Hope

We have been enjoying our holiday break as a family. Our heat was fixed but the sewer pipes gave way and have caused more problems. R and I have decided a new way to tackle all these problems...laughter! It's amazing how much less serious things appear when you just laugh together. We hope that 2010 will bring us joy and laughter at a new house and less drama. It's been extremely hard to deal with everything but we are hopeful that together as a family we will survive and one day laugh and say "remember that place we rented?"
In the meantime, we have enjoyed many mornings snuggled in our pajamas.
Someone has enjoyed the bed with his parents A LOT! (can you tell how wild his hair is? I just love it in the morning)
He sleeps quite well in the middle and is a happy little guy when he wakes up. We just love kissing on him every morning. And, he loves it too!
We have enjoyed playing with new toys and just hanging out.
Santa was very generous to this little guy this year. More on that later this week.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! MAY 2010 BE FILLED WITH MANY BLESSINGS!

Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year!

We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We have been living with my parents this past weekend waiting for a new furnace to be installed. In the middle of all the madness I will be taking a blogging break until the new year. I hope that 2010 will be better for us than the last month of 2009. We are staying positive and have to remember that our health is most important. Daniel has been having fun building a family of snowmen with his grandparents and getting lots of hugs and kisses.

May this Holiday season bring you lots of joy and happiness. Till next year!

Santa, where are you?

The "purple lady" has failed us again. The heat is out and we need a new furnace!
It was 59 degrees in the house last night.
Today I dropped off D at my in-laws and we plan to stay with my parents until all this is over. They are giving up their bedroom for us to stay comfortable. Everyone has been so supportive but it's really starting to get to Ryan and me. Between the furnance, the washer, the water, the garbage, I don't think I can take anymore.
I just keep praying that this will be over and that Santa will bring us the gift of heat, clean clothes, no water coming up and a clean back yard to look through my window in the kitchen. Santa, can you come earlier for us, please?!

Weekend recap in words

Our camera is still acting funky so I didn't even bother with any pics this weekend. Saturday we got a new washer delivered only to find the parts frozen. We had to wait an entire day to do laundry with a space heater in front of the washer only to find out there is a pipe that is broken somewhere under the house because water started seeping under the toilet in the hallway, water was also coming out under the baseboards. The shower wasn't draining water and Ryan had water up to his ankles. Another call to the landlord left me drained and exhausted. With cold weather coming again it didn't sound good when the landlord asked me "who should I call?' Another day at the "purple lady" and dealing with "she devil".
Saturday we did some house hunting and left hopeful that spring will bring better inventory than what we're seeing now. R and I both agree we should have looked more seriously when we put our house for sale. Thanks to my mom, Daniel's laundry was done and Ryan's laundry was done by his mom. My laundry, well, it's coming along.
We ventured out to see "candy lane street" that Ryan claimed was 5-10 minutes away from our house. He proclaimed this street decorated the homes so beautifully that Daniel would be so impressed and told me "you want lights, I'll show you lights". We knew something didn't look right when the streets were dark and only a few homes were decorated. R searched on the Internet what happened to the street and realized that things change after 10 years. Did I mention I told him 5 times to make sure this place was still around? MEN!
Sunday, church was canceled 5 minutes before we left because I was nervous about the water.
Later, Daniel took a 3 and 1/2 hour nap while I met my mom, sister and niece for coffee and some good old girl talk. R relaxed and watched football. We had dinner later and just spent some family time together. It was nice. This coming weekend Santa is on the schedule.

Some cheer

There is nothing like the holidays to bring some cheer into a home. This past month has been extremely stressful and downright draining on me but with the help of an elf (mom in law) and one box of X-Mas decorations found amidst the chaos in the garage, X-Mas is here!
I realized one box of decorations out of the 10 that I had is enough to bring the magic of the holidays inside the not so homey rental we have. Everyone says family is what matters this time of year and giving is better than receiving, yes that is all true but there is something about a lit tree and some greenery that made me feel warm inside, a warmth I haven't felt in quite some time. Of course the heat being out multiple times didn't help with that. :)

Our small, ornament less but still special tree, reminds me we don't need expensive ornaments to have a gorgeous background for family pictures, even if Daniel's stocking takes up half the tree. :)
Our wreath on the door, teaches me that PEACE is so important, especially when I've been screaming at a landlord daily. :)
Our table center piece, reminds me to be thankful that we have food and a roof over our head, even if that roof is unstable and may cave at any moment. :)
Daniel's advent calendar, reminds me that days go by way too quickly as I watch him grow up in front of my eyes, and that sometimes it's OK to forget the dishes in the sink and just have a tickle fight on the floor. :)
This small house, we got it for our first X-Mas in our old home, reminds me that home is where your family is, even if that home is temporary and is falling apart.
Family keeps it together.

