat and…he puked right there on the floor. So, I unhooked his coat, walked him back to the car, and drove him home. Sigh. But he was actually totally fine after that, he ate normally and played all day and even constructed this masterpiece.

While Alex snacked on snowballs.

So who knows.

Whaaaaat else. Brae Burn’s three week shut down officially ends tomorrow, so Jason will be leaving me to go back to work and I won’t see him again until this time next year (haha). It’s been so nice to have him home at night and on the weekends and I know the boys have loved it too. Ashton was supposed to have his first ski lesson this coming Sunday but it is supposed to be A degree. Like, one. Uno. Single. Not sure what I’ll do there.

That wraps it up for mid-February. I have to finish Ashton’s class valentines tonight, I get to go see new Baby Hugh on Saturday, and next week is school vacation week and Jen is away (yikes). But I’ll worry about that when I have to.

Choo-choo! This train just keeps on chugging 😉

This post, as I start to write it, has no clear theme. It will basically be just some random content that has materialized over the last couple of weeks.

First, I have to address the video of Alex from the last post. I got several concerned comments! Please know that if Ashton isn’t being the bad guy, Alex is, and Alex bites, so look out. The bottom line is two-fold: they are just brothers, plain and simple, and not only that, they are brothers under the age of 5 which means their little brains have no concept of anything besides themselves. They don’t get sharing, they don’t get “be gentle”. They only understand “ME”. Ashton is of course more in tune with how his actions may affect others, but it doesn’t usually stop him when it comes to Alex. These boys steal from each other, hit each other, the works. Jason and I talk to them, try to reason with them, sometimes yell at them, sigh. I am reading Siblings Without Rivalry. All this is to say though, while situations like that video do exist, more often than not they play and laugh. They both have pretty high rebound rates anyway. After the “steal”, Alex came over to me and I gave him a big hug, wiped his tears, and he ran back for more 🙂

Secondly, we are surviving the winter just fine so far (knock on wood!!). Having accumulated less than 8 inches of snow helps immensely. The one snowstorm we did get was an excuse to use the shovels 😉

HAHA. He could barely move I bundled him up so much.

Just putting on boots and stomping around in the leftover snowbanks and mud puddles has been quite sufficient since then. March 13 is not that far away (clocks spring forward!), but we are definitely already seeing longer days. Even though jackets are required, we still scooter and hit the playground!

Being outside after work when it isn’t pitch dark has been heaven. What is ALSO heaven is this little indoor spray park in Norwood. Honestly, the most random spot. It’s a kid’s splash pad, but it’s in a gym, but you don’t have to be a member. I found out about it on the Natick Mom’s facebook group (which by the way, is the best resource probably ever. Best place for kids haircuts, electrician recommendations, summer camp feedback, school registration info, road closures, birthday party spots, town events and the list goes ON, but all specific to Natick- the community of moms is amazing). Anyway I saw someone mention Ships Ahoy in the Rama Athletic Club as a “beat the winter blues” idea. I could not get the boys into their swimsuits fast enough. It was $10 per kid, I brought some buckets and toys, the water was warm, and there was a parent sitting area. The boys were in their glory which meant so was I.

Talk about a hidden gem! We will definitely be going back.

Lastly, I’ve been marinating all week on the idea of selling LulaRoe. You probably haven’t heard of it – it’s a new clothing line only sold through consultants and their leggings are completely awesome. Super soft and REALLY fun prints. Like bye-bye boring black. They sell for $25 at parties and pop-up shops but are very popular on eBay. My hairdresser sells them and is obsessed, as most sales consultants tend to be. She’s all over Facebook about it and on the one hand, selling them where I work, at a university, would be like shooting fish in a barrel. But on the other, it’s a multi-level-marketing thing, a pyramid scheme, and after learning more I’m just not going there. I know a lot of people that sell a lot of things as a direct sales consultant and the strategies are not for me. That being said, if you need a color statement this winter, try and get a pair of these leggings. I have zero stock whatsoever in these, so check out eBay maybe. Unless you have a consultant near you which, I have no idea if you do haha. They are OS (one size – fits all), and they even have a TC (tall and curvy) size. I am definitely a customer. If you decide you are the direct sales type, you might check them out as a possibility. Anyway just sharing my latest and greatest fashion find 🙂

Have a great weekend all!

It’s been nearly 4 (!!!) months since we moved into our new house. Projects abound and while several things are in progress, nothing can actually be considered “done”. We are a family of list-checker-offers so this is really annoying. I guess we did get an exterior door cut to turn the sunroom into a mudroom, but I’m not going to post about that yet because the mudroom as a whole is incomplete. Right now Jason is building out the benches and as of yesterday, things look like this.

Which means our foyer looks like this.

Due to all the junk that we used to hide in the sunroom but now we can’t because it’s becoming a mudroom. See how that works.

