Bed and Breakfast

We moved into our house March 26. The next day, Eric's brother's family came to stay with us for two nights. (Eric's parents were in house-transition at the time, so it wasn't possible for Eric's brother's family to stay with them.) After that, my brother and his family came to stay with us for one night. Then toward the end of April Eric's sister came to stay with us for a couple of nights with her little boy. In May my brother and his wife came again, this time for the U2 concert, so only his two older kids were with him. This week my brother is coming again (just with his wife this time). The next day my sister will arrive for a fun stay. Right after that Eric's two older brothers are coming into town, and the one who stayed with us in March will stay with us again. Then my brother will be in town again. It sounds like more than it is when I lump it into one paragraph like that, but I like to be dramatic, so there you go.

Having a house is fun! I feel totally inept at hosting, though. I really don't do breakfasts. (The idea that I will get up and cook breakfast for people is actually quite laughable. That's Eric's forte.) Plus, I'm unaccustomed to cooking for groups and doubly unaccustomed to cooking for children. Will people be satisfied with food I have to offer? Will the beds be adequate? The spare beds came from Eric's parents' house and are all without bed frames. (They will soon return to Eric's parents' house, by the way.)

I know that most guests are probably not picky. They came to visit (or maybe visiting was just a perk on their list of errands they are doing while they are in town), so they are happy with any accommodations. But I still feel totally inadequate as a hostess.

What sorts of things do you do to get ready for guests? What sorts of things do you wish people would do for you? People who are coming to stay or who have stayed with us, what sorts of things should we do (or should we have done differently) to be better hosts?

All suggestions welcome.

(Please don't get me wrong! I do not want this to be a diatribe against guests! We love to invite ourselves to go visit people, and we love having visitors. I just don't feel like I really know the ins and outs of being a good hostess.)

Cilantro

I've been wanting to grow cilantro for ages. I use a ton of it in cooking, and Eric and I both love it. I started growing it without even bothering to read about it online or even asking people who know a lot about gardening.It started out great, and has continued to do well. So excited to just start picking the leaves right off the plant!

Layoffs

Did I freak you out? Neither Eric nor I have been laid off, but Ike has.

Last Wednesday my boss called me into her office to discuss making arrangements so that I wouldn't bring Ike into the office anymore. Truthfully, I was getting to the point where I didn't feel like bringing him in with me in the mornings was really working. He needs more attention from me, and he needs a quiet place to nap - a place where my co-workers do not walk in loudly and start chatting with my other co-workers.

It was still a let-down, though. I've so enjoyed having him with me as much as I have. It was great that I started taking him to work with me when he was eight weeks old and continued full time until he was sixteen weeks old. Once we moved to our new house I dropped to part-time because making the 45-minute commute every day would make me crazy. I also wanted to have more time to be a wife and mother. Admittedly, during those eight weeks of working full time, my attempt at being a good employee, a good mother and a good wife were not super successful.

So, for the last few months I've been working from home three days a week and taking Ike to the office with me twice a week. But that came to a halt last Wednesday. My boss told me that I could take as much time as I wanted working from home until I found somebody I felt good about to watch Ike. Fortunately, I already had somebody in mind. I called her and asked if she'd be keen to watch him twice a week, and she was.

I took Ike to her place (which is in my old apartment building, so it's just a few minutes' walk from my work), in the morning. Then I proceeded to be incredibly anxious all day. I couldn't pinpoint why I was anxious. I wasn't the least bit worried about him being taken care of well. Obviously I trust the person who is watching him, or else I wouldn't leave him there. I really don't know what made me anxious, but that was the longest I'd been away from Ike at one time. He survived, and when I went to pick him up he didn't really even seem to care that I'd been gone all day.

Wednesday was much better, and I'm really excited about the arrangement.

I've also found that on my work-at-home with Ike days, I enjoy his company a lot more than before. Perhaps this enjoyment will wane, but I find myself telling him throughout the day how much I like having him around. I don't think I realized before how much I like his company.

Laughing-ish

I have managed to capture some video footage (digital video external hard drive space?) of Ike laughing. Don't get too excited. It's not the hysterics of Lewis or the pure joy of Ella kind of laughter, but it's the best we can get from him thus far. He's just not a giggly baby.

Facebook Tagging

I have been told that Ike looks just like me about as often as I have been told he looks just like Eric. Usually the people who tell me he looks just like Eric are more firm in their opinions than the people who say he looks just like me. A handful of people tell me that he is a healthy mix.

Last week I uploaded a handful of photos of Ike to Facebook. If you aren't aware, Facebook now will attempt to identify and tag the people in your photos for you so you don't have to do it manually. Sometimes Facebook gets it right - sometimes Facebook gets it wrong.

I was pleased to see this suggestion when the tagging stage began:
Of course, there was also a photo of Ike that Facebook suggested I tag as my friend, Jennifer. So maybe Facebook isn't all-knowing after all.

Saturday's Loot

1. Stroller. It's nice because it folds up really small, but it still can hold an infant carrier on top. $2.
2. Backpack carrier for hiking. $5
3. High chair. The black thing on top of it is a cushion so the high chair doesn't scratch the kitchen chair that the high chair sets upon. Also, it has a tray that pops out and is dish-washer safe. $5
4. Monkey Halloween costume. $2.50
5. Office chair! No more sitting on a folding chair while I work at my desk all day! $5.
6. Various books. $1.25
7. Brand new earplugs. $0.25
8. Sledge hammer. $1
9. Puzzle. $0.50
10. Bathroom scale. $1
11. Cloth diapers (eight newborn size, never used). $2
12. Spinny toy thing. $0.50 (We got this because I loved them as a kid and never had one.)
    

Total: $26

Eric has been hitting up the garage sales on his own for a few consecutive Saturdays. He convinced me to come along this time. It was a lot of fun. Ike was very well behaved, and we're really happy with our purchases - especially the stroller.

We had purchased another stroller that was used and came with a carseat, but I wasn't with Eric when he bought it. I told him to buy it if he though it was a good deal, which it was. But the carseat itself is not really stellar. (We have a carseat that our friends lent to us, so at some point we need our own.) Plus, the stroller that came with that carseat is enormous. It's very impractical. So, I'm happy to have a smaller umbrella stroller that can hold a carseat but can also just hold a child independently and doesn't take up my entire trunk or coat closet.

Also, so dang excited about the monkey costume.