Single Parenting

This past week has been a whirlwind at home and at work.  After having two long peaceful weeks of vacation and personal time, I was thrown right into a week of crazy schedules, no sleep, and to top it off no hubby to help me out.  Jimmy went on a staff retreat (Jeff if you are reading this, please do not do that again immediately after the holidays) this week and I felt like I was hit by a bus.  Granted it didn't help that I had some unpleasant situations come up at work but by Wednesday I felt physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically drained.  It really made me wonder how single parents do it and really give kudos to those who single parent well.  I have a whole new level of respect for single parenting.

Evangeline, this week showed me how much you have matured.  You were so aware of my short temperedness and my tiredness.  You knew when to back off and you were doing your best to be supportive.  You would ask me if I'm tired and if I needed you to rub my belly or scratch my back.  Haha.  You were even forgiving when I fell asleep on you while putting you to bed and in the end you put mommy to bed.  When I woke up again, you had turned off the light and were peacefully sleeping next to me.  You never whined or complained, and you were gracious to me even when I was short with you.  I am sorry you had to go through this week but thankful for the person you are becoming.  You brighten my day with your beautiful smile and you remind me that there is more to life than the hecticness of our schedules.  I love you! 

Sleep Talking

It's been very interesting having EV sleep in our bed with us--for one she doesn't sleep still so we get the obligatory kick in the face or being used as a pillow every night. Another thing she does is talk in her sleep--most times it's not comprehendible but the other night it was clear as day.

I woke up to EV saying, "No, daddy don't take my food" and then she started crying.  No amount of comforting could stop her but when I touched her face there was no tears.  Then Jimmy woke up and asked her why she was crying and all she could say was, "because my food is gone". Poor kid, she was dreaming of her food being taken away from her.  It took awhile for her to stop crying but the crazy thing was she was also asleep the whole time!

EV has been really cracking us up lately.  Last night we hear her door open but when I went to go she what she was up to, she was just lying in bed.  I knew then that she opened the door to check to see if our lights were still on.  The moment we turn off our lights we hear the little pitter patter of her feet, and the next thing we know she has climbed into our bed.

Christmas Traveling

I always feel like whenever we travel, EV grows and develops leaps and bounds.  When we went on our first plane trip to San Diego EV was 7 months old and on the trip she started pulling herself up in the crib.  When we went to Portland she was 18 months and started stringing more words together and was becoming more social.  On this trip, EV is 2.5 months away from turning 3 and it feels like she matured in ways I cannot fully describe.  She's able to articulate more fully what she is thinking, feeling, and wanting.  She just seems to know more and she even seemed to have developed a little more patience and self-control.

We have been talking to EV about this trip for a month.  We like to tell EV bedtime stories and the two she has been asking for us to tell her are the "airplane" and "circus" stories.  So finally it was Christmas morning and we were headed to the airport.  What I absolutely love about EV is how she is able to really take in any situation and make it worth the trip.  She asked a lot of questions, but they were really smart and thoughtful questions--questions I don't mind answering for the most part (although she can get into a "why" mode and then I get frustrated).  She was overall really good and well-behaved.  When we got to Maryland, it was as if we never left last summer.  She greeted everyone, and took her place in grandma's room.  She made herself at home and there was no shyness or uncertainty.  She was comfortable and she felt safe.  Our trip up to New York was really fun (even in the wet snow and rain).  It was worth every bit of the cold to see her eyes light up when we were sitting at the circus or in the taxi looking up at the lights or riding in the train.  I loved seeing her experience the things we have shared with her through books and stories.  It's also so great to talk to her afterwards to hear her thoughts on her own experiences.  To hear her express what made her excited or what stood out to her.  It's funny how she notices things that I would never notice or how she thinks certain things work.

See pics from the trip go here.

This year I want to be better about documenting the things she says.  So often she says things that surprises me or just catches me off guard and I want to be sure to write those things down.  I also want to start doing mommy/daughter dates with EV regularly--not just hang out at home but very specific things like going out for yogurt together or going to the bookstore.  I realized that when I am at home with EV, I easily get distracted by other things and start tuning EV out or only partially pay attention to her.  Last, I want to start cooking/baking with EV.  Yes, you all heard right.  I don't want her to think that only daddy cooks and that mommy just re-heats whatever daddy made.  Even if it's once a week, I want to make meals with EV.

EV's First Christmas Performance

It is so sweet to watch your 2 year old sing and perform on stage with a bunch of other 2-4 year olds.  EV did such a good job singing and doing the body motions (although at times she got distracted by the  guy playing the guitar). Poor kid was so exhausted by the end of it but it was well worth it.  I can't believe it'll be Christmas in less than 5 days!!  Looking forward to lots of posts and quality time with family.  Unfortunately, papa bear had to miss tonight's performance because we double booked the evening (again).  So, it was just momma bear, grandma, and Gina eemo.

Sewing Club

I started sewing about a year ago and it's been a lot of fun sewing for EV.  But after awhile, it gets kinda boring sewing by yourself.  So, a couple of friends were interested in learning to sew; so, I decided to host a night of sewing.  It was a lot much fun to sew together, learn from one another, and to hang out.  So, we decided to try to meet monthly for Friday Night Sewing Club.

The first time we met, I taught the gals how to attach a skirt to a shirt to make a t-shirt dress.  Very simple and oh so cute!  Here's a picture of the final product:

 

The next two times, only Eileen could make it but it was still a good time.  She made a skirt both times (which Ellie wears all the time) and I made EV's Christmas dress and a pair of ruffle pants:

 

Tonight Eunice made a skirt for Mia, Krystal made a skirt and scarf for herself, and I made an infinity scarf for myself.

