I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it would be like to not sleep in the same bedroom as Babboo. Would it be weird to wake up in the morning and not have sleeping Babboo be the first thing I see?

I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to have kitchen drawers that aren’t broken. Or how it must feel to have a dishwasher that actually gets your dishes cleaner instead of dirtier.

I wonder what it would be like to have space enough for my child to run and play in. A place where he could set up his train set and leave it set up without fear of his mommy tripping over it and cursing it’s name. I wonder if Babboo would know what to do with this space, or if he’s been forever conditioned to only running in confined spaces, back and forth, back and forth.

I’ve also been thinking about what it must be like to be able to bathe your child in a bathroom where we can both fit in the room without the door being closed. Or maybe just a place to hang all of our towels on the wall. I’ve been thinking about how nice it would be to have a place where we could tuck Babboo’s toys in after he goes to bed. Or a shelf that would hold all of his books.

I wonder what it would be like to have to have a closet where I can keep my shoes. Or a place for extra bars of soap and tubes of toothpaste. Or our winter coats.

Heck, I wonder what it would be like to have a place to keep our stroller.

When we moved into our little one bedroom apartment it seemed perfect for us. Sure, it was much smaller then the three bedroom house we just sold, but it was only The King and I. Plus the apartment would be temporary. We’d only be there a short time. And like my mom always told me, you can live anywhere if you know it’s only temporary.

We knew we’d be bringing home our baby to the apartment. But dude, babies are small. They don’t take up any space. Having a baby in a one bedroom apartment would not cramp our style.

Plus, it’s only temporary. Until the new house is finished.

Can you believe it’s been over two and a half years since we moved into our one bedroom apartment? Our once tiny baby is now two years old. He has no idea what it’s like to have a place to keep his toys and books. He’s never had his own bedroom to go to at night. He’s never eaten a meal at home with his mom and dad at the table. The concept of multiple bathroom is lost on him.

As far as Babboo knows, tiny hallways are synonymous with playrooms. Apartment lobby’s are where you go to play with your bouncy calls. He thinks all houses have elevators and pools and that mommy’s do the laundry in laundry rooms located on different floors. He thinks you get your mail from a slot in the wall and not out of a mailbox on the street.

Babboo also thinks that daddy’s are always working and aren’t usually home for dinner or bath nights. He thinks mommy’s always cook dinner and do the dishes and daddy’s are only home in the morning before taking him to school. He thinks the only day you can stay in bed and snuggle mommy and daddy is on Sundays, when daddy doesn’t have to work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about all of this lately because this week something happened that we’ve all waited a long time for.

We’re giving notice at our apartment.

That’s right, in a few week’s we’ll actually be living in The (New) House The King Built. We’ll wake up, together, every morning and go to bed, together, ever night. And by “together” I mean, all of us in our own rooms. (Well, The King and I will still be rooming together. You know what I mean.)

It looks like it’s finally going to happen. And frankly, I can’t wait. It’s an exciting time for our little family. Big changes are a foot.

Sometimes I get selfish and forget to keep the internet in the loop of what’s going on in my life. Um yeah, that’s what happened last week. I sort of forgot to tell you that my folks were coming to Seattle to help celebrate Babboo’s second birthday.

We partied like he was turning twenty one. (Or maybe just three.)

The last four days will forever be known as Babboo’s Birthday Extravaganza Weekend. It started on Thursday night with a Birthday dinner at the local Red Robin. (Hey, I figured that was the only kid-friendly place we could all agree on.) There were about 11 of us and I’ll tell you what, it was loud. And fun. And Babboo got spoiled.

I took Friday off work (Praise the Lord!) and spent the day in the city with my folks. Babboo took this opportunity to sit Grandma down and show her all the things he’s been wishing for in the latest Toys R Us catalog. (Which, at our house, is referred to as “train book”. Even though only 2 of the 20 pages have actual trains on them.)

That night, which was Babboo’s actual birthday, The King and I sent my folks over to my aunt’s house, and just the three of us went shopping for a special gift for Babboo and a little dinner out.

We came home, bellies full of Mongolian food, the proud owners of a huge train set for our little birthday conductor. (Side note #1: the plan was for Babboo to give up his “sucker” on his 2nd birthday. Plans are in motion.) Thanks to Babboo’s relentless study of the “train book” we knew that Toys R Us was having a killer sale on trains. Killer sale. We could not refuse. And now, our tiny apartment doubles as a train station.

Good times.

(Side note #2: Last night, we had to take the train out and put it in the trunk of the car. If we wouldn’t have, our poor kid would have never gone to bed. Or eaten dinner. He’s addicted.)

(Side note #3: What is it with little boys and train sets these days? Seriously. I don’t remember my brothers caring about trains at all.)

Saturday, we dropped Babboo off at a friends house and painted some trim over at the new house. My folks, and even my aunt, came to help. My mom and aunt are great painters. My dad, alas, is not. I spent my time following behind him and fixing his paint drips. But, you know what, I didn’t even care. I was just happy to have them there helping.

