Category: Family news/Updates

So Ajax and I are home and our house has a new pipe in the basement, under the cement floor, leading outside.  Dave said that it was terribly dusty and smelly and he was glad we weren’t home.   The plumbers discovered another problem when they were digging up our basement.  Some sewer line work we had had done in 2010 was installed incorrectly.  So Dave spent a good portion of his day dealing with the company that did that, who finally agreed to come back and re-do the job (correctly this time).   Goodness.

Ajax had so much fun over his grandparent’s house.   As both my mom and sister had to work, he was with my dad both days.  They went exploring, used the big tractor to dig holes, they tracked turkeys and deer (very stealthy), fed the horses, and even did lunch one day at McDonalds.

My dad also bought Ajax his first glove and baseball.   My dad was an avid baseball player and has been waiting for this moment (I think since Ajax was born).  I actually played T-Ball when I was little  and my dad coached.   So yea, he was pretty excited.   Thank you family for having us out and watching Ajax!

We have had a very quiet weekend and although I seem to say this every quiet weekend, I so enjoyed it.   Our weeks are so hectic and busy that by the time the weekend rolls around I just want to settle in and be with my family.   Yesterday was a slow moving day, Ajax and I did a little cooking, and we did some mandatory laundry and cleaning.   Dave got hisweekly comic shot and did a little work.   We also ran a meal over to friends who just had a baby.   After Ajax went to bed Dave and I sat down to watch our Net Flix movie, only to have it stop 10 minutes in due to a large scratch.  Oh well.

Today we have been a bit more productive, Ajax and I made waffles for breakfast, with enough extra to freeze.   We did some more cleaning and because it was so beautiful outside we even walked up to the grocery store to buy our newspapers and pick up a few things for the week.  Dave and Ajax are actually outside right now playing and I can hear Ajax racing around with his dump truck as I have the kitchen windows open.   On a side note, I think our constant reminders to Ajax to use his words is finally kicking in.  Now, however, he’ll say things that seem odd coming out of a three (or almost 3) year old’s mouth.  For example, he’ll say that he’s extremely frustrated with something and then he can generally explain why. lol.

Tonight Ajax and I are heading out to my parent’s house and will stay there till Tuesday as we are having some work done in our basement and Dave doesn’t want Ajax and I in the house in case the dust is bad.   You may be asking, why are we having work done in the basement?  Well, our house is no longer up for sale and we have yanked our listing (we did not have the most amicable relationship with our realtor and the reality of the housing market is that unless we could bring $50,000 to the table it just wasn’t going to move.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 50K sitting around, lol).   So that brings us to our second option: renting.   Based on our comfort level, we have decided that hopefully come the end of August, beginning of September we will be able to safely move to Lansing (renting, of course) and put our home up for rent, most likely utilizing a rental management company as Lansing is almost 2 hours away.   As we will be renting, small annoyances that we have always just dealt with should be taken care of before renting- hence the basement project.

At dinner Dave said, Ajax you look tired tonight.  Ajax immediately replied, No I don’t, I look good!

What a cutie.  Ajax’s good mood has continued and he’s been quite the little charmer.  We have very few timeouts now and have been focusing on using our words and taking and Ajax is doing very well.  He’s still a negotiator.  If you say, Ajax you can have one cookie, he’ll immediately say, How about two?

This weekend was quite relaxing.

I didn’t leave the house once yesterday and it was glorious!  Dave and Ajax ran to the grocery store and library.  Dave said Ajax did wonderful and had fun putting together the puzzles.  We did make whole wheat pretzels and they were great.  Ajax didn’t really get the whole rolling them out process, but we still had fun.

Today we had a bit more going on.  Ajax and I went grocery shopping and then picked up the Sunday paper.  Ajax did great at both stops and chatted away the entire time.   We also had a Nader family reunion today and there were probably about 75 people or so present, with lots of little kids for Ajax to play with.  He had so much fun and ran nonstop for almost three hours.   He ran so much that he didn’t even mind pausing to eat and drink a little.  He went to bed at 7 pm and was out like a light.

I was so excited to put Ajax into this outfit, I thought it was so cute.  Dave, however, was not a fan.

These are actually just a few of the cousin’s kids that we could wrangle… and these are just the younger kids.

My cousin Angie is actually farther along than I, she’s due in late June.  I couldn’t believe how much bigger I was than her, lol.

A few people have asked us about the name Noomi.  It’s not from Greek mythology and it did take a bit of digging to find adequate information about the meaning of the name.  Here is what I’ve found via the internet –

Noomi is a Danish name, but has it’s origin in the Bible as Naomi was the mother-in-law of Ruth (As you may well have guessed, “Noomi” is a derivative of “Naomi”).  It is a traditional Jewish name and was taken up by the Puritans in the 17th century.   In Finnish the name means- beautiful, pleasant, delightful and the root of “noam” in Hebrew means pleasantness .   It is also common in the German and Swedish languages… not so much in the United States.

Let’s play catchup.

On Thursday, Dave’s dad came down and stayed the night at our house (he went to a hockey game downtown) and on Friday morning he took Ajax up north with him for the weekend.  Apparently Ajax said heneeded a snack on the drive up and made his papa stop at McDonalds.   He did well on the way up and even napped for about 45 minutes.   The grandparents reported that he did very well up north and had a great time.  He helped papa plow the driveway with the big John Deere and kept those dogs in line.  He used the potty with no accidents and slept through the night.  He did get one time out for spitting and appeared quite shocked that there was a “time out” chair at grandma and papas.