When Kari and Ben came to visit when we first moved. Ben taught Jason how to change light switches and outlets. Some of the existing fixtures were yellowed, the outlet plates were cracked, and the style was very basic. And we are not basic! No, we are not. I wanted dimmers! And wide toggles! And illumination when it is dark! And those outlets that have a USB port built in! All of those exclamatory features. I was willing to work for it too.

HAHA just kidding that is totally staged. Jason let me snap on one cover of one outlet and that was it.

But now, 90% of the switches and outlets in our house have been upgraded. We have one-ways, two-ways, three-ways, dimmers, backlit switches, decorative plates, the works!

The outlets have gotten a refresher as well.

Our house is very amply wired. There are outlets and switches all over the place so this was no small job. I’ll tell you what also won’t be a small job: the door hardware. Because, this:

There was another post that was next in my queue, but I had jury duty last week and feel the need to talk about it. On Thursday morning at 8 am I reported to the Waltham District Court, wondering whether I would have a say in someone’s future. In 2006 I served on a jury that, after 10 days of testimony, acquitted a first-degree murderer. It was a Dorchester shooting, the kids were on bikes for christ’s sake. As jurors we were taken by motorcade to the neighborhood, walked around, shown pictures, etc. It was an incredibly real experience, for lack of a better way to describe it. The witnesses, the bloody clothes, the full courtroom when we read the verdict. The truth, according to me, was that he did it. There was simply no one else that could have fired the shot. But the defendant, a boy who had been in prison for two years awaiting trial, was innocent until proven guilty, and the prosecutor could not do it. There were too many holes in the story, too many unanswered questions. It was clear when we read the verdict (amidst the cries and angry shouts of the victim’s family), the DA was shocked. It was his case to lose and for us, the jury, reasonable doubt of his guilt remained.

The boy went free. I cried and cried. He had killed someone else, but looking at his case through the lens of our justice system and its rules, he was free. We were told that as a jury, our decision is always the right one. Even so, it felt awful and I’ve never forgotten it.

I was not summoned again until now. Last Thursday was sunny and we sat in a nice room all morning. Most people dread jury duty, but show me a place where I can sit in peace, drink coffee and read quietly without kids yapping at my feet for an extended period of time, and I’ll show you a happy Kristen. (Although, this was my book. My mom hat is, annoyingly, never fully off.)

I suspect jury duty gets a bad rap because most people don’t see anything as a result of their waiting. They just get dismissed after a long day. Anyone that ends up serving on a jury though, I guarantee you the experience changes their tune.

So last Thursday they impaneled a jury for an assault and battery case (in conjunction with malicious destruction of property under $250) around 3 pm. The wait until then was, admittedly, long. I was the first one picked and took my seat. Opening statements described a scene a year and a half ago, where, after being broken up with over many things, the boyfriend pulled a knife on himself and begged the girlfriend to just push it into him, end his life, he was ruined without her. At one point he grabbed her face, threw things, etc. A general rage about the relationship being called off (except by the way, he had told her he was seeing someone else, and that someone else turned out to be in the courtroom the entire time!).

After he left the scene, there were hundreds of texts between the two of them. The transcript was an inch thick and she, the girlfriend, eventually stopped responding. He called her every nasty name in the book when he wasn’t begging her to take him back. He had gone ballistic.

Both the girlfriend and the boyfriend testified, along with the police officer who had written up the incident when the girlfriend reported it as domestic violence the next day. Everything the girlfriend said, the boyfriend denied. It was essentially a bad breakup of a couple in their 20s who brought out the worst in each other.

We had a spectacularly wonderful holiday break. It chugged right along, the perfect amount of visits/visitors, activity, playtime and downtime. We enjoyed lots of general togetherness and it was tough to go back to work this week. Now it’s 2016 and looking back…well, this:

My pants are tight, it’s suddenly frigid cold, and before us lies the Great Stretch of Nothingness, also known as January, February, and March. We get to scrape ice off our cars, itch our dry pasty skin, bemoan an empty calendar and suffer from innumerable diseases our 4 year old brings home from school (recently lice. He didn’t/doesn’t have it (yet) but it’s there!)

In order to combat the depressing view ahead, let’s look back at “the most wonderful time of the year”! Christmas was awesome – it just was. Ashton completely freaked out like I hoped he would and knew he would. Erik and GG were with us on Christmas Eve and the boys obviously wore their special ‘jamas.

Truth be told I wanted to have Ashton as the elf and Alex as Santa (because Ashton sometimes needs a reality check about being in charge) but Target’s size inventory didn’t cooperate.

Christmas (early) morning, family portrait.

It was your usual flurry of wrapping paper everywhere and a lot of “I can’t uh-BWEVE (believe) this!”‘s from Ashton. Alex was a little timid opening his gifts but of course his older brother was happy to help him out. (Ashton had some difficulty grasping that not everything had his name on it.)