And then we went to my cousin’s indoor soccer game. I would have much rather stayed at my aunt’s house and crocheted. But I’m glad I didn’t, since Babboo seemed to really enjoy seeing “kick ball”.

(Side note #4: My aunt is a freakin’ hard worker. I may have to ask her to come help us some more.)

(As per my usual M.O., I spent the entire meet event game taking pictures of myself. I allowed Babboo and my aunt to be in the pictures so I didn’t look like a complete tool taking pictures of just me.)

After the game we hit up Jamba Juice, Dairy Queen, and a local Mexican restaurant. In that order. Hey, I told you it was a Birthday Extravaganza Weekend.

Sunday arrived, and so did more parties with family. More gifts…

…and more dessert.

Pretty much, Babboo’s Birthday Extravaganza Weekend rocked. Not only for my Sweet Babboo, but for me too.

I’m back to work today, the tired mom of a two year old (two!). Crap, where did the time go?

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Remember when I asked you if I should cut bangs? Head over to see what my latest New Thing is! (Hint…it’s bangs.)

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Remember how I love the Old 97’s (Rhett Miller is their lead singer)?! Well, since they have a new album coming out on May 13th (my birthday!), they are scheduled to be on the Tonight Show this Thursday, the 24th to promote it! Now is your chance to give them a watch/listen and see/hear what the hype is all about. So set your Tivo’s/DVR’s for this Thursday. I mean it, you must watch this.

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So you didn’t win my gDiaper give-away? No problem, SeattleMomBlogs is having another give-away in honor of Earth Day. So head over and enter to win!  (SeattleMomBlogs is doing loads of fun give-aways this week, so keep checking back with them!)

I often tease The King about the time he confessed that he was “making a commitment to the environment”. He made it sound like The Environment and he had kneeled at an alter, hands entwined, family and friends witnessing, and made a commitment to each other. They would now do everything they could to help each other become better.

The King + The Environment = True Love

While I like to make it sound like a joke, The King truly is committed to the environment. And he’s getting greener by the second. He has yet to switch over to an all hemp wardrobe, but he does wear eco friends shoes. (we found two pairs at Ross for $15.00. I kid you not!) It’s only a matter of time until he starts to grow dreads. So The King may not be the greenest person I know (would that be Kermit?), but he’s pretty darn green.

When we decided to build another house, we knew we wanted to take the green practices we used on the first house and take it up a notch with the new house. Plus, and I’ll be honest here, building a more green house would make it worth more money when we decide to sell it. Especially here in Seattle.

Our new house will be Certified Built Green, something The King is very proud of.

We used in-floor radiant heating in the first house we built. The King and I installed it, working together in the crawlspace to install the piping. While we have no complaints about in-floor radiant heat, we were anxious to try something new with the new house. Plus, with the years The King spent living in Europe, he feel in love with the European use of radiators for heating. He fondly remembers being able to put his clothes out on the radiator, on a cold winter morning, and have the radiator heat them up to a cozy temperature.

And so, we’re using radiators as our heat source. There are a lot of different styles of radiators out there, and we were able to find some that will fit with our modern house. We were also able to buy radiators for the bathrooms that also double as towel racks. This way, our towels will always be warm when we get out of the shower.

Another product that we learned about, thanks to the Europeans, was the dual flush toilet. A dual flush toilet is exactly what it sounds like-there are two different types of flushes. One button for #1 and another button for #2. This enables you to use less water to get rid of your toilet waste. These types of toilets are common practice around the world. But, for whatever reason, they aren’t very common in America. (Thanks to Jihan for hooking us up with all of our fixtures for the new house.)

Since this new house is being built where a previous (non-renovateable) house was demolished, we’re making sure to reuse as many building materials from the demolished house as possible. We’re using the old wood flooring as trim in the new house. The old paint and nail holes were planed down, and the wood is gorgeous. We’re excited to be using it as a way to reuse, and to save us money.

We’re using low energy light bulbs, we’re planning on utilizing as much natural light as possible (in Seattle?). We installed super efficient windows and doors. Our appliances are all EnergyStar approved and we rarely use the dryer for our clothing. We plan on planting more trees and appropriate plants. We are using the demolished house’s foundation as part of our landscaping walls. Our faucets will have low flow constrictors. We’re using recycled carpeting (and recycled carpet pads), where applicable.

We are recycling at the construction site and plan to continue recycling once we move in. The basement flooring is concrete foundation slab. No vinyl flooring or siding for us. We’re using cement siding and metal on the outside of the house. The roof is also metal. We’ll be using recycled plastic for our decking. All of our counter tops are concrete, made by The King. And we used extra installation.

While we aren’t doing as much as we could or should be doing, we are doing our part. The King and I feel that this earth was gifted to us to use. Part of showing our appreciation for this beautiful world is showing our respect and love towards it. And to help ensure it will be here for our kids and our kid’s kids to also use.

And if this means using flusable diapers and dual flush toilets, then sign me up.

So tell me, what are you doing to be more green?