Better late than never

It's been a little nuts at the Marron clan household lately. With our heat out again, the washing machine broken and just being busy, the blog was the last thing on my mind.

Saturday, D, my mother-in-law and I went to see Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE! It was D's first "concert" and he loved it. He did so good. At first the lights and loud sounds scared him but then he just starred at them in amazement. We got him a t-shirt, a CD and Brobee (one of the characters), he is in love with this new plush toy. He carries him everywhere. It's adorable.
Brobee (the green guy all the way on the left)
Brobee in the air

Grandma and D.
Grandma got D a light saber thingy
D was amazed by the show
My camera breaking before your eyes
And....BROKEN
Sunday, R and I went to see Star Wars in concert. It was a great show. The music was unbelievable. After the show we went out to dinner, it's been a long time since we had a day out like that, it was nice.

Now, back to the drama of renting from "she devil". I think threatening to call the village has helped to speed things along. The heat was fixed (we'll see for how long), we found out the furnace is 14 years old and has not been maintained at all. We're going to see a couple of homes this weekend so wish us luck! Winter has officially arrived in Chicago, I hate it more and more every year. The snow blowing, the salt, the scraping of cars early in the morning...I need to save more for that condo in AZ I keep dreaming about retiring in.

just a few complaints

For the past several days I have been dealing with the landlord from hell. It started with arguing with her that 2 old toilets and a bunch of construction garbage left in the back yard is NOT OK, continued with trying to convince her that a gas leak is a big deal and ending with screaming at her that having heat is a necessity even without a child.
Our heat went out and finally was fixed by my brother in law at 10pm. That is of course AFTER the landlord (now known as "she devil") sent her handyman, who showed up with a couple of screws in a jewel bag. I knew I was in trouble when he arrived 2 hours late with a s/he assistant, who stood there and smiled for no apparent reason.
To add to the drama of the story the morons that rehabbed this house put the furnace in the attic, which in a normal attic wouldn't be a big deal but this attic is the size of a tiny closet for a person that is 4ft tall. I called another company and after the 6.1 ft tall and about 300lbs guy saw where he would need to squeeze into he kindly apologized, laughed and LEFT. This left me no choice but to ask for a favor AGAIN. After a couple of hours and some acrobatic moves to get in and out of the space my brother in law was a hero. Thank goodness Daniel spent the entire day at his grandparents warm house and I took a day off of work and was under the covers cursing to everyone that would listen.
Some other issues we're dealing with at the same time (I need to get it off my chest)

1. The dishwasher and stove at our old house broke after closing and now the insurance company thinks it broke before closing and refuses to pay for anything. Tell me how can they prove it broke BEFORE closing?! Do they have a crystal ball that looks in the past? I think I would know that the stove broke the day before moving because the foul language that came out of my mouth had everyone impressed the following day.
2. Our big screen TV in the family room is busted. We ordered the lamp and installed it and still nothing. The biggest insult is when we took out the old bulb we realized the last time we had someone come out to change it they cheated us and installed a smaller and cheaper bulb that gave out a year later. I'll be calling and complaining tomorrow about that.
3. Our cable transfer was a complete disaster. We had 2 people here to get it done right and were told our bill would reflect a credit for our troubles. I had a $200 surprise waiting for me in an envelope yesterday with no credit anywhere in the fine print.
4. The old toilets and trash is still in the back yard and today I refused to call anyone to complain about even further, instead my fingers did some typing of a nasty letter that will be sent as evidence.

On to some fun stuff...since we don't have a tub in the house I was very concerned about Daniel hating the shower and would have to resort to buying one of those euro tubs. To my surprise he loves it! Here he is having a blast in the shower!


I think he knows mommy is about to have a nervous breakdown and he's being such a good sport about everything. I can't believe in 4 months he will be 2 years old!!!!!