Most of my pictures are blurry. If you’ve ever seen a kid unwrap a present or if you yourself have done it, you were basically there. For anyone that has not:

Santa was definitely good to the boys. After breakfast, they each chose a favorite new toy (the HotWheels Super 6 Lane Raceway for Ashton, which by the way, turned out to be everything I dreamed it would be, and a little battery-operated Thomas for Alex) and we all headed up to Vermont for Christmas part II! This was the only shot I actually took.

Just a quick note documenting one of the greater gifts of 2015: Ashton had his food challenge today down at Boston Childrens Hospital and I am proud to announce that after 4 hours and 6 increasing doses of peanut butter, he is officially cleared of his allergy! The CAT/CR staff could not have been nicer, and we had Legos, movies and art supplies to keep us busy. It actually went by fast! I would have been a nervous wreck had it not been for our October 1 visit to Five Guys. Ashton opened up his burger and the bun had sesame seeds all over it. No good, as that’s his worst allergy. He got a hot dog instead and was very happy. After we had eaten I looked around and noticed not only buckets of peanuts on other tables, plus their shells on the floor, but huge boxes marked PEANUT OIL basically every direction I turned. I looked at Ashton, looked at the fries, looked up at the signs…how had I missed it?? This restaurant was basically Ashton’s death trap.

When you are a parent and it is Christmas, there is a LOT going on. If you wanted to, it would be easy to fill every day of December. There are plenty of events to attend, crafts to DIY, goodies to bake, and general activities of the holiday persuasion. In the last few weeks, besides decorating our trees and house, we attended the Natick Common Tree Lighting, painted ornaments (along with the counter, our arms, etc.), made and frosted dozens of sugar cookies, wrote letters to Santa (and got a reply!), marveled at the Snow Village at the Elm Bank Festival of Trees, watched the Polar Express about nine times, listened to Ashton sing at his preschool’s holiday concert, sent out 91 Christmas cards and Amazon Prime’ed our way through almost my whole shopping list. The boys continue to take Pete quite seriously, they consult him on various matters and Alex calls him “Eee”. And finally, they went to visit Santa himself.

See, Ashton knows what’s in it for him. Alex does not and therefore has no shame.

It has been a wonderful month. Ashton is so into all the holiday things, and Alex gets excited because Ashton is excited. They both fall all over themselves in the morning to be the first to find Pete in his new spot. Pete is going to bring some special elf pajamas for both of them on December 24, and I have a feeling Christmas Eve will just be magical in our house. Ashton believes. It is by far and away the greatest thing I’ve experienced at Christmas since I myself thought Santa was real.

We will be on break now until January 4. While I might throw a quick post up between now and then, my full holiday recap won’t be until then. It’s been a wonderful year, love to all and

Alexander Michael Nill. 21 months. Master of manipulation. He is the happiest clam you’ll ever see if he has your full attention. If he does not, he’ll do just about anything to get it and it’s pretty impossible to ignore him. You’ll find that he grabs your hand, drags you to a certain spot and then yanks on your arm to get you to sit down. If you try to reclaim your appendage, he’ll cry. There’s no way around it: if he wants you to play, you’re playing.

I could really cut a corner right now and link to Ashton at 21 months. Pretty much everything in that post could describe Alex right now, down to the shoe size. We have no pediatrician until his 2 year appointment so I can’t wow you with height and weight, but his hair remains white, his hands are still sticky and his gross motor skills are death-defying.

A little more about our little Alex.

Speech: He has some sounds that resemble words. He’ll say “Mama” and “no”. Those are always niiiiice and clear. Also “whoaaaaa” when something is really cool, which is often (he hasn’t seen most of what the world has to offer at his age). He does say things that we know are intended to be “up”, “dog”, “Ashton” and “open”, but otherwise, honestly he just makes a lot of noise. His EI is going well though and he just started a 2 hour group class on Wednesday mornings that Jason takes him to, so that’s about all we can do right now besides help him pair words with actions and objects. I know it will come eventually but I can’t wait for him to do something besides whine. It’s obvious he is easily frustrated because he can’t communicate, and I know he is smarter than he appears.

Food: Your typical toddler. Some days A, some days B, always C, then never C, then only C if it’s warm and cut in pieces that are all in a line. It’s quite exhausting because I never know what day it will be. Hot dogs are a guarantee though, he will eat one of those in 20 seconds flat and look around for another one (don’t worry it never comes).

Favorite book:

The penguin is a rubber finger puppet that you operate from behind the book and Alex thinks it is so funny to try and bite him. Which of course, hurts my finger, so then I yell and we pick something else. Hey, I said this was his favorite book, I didn’t say we actually read it. 