This was the first weekend that Dave and I have had to ourselves in a very long time where we weren’t up to our elbows in construction projects.  We slept in and then just kind of bummed around.  Dave took me shopping and bought me a few new maternity shirts.  I also found the cutest little sweater vest outfit for Ajax.  Dave was a bit horrified, but the nino is only going to let me dress him like this for so long before he revolts that I need to take advantage of it.   Saturday night Dave treated me to dinner at a Korean restaurant in Novi.   I ate there a few weeks ago with friends and had been craving it ever since (sushi, fermented turnips, bean sprouts, and bok choy).  I loved it; Dave tolerated it because he loves me.

Today we met Dave’s parents and Ajax in Saginaw (kind of the 1/2 way point for everyone).   We had dinner at a BBQ place and then hit the road for home.   Whenever Ajax spends the weekend away, he is always anxious to know that his toys are ok and waiting for him at home.  This time he also wanted to be sure that angry birds was at home too.   We let him play angry birds while we unloaded the car.  Afterwards I sat on the couch with him and he showed me how to play.  He kept saying, like this mom, and then would demonstrated what all the different birds could do.   I felt old.

It also appears from the poll that everyone thinks we’re having a girl!   Everyone except for my mom and Ajax.  They both declared we’re having a boy.   Dave and I are very excited.

Friday we finally got a little snow.  It really is only a little though, we’re talking 1-2 inches, but at least it’s something.  We bought Ajax a sled and it’s just been sitting in our garage.  Poor kid just stares at it.   This winter has been quite pathetic.

Dave had a ton of work to do on Saturday, so I offered to take Ajax out to my parent’s house to visit.   Ajax and I hit the road at 10 am and made it to Brooklyn by noon.  The roads ended up being pretty slick so our drive was slow.   This did not phase the nino as he talked the entire way out.   My sister has moved home from Alaska so she was home and it was great seeing her.   My mom bought us sushi for lunch and it was awesome.  I ate so much I got a stomach ache.  Ajax refused to try it and had mac and cheese.

We then bummed around the house; Ajax insisted on watching Cars with grandpa.   Around 3ish or so, Ajax and grandpa went sledding and fed the horses and went for a short tractor ride.  I don’t have any pictures of this as I fell asleep on the couch for two hours.  It was a glorious nap.   We had dinner and then hit the road for home around 7:30.   Ajax fell asleep before we even hit the expressway and then I transferred him right into bed.

Today has been quiet and I haven’t left the house.  I have a slight cold so Dave was nice enough to go grocery shopping for me.  Ajax is still congested, but other than that appears to be in good health.

This morning Dave called me, Did you order something from Amazon?  No, of course not, why?   Well, then, Dave said, Ajax ordered Angry Birds this morning for $1.  I can’t believe that kid knows how to use iPads and technology better than I do.   It’s crazy.

Lately Ajax has been playing Angry Birds sitting on the couch in the morning with a cup of milk while Dave and I rush around getting ready for work.  Yes, we’re kind of bribing/distracting our child, but when you need to be out the door by 7 am, all parenting rules go out the window.   Ajax can really outmaneuver me with almost any hand held technology – smart phone or iPad – and he’s not even 3 yet.   It’s amazing.

Ajax also currently has a bit of a cold, nothing major, runny nose and slight cough, and he’s very tired.  He may be a little unsteady too because at the babysitters today he fell into the bathtub while using the potty.  Somehow when he was pulling his pants down, he lost his balance and toppled head first into the tub.  The sitter said that when she got to him all she could see was his bare butt and feet hanging over the tub edge.   He now has a nasty bump on his head, but he says he’s ok.  Poor little dude.

We also met with the realtor tonight and are listing our home with Century 21.   The realtor was very impressed with how nice our house was and all the work we’d done, but when it came down to numbers he said it wouldn’t really make that much of a difference.   We figure we’ll list it and re-evaluate in 4 or 5 months.  Who knows we may be renting it.   Darn e-con-domy.

I believe Ajax is in the midst of a growth spurt.  Not only is he eating a ton, he is exceptionally tired and yet, not sleeping well at night.  During the day he has had boundless energy and is talking up a storm.  I also think he has a bit of a cold.

On Saturday I took him to the mall and let him play on the little play scape for about 40 minutes.  He decided to run, nonstop, and do running jumps over all the various obstacles.  He finally came up to me and said he was ready to leave and asked for his drink and snack, which I gladly provided as I did some leisurely browsing.   Saturday came and went, Dave finished the masonry work on the basement steps and painted them, and I cleaned out the closets and pantry.   On Sunday my parent’s came over to visit for a bit and even took Ajax out for an hour, which let Dave and I get some last minute house projects done.   Apparently the Super Bowl is also in progress, but I’m not watching it.

We meet with a realtor on Wednesday to see about the market prospects for our home.  In preparation for the meeting the realtor sent us some comps for our area and to say they were depressing would be a great understatement.   We are realistic, given the crippled real estate market and depressed economy, about selling our home, but are trying to stay somewhat optimistic.   (As a side note: Forbes ranked Detroit, MI as the 4th most miserable city in America… awesome).

Ajax resting on the couch watching Cars.