It's so much fun and fulfilling!!   I think the day EV doesn't want to wear homemade clothes will make me sad.  I think it's the best feeling to have EV wear something I made and get compliments where ever we go.  At least for now EV is proud of the clothes I make for her, to the point that she thinks everything she wears is made by mommy.  Ha!

I am also thankful for friends who want to sew with me and share in the hobby.  I hope the sewing machines you all bought are worth it and that you make many wonderful things for your little ones, yourself, and your home.

Complaint against Mr. Appraiser

Here's an email I wrote to the appraisal company that did my last appraisal.  They pretty much did not give us credit for the fact that we are rebuilding the whole first floor.  I haven't sent the email yet, as I am worried that it'll do more harm than good at this point, so I'm putting it on my blog. Ha!  I just need to get it off my chest.

Dear Appraisal Company,

 

I recently had a home appraised by Mr. Appraiser and I feel that he not only gave us an unfair appraisal, but he grossly underestimated the value of our home by not taking the time to read our proposal and using appropriate comparables.

 

Mr. Appraiser not only provided a bad appraisal but he contradicted himself in his report and his re-evaluation:

 

1.  He said that adding two additional bedrooms does not make a difference, when clearly homes with additional bedrooms have sold for much higher in our neighborhood.  To not give us credit for the two additional bedrooms seems to be a complete subjective opinion. 

2.  He said that he couldn't find comps in our area so he went outside of our area, but when we gave him comps in our area, he said those are not useable because they are not in a comparable subdivision (although NONE of the comps he used were in the same subdivision nor the same school district).  The Simpson Elementary School district makes a huge difference, as it is the top elementary school in Gwinnett county and many families come to Peachtree Corners specifically to be in this school district.

3.  He said he used comps within the last six months but some of the comps are from last March when the housing market was very different. 

4.  He used comps with renovations such as a new kitchen counter or a new bathroom, when we are gutting out and rebuilding the whole first floor and replacing the whole outside of our home.

 

It's appalling to me that when we wanted our appraisal to get reviewed it went to the same guy.  In order for our appraisal to get seriously considered, Mr. Appraiser would have to be willing to admit that he was wrong, and obviously he is not willing to do that.  Therefore, this whole process lacks accountability and it's been a very frustrating process. 

 

I have a very hard time believing that re-building my house would continue to make it comparable to homes built nearly 30 years ago with an updated bathroom.  I also have a hard time believing that the home 8 houses down the street from me is not comparable to what our completed home will be when they have nearly the same square footage, number of bedrooms, and bathrooms.  It may have additional acres of land but then take out what the value of the land would be. Plus, it is one of the only custum built homes in the area and again it is less than 10 houses down from our home.  Again, why am I not getting the same credit as a new construction?  Having a brand new kitchen, master suite, great room, dining room, garage, porch, patio, foyer, staircase, guest room, siding, and windows with top of the line materials is NOT comparable to a newly built home?  

 

I would like to speak to Mr. Appraiser's supervisor or manager.  I understand that this may not change the final appraisal for my house but I would like to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else and that Mr. Appraiser is appropriately reported for his actions.

 

Shin Y. Kim

 

Interestingly a colleague of mine who recently got her home rebuilt had the opposite problem:

1.  The appraiser said land does not matter (whereas ours refused to use a comp down the streat because it has more land than our house).

2.  The appraiser said that their completely new construction from ground up is no different than homes that have renovated parts of their home (whereas ours said that we cannot use new construction for comps even though we are gutting out our whole first floor)

 

I hate this process.  So what's next?  We've been spending a lot of time in prayer.  Otherwise, I am letting our wonderful project manager help guide us.  Like I said--I hate this process.

Lights of Life

Last year I read on someone's blog about Lights of Life at Life University.  It sounded like a lot of fun and I've been wanting to check it out since I first read about it.  We visited today and I would give it a 6 out of 10.

We had dinner at a Persian restaurant called Falafel Cafe and the food was really good.  I LOVE Mediterranean food so this totally hit the spot for me.  EV is also a lover of food so we all enjoyed our plate of Tabbouleh salad, hummus, yogurt sauce, falafel, lamb slices, and pita.  Then we headed over to Life University.  The lights itself is decent, it's definitely no Lake Lanier, but it had some similar displays.  The only thing that made it hard to enjoy is that some of the lights are so close to the street, it's a little hard to make out what it was supposed to be.  They had one display of an Eagle (I think it's their mascot) and it was waving and EV says, "What's that thing that is 'hi-ving'?" It took me a moment to realize she was trying to say waving but couldn't think of the word so said "hi-ving."  Haha!  The whole time on the way to Life EV kept saying, "How are we going to see if it is dark?"  I think she was having a hard time conceptualizing these lights.  When she finally saw them, she was wide-eyed and I think a little confused.

Anyways, after we looked at the lights we went to the little carnival part and went on a train ride and the petting zoo.  I was especially amazed at how well EV did in the petting zoo.  She touched every animal and was not scared one bit--we've come a loooonnng way from even 3 months ago when she peed in her pants walking into a pet store because the animals scared her.  EV really enjoyed watching a small band play some Christmas music while eating marshmallows we toasted on a stick.  And on the way home she got to enjoy some hot chocolate while listening to Michael Buble sing Christmas songs.

Like I said, all in all, I give it a 6 out of 10.  Compared to Lake Lanier, it's a lot cheaper ($10 per car on Fri and Sat, $5 other days), there's a lot of activities for kids, and the lights were enjoyable.  I enjoyed the company more than anything; an evening out with my two loves is priceless.

On a completely other note, I forgot to start our advent ornament tree today so we'll do two tomorrow.  This will be the only "tree" we have this year because of our pending home renovation we did not buy an actual Christmas tree.