Usually found: Desperately punching the buttons on the remote (the old one, with no batteries 😉 ) 

Nicknames: honey bun (when he’s being really cute and lovable), and stinker (when he’s being really cute and lovable but also naughty)

Ashton calls him: “OW-wex”

Preferred animal: dogs. I have to get it on video, but he walks around and pants when he sees a picture or hears one barking.

Sleeps: Most excellently. Wakes up around 7:15-7:45 am, naptime from roughly 1:30/2 to 3:30/4, bedtime at 8 pm without a peep. 

Santa is bringing: a train table. Not the usual kind though – he is just starting his interest in trains and can’t put tracks together (and when I do it, he takes them apart), so Santa’s elves will be leaving this under the tree. But toy-wise he is not that particular. He often has his arms full of random things and loves Ashton’s legos. He’ll put the mini helmets on the mini men and take them off and put them back on as long as Ashton permits, which is only of course when Ashton doesn’t know he’s doing it.

Afraid of: heights

Don’t even think about: putting him a shopping cart. You might as well be dropping him into a pool of molten lava. He thrashes and screams his head off, making errands nearly impossible. I mentioned this to Jason, and he said, “Have you tried holding his hand?” (See previous fear. The next time I took him out, he looped his little fingers through mine and was totally calm!)

If you want him to cry really loud for a really long time: give him a haircut

Currently makes some extra cash as: our tiny dancer. 

This was a particularly slow intro but on some of the Christmas carols he really gets his sway on.

Best friend: Ashton.
Worst enemy: Ashton.
His life in one picture:

[Insert one final cute portrait of Alex at 21 months, but realize you have none because they are all blurry. That little stinker is always running around getting into something! Oh well – we love you honey bun!]

I am pleased to announce that the Nill family Christmas trees of 2015 are up, decorated, and twinkling away! That’s right, I said “trees”. Twins this year! Fraternal though – they are different sizes.

Our main tree was born first.

He is a large Frasier Fir and goes in the family room, which is in the back of the house where no one can see it but us. Since we have a foyer (which I have no idea what to do with, decorating and function-wise), we have extra space for another tree that can sit right in the front window.

Overall tree hunting was pretty easy. In years past it has taken days to find the right one. Even though there are lots of local tree stands around town, we chose Home Depot. Honestly, there’s a huge price difference and a lot of the time we have other things to get in the same trip, so mark us down as supporters of big box corporations  Ashton found a branch that resembled a sword and it pretty quickly became all he cared about. 

Alex just clung to me and whined to be picked up. The whole time. Until it was time to leave of course, at which point he was suddenly interested in helping to get a tree on the car.

In fact he could barely lift a pine needle but it was very funny.

So we got the trees home and in their stands. We left them overnight to drop and that same night, Pete came. Pete is our elf, sent by Santa to observe behavior and report back, good or bad. Boy do I love this little red fellow. Here is what happened in the first five minutes of his arrival.

Pete brought the boys a train and set it up around the base of the Christmas tree. Ashton came in, saw the train, saw Pete, freaked out, jumped a lot. Once he calmed down, he sat with Alex and they watched the train go around the circle together.

Very soon Alex noticed there were extra tracks nearby. He picked one up, turned around, and Ashton snatched it right out of his hand. Alex started wailing. This happens a lot in our house.

Jason didn’t miss a beat. “Ashton! You just stole that from Alex! And right in front of PETE!”

Ashton looked up and looked back at Alex with the guiltiest look I’ve ever seen. “Here Alex! Here you go! Here!” and offered the track back. When Alex didn’t take it, Ashton grabbed his hand and forced him to hold it. “Sorry Alex, sorry.”

It has been a magical couple of days. Last night, Alex was playing with a helicopter and Ashton really wanted it. He kept reaching for it but stopping juuuuuust short of taking it out of Alex’s hands. I acknowledged that he was doing the right thing, waiting for Alex to finish his turn, and he started to cry. He was very conflicted you see, he wanted that helicopter so badly but knew Pete would report “naughty” to Santa if he stole it like he ordinarily would. He had no choice but to wait. It was hard. I felt a little sorry for him. That Pete, he’s a force.

That night we had a successful tree decorating session, complete with ornaments that were dropped, clumped together, double-branched or hung upside down somehow. Also, Ashton would not come down off the step stool, but that’s fine.

 Final check…

Looks good!

After the boys were in bed, I decorated our little foyer tree and our scenes were complete!

I’ll leave you with two secrets for a perfect Christmas tree.
1) Get oversized metallic silver or gold balls, the really shiny ones, and place them deep within the boughs, closer to the trunk. They reflect all the lights and make the tree seem extra twinkly without taking up valuable outer branch hanging space.
2) Don’t forget your carols! (← please watch it. Ahhh his 4 year old voice, I can’t even.) It’s always important to have the right music 🙂