A little after we starting construction on our new house, we met some friends at church that were getting ready to start construction on their own house. Lucy and Schroeder were close to us in age and had a little boy a bit older then Babboo. While The King does all of the work on our new house, Schroeder was just going to do about 50% on their house. Naturally The King and Schroeder became fast friends and were sure to keep tabs on the progress of each others projects.

Since we had built a house ourselves before, we knew (sort of) what we were getting ourselves into. Lucy and Schroeder didn’t seem to know as much as The King. Lucy assured me time and time again that they would be moving into their house much sooner then I ever believed they would. While they weren’t able to move in last September, as per their original plan, they are now living in their new house while we’re still trying to get flooring installed and counter tops made at our new house.

Last night was the first time we’ve been over to Lucy and Schroeder’s house since they moved in. We arrived in time for dinner and the Grand Tour. And dude, let me tell you, it’s freakin’ awesome. My heart stopped for a moment when I walked into their gorgeous kitchen. I sighed a jealous sigh when I saw their fancy new range. I literally tripped when I saw the view of the Puget Sound from their master bathroom. (Can you even imagine being able to look our over the ocean while taking a bath?) I wanted to jump in their shower and use their rainfall shower head and run my toes over the pebble flooring.

Basically being inside Lucy and Schroeder’s house made me that much more excited to move into our new house next month. While our house won’t be completely finished, it will be much better then the one bedroom apartment that we’ve long since grown out of. And for that I’m most excited.

We stopped by our new house yesterday so The King could show me the latest project he’s finally completed. This project was one of two things that I specifically wanted in the new house and I was happy to see how it had turned out.

May I present you with the super duper awesome floating stairs that The King designed and built:

(You must also note the super cool metal railings that The King’s dad built.)

And just to prove how extra sweet the stairs are, check out what they look like underneath (taken from the stairway going into the basement).

Dude, while I may have had the original idea for the floating stairs, based on a childhood dream, The King saw the vision and made it happen.

We’re one step closer (pun intended) to being able to move into our house.

When we built the first house, we moved in very prematurely. We spent three years living there without any painted trim and a master bathroom that wasn’t finished until the day we put the house on the market.

When we started construction on our new house we vowed to not move into it until it was completely finished. Completely. We didn’t want to have any trim pieces to paint. We didn’t want any doors left to be hung. It had to be 100% finished. (Well, except for the deck and yard. That could wait.)

The upstairs of the new house will be 100% completed next week. The tub in the master bathroom is done. The toilets flush. The shower room and vanity area are finished. Babboo’s bathroom has been tiled and the radiators are installed. The King hung the bedroom doors up last night. The carpet installation has been scheduled.

The main floor continues to be a work in progress. The refrigerator is plugged in and running and the range is ready to be installed. The new couches for the front room are being stored in the basement. There are no kitchen cabinets. No tile has been laid. No working toilets on this floor. No doors have been hung.

The washer and dryer in the basement are working and have been used many times. The bathroom is still being tiled. The spare room is being used as a storage for new furniture. The garage (which is half of the basement) is full of tools, saws, siding, paint cans, tile, and nails.

The outside of the house has areas that still need siding. The yards are muddy. The back yard is being held together by a gabion wall. The decking has been purchased, but is nowhere near close to installation.

The new house, it is still under construction.

The King works over there every night (except Friday, when we hang out as a family) and all day on Saturday. His part-time retired dad works there everyday while the rest of us are at work.
For the sake of this post let’s say that I make $100 a month. The King makes $110.

That means we bring in $210 a month. Our bills go as follows:

• Rent - $51
• Daycare - $49
• Mortgage (on the house we tore down, which we have been paying for years!) - $48
• Construction costs (on the house we are building) - $32
• Charitable donations - $20

That only leaves $10 a month for food, clothes, car payment, and anything else that may come up. In case you’re not good at math, $10 is not a lot of money. Especially when you need to buy furniture for a new house. Sheets, beds, curtains, art…all of that, are expensive. Our savings isn’t growing. Babboo’s college and Disneyland funds aren’t where they should be. Our retirement funds haven’t been added to in a while.

Today we’ll be signing another 3-month lease on our one-bedroom downtown Seattle high rise apartment.

The last week in April will be spent packing up our apartment, getting our stuff out of storage (finally!) and moving into our unfinished house.

Not because we want to, but because we have to.

One of the bazillion e-mails I missed while out sick was one from The King on Tuesday, before he knew I had left work:

I heard Heath Ledger died today. I didn’t know who that was when the receptionist here at work told me, but I played it cool and said that I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make it past the primary race anyway. Then I looked him up on the internet and found out that he was in “10 Things I Hate About You” which I remember. And that there were drugs involved. I guess he wasn’t a candidate in the presidential race after all. Good thing, because I think being on drugs is a bad way to start out a presidency, or VP for that matter.

It’s a good thing he’s so darn handy with a hammer and nails, or I might have to kick him to the curb for saying stuff like that.

(Check out the tub over at the new house. Dude, we are this.much.closer to actually moving in.)